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Helsinki, Finland
Photo: Ypsilon from Finland, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
Central Helsinki consists of the central parts of Helsinki east of Mannerheimintie, south of Pitkäsilta, west of Unioninkatu and north of Esplanadi; in short the commercial downtown.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Esplanadinpuisto/Esplanadparken
Located between the market square (Kauppatori) and the two Esplanadi boulevards, this small but stately park has a commanding position at the heart of the city. In the summer time it is full of people sitting on the lawn, meeting their friends and quite often also having a drink or two. In the summer there are often free concerts given by local artists on the stage close to Kauppatori, facing restaurant Kappeli. If you're walking around with an ice cream or sandwich, do watch out for the aggressive birds.
Kaisaniemen puisto/Kajsaniemiparken
In Kaisaniemi, north-east of the Central railway station. It has a bad reputation of a place where you might get assaulted, however in the daytime it's not more dangerous than any other place in Helsinki. The park has facilities for playing football (soccer) and tennis and is home to some events in the summer, most notably the morning of first of May and the festival "Maailma kylässä" in late May. It also holds Helsinki University's Botanical Garden (entrance from Kaisaniemenranta on the northern side).
Ateneum
Ateneum can be considered the most nationally significant art museum, and it has the largest collection of paintings and sculptures in Finland. Particularly notable is the collection of works by major Finnish artists. Works include renowned interpretations of the national epic Kalevala.
Kiasma
The sometimes unusual collections mostly include works by contemporary Finnish artists and artists from nearby countries. There are also periodical exhibitions. The building is a work of art.
An international museum for the whole family that plays with optical illusions, with over 40 different exhibitions.
Päärautatieasema
The station building, clad in granite, was designed by Eliel Saarinen (the father of Eero Saarinen) and inaugurated in 1919. It has become the symbol of the entire railway network in Finland, and about 200,000 people pass through the station every day, half of whom are train passengers. Since 1 November 2025, there are guided tours to the clock tower (€24; stairs), with views over central Helsinki. The Olympia Stadium Tower is still much higher.
Postitalo/Posthuset
Across Mannerheimintie from Lasipalatsi is Helsinki's former main post office, designed by Jorma Järvi, Erik Lindroos and Kaarlo Borg and finished in 1938. However, it hasn't been the main post building since the late 1990s, but houses a number of shops, but the building is still protected as a valuable historical building (just like most buildings on this list).
Sanomahuset
This university building has been described as having both functionalist and classicist elements. It was designed by Jussi Paatela, finished in 1939 and its first users were the State Forest Research Institute (Metsätutkimuslaitos) and Helsinki University's faculty for forest science, and that's where the building's name — "the forest house" — came from. Nowadays the building houses the linguistics and philology faculties.
A classic statue designed by the Finnish sculptor Felix Nylund, depicting three nude men hammering down on an anvil (except a study revealed that if the smiths were to actually hammer, they would hit each other on the head). A survey made by a Finnish newspaper resulted in this statue being the point most people think is the de facto centre point of the city of Helsinki.
Finland's only gambling casino. It's next to the railway station. The only gambling casino in the world to donate 100% of its profits to charity. 2600 m² of floor space on two floors. About 300 slot machines and 20 gaming tables and several bars. Also includes a luxurious Show & Dinner restaurant, with prices ranging from €70 to €90 per person.
Kämp Spa is in the heart of Helsinki. In addition to the spa treatments, the spa has a gym and 3 different saunas.
The oldest film theatre in Finland. It is owned by Finnkino, carrying the more artistic side of Finnkino's programme. Only two auditoriums, and no 3D or IMAX technology, but this is still a unique experience. All the seats in both auditoriums are large and plush armchairs with plenty of leg room. The bar at the theatre is well stocked with tapas-style food and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and you can take all of it with you to the film.
Kansallisteatteri
Svenska Teatern
Mikonkatu 8
Cheap kebab, shawarma, and falafel. Large portions, though be warned that this isn't your traditional Middle Eastern fare. Pitas come with something akin to spaghetti sauce inside. Filling choice, especially on a budget.
A little, cosy Italian-style restaurant and café located at the Helsinki Central railway station. Pronto is the "little sister" of the larger restaurant Olivia located right next to it. Serves pizza al taglio, focaccia and Italian-style coffee. Not to be confused with restaurant Pronto Pizzeria in Sörnäinen.
The 12-square-meter grill kiosk since 1940.
The biggest and most centrally located student restaurant and cafeteria is only a two-minute walk away from the main railway station. The standard lunch price (including drink, bread and salad buffet) is €8, there is also a "light" option (soup and salad) for €7 and "special" course for €9.50. Discounts apply if you happen to own a Finnish student card.
An "Asian burger" place, formerly operating in Mikkola, north-eastern Vantaa. They make delicious burgers with East Asian flavour.
A hamburger restaurant, where burgers are served with beef produced only on Finnish farms.
