The heart of central Helsinki is the harbourside kauppatori (market square), where cruises and ferries leave for archipelago islands. It's completely touristy these days, with reindeer souvenir stands having replaced most market stalls, but there are still some berries and flowers for sale, and cheap food options.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.66 MILES
Suomenlinna, the ‘fortress of Finland’, straddles a cluster of car-free islands connected by bridges. This Unesco World Heritage site was originally built…
0.4 MILES
Occupying a palatial 1887 neo-Renaissance building, Finland’s premier art gallery offers a crash course in the nation’s art. It houses Finnish paintings…
0.42 MILES
An unmissable stop for Finnish design aficionados, Helsinki's Design Museum has a permanent collection that looks at the roots of Finnish design in the…
0.92 MILES
Built in National Romantic art nouveau style and opened in 1916, Finland’s premier historical museum looks a bit like a Gothic church with its heavy…
2.68 MILES
Situated 5.5km northwest of the city centre, this excellent island-set museum has a collection of 87 historic wooden buildings transferred here from…
0.67 MILES
One in a series of elegant, contemporary buildings in this part of town, curvaceous, metallic Kiasma, designed by Steven Holl and finished in 1998, is a…
29.14 MILES
One of Finland's most enticing old quarters, this tangle of cobbled alleys and wooden warehouses is entrancing. Once a vibrant port and market, Porvoo now…
0.64 MILES
Set beneath the iconic 1936 Lasipalatsi building, art museum Amos Rex opened in 2018. Sweeping staircases take you below ground to the exhibition halls…
Nearby Helsinki attractions
0.07 MILES
Overlooking the kauppatori, the striking neoclassical Presidentinlinna was designed by CL Engel and is one of the head of state's official residences. The…
0.1 MILES
Near the kauppatori, this bronze statue is the symbol of the city. Sculpted by Ville Vallgren in 1906 in Paris, and installed here in 1908, the nude…
0.14 MILES
This museum complex spreads over five buildings from different eras, including Sederholmin talo, Helsinki’s oldest central building (dating from 1757 and…
0.15 MILES
From the kauppatori walk up the cobbled Sofiankatu to Senaatintori, Helsinki's majestic central square. Surrounded by early 19th-century buildings, the…
0.2 MILES
The eye-catching red-brick Uspenski Cathedral towers above Katajanokka island. Built as a Russian Orthodox church in 1868, it features classic golden…
0.2 MILES
One of Carl Ludvig Engel’s finest creations, the chalk-white neoclassical Lutheran cathedral presides over Senaatintori (Senate Sq). Created to serve as a…
7. Johan Ludvig Runeberg Statue
0.23 MILES
Finland's national poet and composer of the Finnish national anthem, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, is commemorated by a statue in the city's central Esplanadin…
0.23 MILES
Locally known as 'Espa', oblong-shaped Esplanadi stretches for four blocks between the squares Erottaja to the west and the kauppatori to the east…