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Helsinki Map

Helsinki was the second on a trip to Iceland, Finland and Estonia with Jim in 2017. I took some delight from how decorative the architecture was, especially the everyday residential building larded up with frogs or spiders and the like. The city offered little surprises all over: a beautiful sauna by the sea, a startling chapel in the middle of a commercial district, housing in the middle of a former military establishment, bars tucked into former industrial buildings by the water. I did a lot of walking in all kinds of weather and the resulting photos are culled from a much greater number.       

 

Photo List (Total 525 Photos)

Click bolded headers below to view, or click "just the best" for quick tour

  • Helsinki around the Train Station (114 photos) - Our hotel was right beside the train station. I loved the hotel, outside it was boring and brutal, almost Stalinist, but inside it was a wonder of 1950's design, never apparently having been updated. It connected into a Marks & Spencer and had a discount grocery store in the basement. The gallery starts at the hotel, moves to the nearby train station and Railway Square, and then continues up to Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden. Then it swings back through the train tracks down to the west side of the hotel and the big shopping streets nearby. It takes you through some of the new developments in the Kamppi area, including the surprising Kamppi Chapel, and finishes off with view of the city from the top of the Torni Hotel.      

  • Market Square and Central City (132 photos)  - These photos start at the Esplanade Park, a long park flanked by two streets with more or less monumental buildings. The Park takes you to Market Square on the water, which is bordered by Helsinki City Hall. It then bounces between two cathedrals - Helsinki Cathedral, north of Senate Square, and Uspenski Cathedral (which we never managed to enter) which is east of Market Square on Katajanokka Island. The photos in this group depict these areas on a nice sunny day, but also on the rainy Monday when Jim and I struggled to find things to do. From the square, the gallery goes south to some of the major parks and churches in the area under the Esplanade. The gallery continues into the central part of the city, including the areas around Old Church Park, and Helsinki's "Design District". Many photos of decorative buildings, their entrances, or rooftops.

  • West Harbour and South End (51 photos)  - These photos are along the edges of the central city, where the city meets the ocean. They start at Lapinlahti, a beach and park where Jim and I walked after our bikes gave out, and then move south through the Hietaniemi Cemetery. It continues with the West Harbour, where an industrial area remains active while gradually being taken over by the city, and then the gallery moves south to where Helsinki meets the open sea, including parks and walkways along the ocean, and the rocky Kaivo Park. I walked around this route once, and most of these photos are from that walk. I also cycled it with Jim, a ride that ended with the unfortunate bike locking incident at the market near the West Harbour, and which resulted in but a few photos.  

  • Arts (67 photos) - There were a great many museums and galleries near our hotel, and on one Tuesday I went to most of them. This gallery starts at the Kiasma, a contemporary art gallery, has exterior shots of the Helsinki Music Centre and the National Museum of Finland, and continues with the Taidehalli Art Gallery, and exterior photos of the very famous Finlandia Hall and the opera. All these are found alongside the Mannerheimintie. I then veer over to the Helsinki Art Museum, which is found in Kamppi, and then the Ateneum Art Museum, which is close to the train station.

  • Töölö (59 photos)  - This neighbourhood is up to the north and west of the area where our hotel was, and is essentially beside many of the museums in the previous gallery. These photos include a sunken bicycle path, Töölö Bay, quite a lot of housing, the famous Stone Church, Sibelius Park, the Tram Museum, and a few photos of the Olympic Stadium. 

  • Kallio (31 photos)  - This neighbourhood is up to the north and east of the central city. This gallery has quite a few residential buildings, and also includes the quite lovely Kallio Church, a market, and a theatre.  

  • Suomenlinna (44 photos)  - Suomenlinna is a group of islands south of the city that has over time had commercial and military purposes, being at various times used by Russians or Swedes. This gallery includes the ferry ride over to the islands, including views of Market Square, and then our walk on the islands themselves, with quite a few military installations and nice shots of the coast. Also a rabbit and a snake.  

  • Transit (27 photos)  - This gallery includes photos of the train from the airport, trams, the subway, and the ferry terminal from which we departed for Tallinn.