Tourist restaurant with lots of character and great quality Finnish food. Plenty of old tractors and Finnish memorabilia. At night time Zetor functions as a popular and trendy night club with various funky music both from Finland and abroad, with plenty of young people attending. The kitchen stays open until closing time. Note that at night time, there tend to be long queues to get into Zetor in the first place.
Tex-Mex cuisine for Finnish tastes. Steaks, burritos, fajitas, burgers and salads. All food is very tasty but don't expect completely authentic Mexican cuisine.
A Thai cuisine restaurant in the City-Center complex in central Helsinki, opposite the central railway station. Offers authentic spicy Thai cuisine. Interesting decor. Usually a bit crowded.
A reasonable selection of Belgian beers, a nice range of bistro fare, and a good location for people watching. The dining room upstairs is non-smoking. The menus in the dining rooms are served inside Tintin comic books in Finnish, so you can read them while deciding what to order.
One of the best Chinese restaurants in Helsinki. Excellent food, a nice atmosphere and really good service. Extra points for the interior design.
A classy, fashionable pizzeria with a wide variety of pizzas on the menu. Some of the toppings might be rather unusual, such as grilled chicken, pickled cucumbers, beetroot, crayfish, bratwurst, coconut milk, or Finnish leipäjuusto cheese. But the end result is a tasty culinary treat anyway. For dessert, there's a pizza with ice cream and fresh fruit.
The restaurant has several locations around the Helsinki capital area and elsewhere in Finland, but the most central one is in the Stockmann department store, on the basement floor.
The restaurant is rather self-consciously a pizzeria. Although many other pizzerias in Helsinki also serve kebab, there are only pizzas on the menu here, and even the staff wear shirts saying "Sorry, no kebab".
Unpretentious Italian food even for under €20. The weekday lunch buffet of soup, salad and two kinds of pasta (€13.50) is still a particularly good value.
Mediterranean meze plates, several vegetarian dishes. Excellent vegetarian moussaka.
A Syrian restaurant.
A distinctly Australian gastropub and restaurant right in the centre of Helsinki, in an office building right next to the Helsinki Central railway station. The menu is rather meat-oriented. A wide selection of Australian and international beers and wines available. Serves affordable lunch on weekdays. Note that the staff don't speak any Finnish, only English.
A large restaurant located in the basement, offering a diverse buffet mainly concentrating on Spanish cuisine. Various kinds of appetisers, main courses and desserts on offer, all for a fixed price of €39 (alcoholic drinks cost extra). For the main course, you select the meats when they are still raw, the restaurant cooks them for you and brings them to your table.
A Viking-themed restaurant that tries to keep its cuisine as close to the authentic Viking cuisine as possible, but still keeping in with today's tastes. In practice, the food is extremely tasty, but a bit overpriced. The decor is Viking-themed, the staff dress up in Viking-themed costumes, and even the menu contains Viking-era descriptions. The menu is obviously very meat-oriented, but there are some vegetarian options available. Try the duck or beef dishes, they're very tasty. The restaurant servers its own beer, it's worth trying.
Traditional Finnish dishes: reindeer, fish, etc. Some of the prices are a bit high, but you should get polite service and well-prepared food with a lovely presentation. Cosy, relaxed, relatively quiet atmosphere (although the restaurant is apparently well-known and therefore might be more crowded during late evenings & tourist season). The roasted lamb with garlic potatoes is a good choice, as is their take on Finnish-style blueberry pie. They also offer a cheaper self-service café on the left side of the restaurant, along with a bar (opened in 1867) in the middle of the building.
A Greek restaurant.
A luxurious restaurant with a magnificent view of downtown Helsinki's rooftops. Savoy is decorated just as Alvar Aalto designed it in the 1930s, and they still serve some of the dishes that Field Marshal Mannerheim used to order, such as the famous Vorschmack (a comparatively cheap €18). Other mains from €40, while the opulent "Menu Savoy" will set you back €102.
The best Czech restaurant in Helsinki. Several floors on the premises, the ground floor consisting of a bar, the upper ones of a restaurant. Several Czech beers on tap, and the menu is based on Czech cuisine with copious amounts of sausages and sauerkraut.
A lovely building with a relaxed atmosphere. Here you can find one of the best espressos in town.
Famous for its decor, architecture, ice-creams, pastries and coffees, this café opened in 1891, run by Finland's largest chocolate maker, has been an institution since its birth. There's also the Fazer Bakery shop next to the café. If you are visiting, pay attention to the round room topped with a dome. People say that if you tell secrets here, the other customers will hear them across the room due to the acoustics of the dome.
One of the oldest and most historic cafés of Helsinki. Great terrace on the posh Pohjoisesplanadi with views of the Esplanadi park, restaurant on the 2nd floor. Also high-quality pastries and modern Nordic food and drink. Very popular among locals.
previously Baarikärpänen
Offers R & B and Top 40 hits in a nice lounge-type bar with big comfortable sofas and a dance floor. Reasonably cheap.
