Photo: Thermos, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Tropical garden where you can see palms, cacti and flowers around the year. In the summer a nice café operates in the garden.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
It was built for the Olympics and renovated for the 2005 World Athletic Championships. In the stadium building you can visit the Sports Museum with medals and other paraphernalia related to sport. Another stadium, the Sonera stadium, used for football (soccer) games, is located north of the stadium. The most popular building in the complex, though, is the Uimastadion, Helsinki's largest outdoor pool (open May–Sep), whose three pools and water slides draw around 5,000 visitors a day in the summer. After the war, the pool was used to store herring and potatoes! After a long renovation, the stadium and tower reopened in 2020.
The stadium features 72-m-high tower (14 storeys) that offers a great view over the city. After the reopening in 2020 you can only get up and down the tower using the elevator; the stairs on the outside are closed to the public.
Kansallisooppera
Lavishly subsidized, but it's still easy to get good seats. Tickets €14-84. Students can buy discount tickets for performances on the same day for €10 if there are still seats left, but these tickets have to be bought in person. An international student card is valid. Pensioners get €5 off, and children get their tickets at half regular price. Also runs the National Ballet (Kansallisbaletti).
Despite its name, which translates to "Animal Garden", there is no zoo in this park. Instead many of Helsinki's sport venues like the Olympic stadium, Swimming stadium, Sonera stadium, Töölön Kisahalli and Helsinki Ice Hall are either in the park or close to it.
This is a bay surrounded by a nice park that is dotted with attractions such as the Finlandia Concert Hall and the National Opera. Töölönlahti is partly in a natural state which is quite rare in major cities. Walking and jogging around the bay is a popular outdoor activity.