An Irish pub/nightclub near the Central Railway Station. Popular among Finns and tourists alike. Live music every night, superb English-language cover bands most nights, sometimes a DJ later. If you happen to be in Helsinki at St.Patrick's Day (March 17th) this is definitely where you should go. Avoid the blackjack table unless you're fond of losing money (the proceeds do go to charity).
Located next to Baarikärpänen and Texas, this is a rock-oriented bar with occasional live bands and stand up comedy acts. Minimum age 18.
A bar with beer from €3.9. Features games like billiards and board games. Spacious.
A pub with a spacious inner courtyard terrace in central Helsinki. Several beers and ciders available on tap and in bottles. University students get a discount on drinks on tap.
usually just Vanha
A bar/café opposite Stockmann, owned by University of Helsinki's filthy rich students' union. Not very special in the winter, but the rooftop patio in the summer is nice. In the evenings, the club attracts a slightly-over-18 audience.
A pretty cool karaoke bar in the city centre. Reasonably priced drinks and a good crowd with a wide selection of songs. A fun atmosphere with agreeable patrons.
The "Mummotunneli" ("Grandma tunnel") is a passage between various restaurants in central Helsinki. There are terraces of various restaurants in the passage, staying open well past midnight. The name "Grandma tunnel" comes from the alleged high average age of the clients. In practice, this means you will usually meet people from 30 to 50 years. Very few actual grandmas come here. Live music available pretty much every day. The place is extremely crowded in summer but almost deserted in winter.
A complex featuring a deli, a restaurant, a bar and a night club, all of them trendy and popular among the well-dressed crowd. Check out the aptly named Clock Bar (Kellobaari) downstairs. Closed Sunday.
One of the busiest gay nightclubs in Scandinavia, mainly a 30+ clients, dance floor and 2 bare, good for bare-faced cruising. Entrance free; coat check €2.50 (on special guests nights fees may vary).
19-room hotel.
Minimally equipped business hotel.
Formerly GLO Helsinki.
Opened 1887, this historic hotel claims to be the only true 5-star in Scandinavia, with doormen in top hats, yacht charters and prices to match: the eight-room Mannerheim Suite can be yours for only €3300 per night.
A 5-star hotel in the city centre including over 200 spacious and luxurious rooms and suites of various sizes.
Classy hotel in a protected and carefully renovated, Kalevala-inspired 1917 building. Excellent breakfast buffet.
Akademiska bokhandeln
The largest bookstore in Northern Europe, with extensive selections in English too. An underground passage connects the bookstore to Stockmann. If for no other reason the bookstore's architecture (Alvar Aalto) and pleasant second floor cafeteria (one of the few with to-table service in Helsinki) might be enough reason to visit.
Northern Europe's largest department store. The flagship of Finland's premier department store chain. When Helsinkians meet "under the clock" (kellon alla), they mean the one rotating under the main entrance to Stockmann. Large selection of souvenirs and Finnish goods, and the Herkku supermarket in the basement offers an amazing range of gourmet food from all over Europe. There are also smaller branches of Stockmann at the malls of Itäkeskus, Jumbo, Tapiola and the airport.
Upscale shopping mall, with local brands like Marimekko, Aarikka and Iittala.
Re-opened after extensive renovations in 2011, the Kluuvi shopping centre features a range of international and domestic brands. Perhaps the most interesting concept is the Eat & Joy Markethall selling organic and local food in the basement. Grind your own flour and fill your bottles with crude milk but be prepared for steep prices.
A large department store next to the railway station. Good place for buying clothes, you can often find the same products here as in nearby Stockmann but at a lower price. On the downside, despite being a department store they have a rather limited selection of everything else. The restaurant at the top floor has a nice view of central Helsinki.
An airy concept store for the Iittala brand of Finnish glassware, pans, kitchen utensils and more. Personal service by the friendly staff.
Step on a high tech gadget that measures your foot and then choose what sort of shoe you would like to wear. Get the tailored shoe sent home by post. Only men's shoes. Prices start at around €300 and go up €450 depending on the materials used.
Innovative and unique Finnish interior design, bags, and fabrics. This is the flagship store, but items can also be found at the Kämp Gallery, Kamppi Centre, Hakaniemi Market Hall, or their factory shop.
In the heart of Helsinki at Kluuvi shopping centre, another one at Helsinki Airport. The markets are open seven days a week and have delicacies from more than 500 small producers across Finland: wild reindeer (poro), salmon, artisan cheeses, berry jams, fish roe, hand-crafted beer and cider, mushrooms, rye bread, smoked specialities, kyyttö forest cow, artisan chocolates and many other products – all direct from the producers.
Getting in is easy as almost all local bus and rail lines end in or pass through the city centre, or at least enable you to get to central Helsinki with just one change, like the buses connecting to metro stations in…
Read in the guideGetting around the centre is probably easiest by foot or by bike. If you don't feel like walking, though, you can always use the metro or the trams provided you have a valid ticket.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Helsinki (Vantaa) · International · HEL
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