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Northern division of Helsinki, Finland
Photo: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Helsinki's northern suburbs are the northernmost part of Helsinki and form the continuum between Vantaa and more central parts of Helsinki. Here, this is defined as northwest of motorway 4 and north of Käpylä, Hakamäentie and Haaga roundabout; in other words north of the tram line termini. Like much of the peripheral Capital Region it's dominated by apartment buildings, industrial areas and a couple of malls but no major attractions are located here. Still, if you're a fan of outdoor activities like running or biking you might be interested in Helsinki's own "Central Park".
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Malmin lentokenttä
Located north of Malmi, the airport was the general aviation airport of Helsinki after the opening of Helsinki Airport. After two decades of planning, debates and protests, the airport was shut down entirely in 2021 after functioning as an uncontrolled airfield for a few years. The City of Helsinki will turn the area into a new residential district, though the functionalist terminal building will be preserved.
A look into the daily life on an 18th-century manor. Also hosts a restaurant and a riding school.
Alppiruusupuisto
Helsinki University's rhododendron research garden in the Haaga district is also a public park that you can visit around the year. Best time to for visiting are in early or mid-June when the rhododendrons bloom.
Kannelmäen kirkko
Finished in 1968 and looking like a copper pyramid with windows along the edges forming a cross. It's listed by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities as a "nationally remarkable built cultural environment".
Tapanilan kirkko
The 1957 church building designed by Per Björkvall, which is the oldest church in the entire Malmi parish.
Malmin hautausmaa
The biggest cemetery in the country by number of burials. Many Finnish cultural and political personalities are buried here. Other things worth seeing are the main chapel built in 1923 which is still used, as well as the cemetery's own water tower and railway station, both of which are disused.
Eläinten hautausmaa
An animal cemetery established in 1947 and maintained by HESY ry, the animal protection association of Helsinki, contains about 3,000 graves.
Malmin Krishna-temppeli
An ISKCON temple.
BBC
A gym founded in 1968. It has been visited by bodybuilding legends Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo and Frank Zane, among others.
Fallkullan kotieläintila
In Fallkulla you can get to know the traditional farm animals: sheep, goats, cattle, ducks, chickens, rabbits and horses.
Haltialan kotieläintila
A kind of a zoo with farm animals in a real countryside environment. The Haltiala farm has many domestic animals such as cows, sheep, pigs and chickens. They are outdoors from summer to autumn, allowing them to be seen in the courtyard from morning to night. For the rest of the year, the animals are indoors. Occasionally country music concerts are held at Haltiala.
Keskuspuisto
This is a huge park starting just north of the Olympic Stadium and extending northwards for 10 km. It encompasses an area of over 1,000 hectares. The park is mostly in a natural state, with plenty of walkways, bikeways, riding paths and sports facilities including Pirkkola Sports Park (ice hockey, swimming, running) and Paloheinä (skiing, golf). A popular jogging area.
A concert and exhibition hall in Kannelmäki.
With a height of about 90 m, this is the highest point in Helsinki and when you've climbed the 426 stairs to the top you're rewarded with a nice view in all directions. In winter this is a great place for sledding. The hill itself is actually an old landfill and consists mostly of building material which has given the hill nicknames such as the dump hill or filling hill! Can be accessed from two directions, either from the east (Naapuripellontie) or from Paperitie (west), which is within a walking distance (0.8 km) of Uusmäki bus stop, Espoo.
Malminkartanon Omenatarha
There are 350 trees in Malminkartano garden. Most are apple trees, but there are also pear, plum and cherry trees. Guests are free to pick fruit from the trees.
A culture centre.
A gym.
An arcade game hall in the Malmi district. Minimum age 12.
A sports club focused on karate.
Kaljakellunta
An unofficial event usually held the last weekend of July or the first weekend of August since 1997. The participants (yup, mostly males in their 20s) gather in Vantaa with rubber boats, rafts or whatever they can find that floats and travel downstream towards the Vanhankaupunki rapids while indulging beer – of course without life vests. This event has no official arrangers that could be held responsible if something happens and the date of the event just spreads in social media. If you think watching the spectacle isn't enough, remember that you're doing it on your own risk!
Sandwiches, pastries and cakes fresh out of the oven at the bakery's café.
Lunch restaurant in Kannelmäki.
The name means "pizza and kebab in Pakila" but the restaurant also serves steaks, hamburgers, salads and chicken wings. Sports events shown on a big TV screen and various live events.
Ravintola Pelimanni
A restaurant bar.
The place to go if you like to sample food from East and Southeast Asia. The restaurant is best known for its big all you can eat sushi buffet with perhaps 20 different sushis as well as different Chinese and Thai dishes. You can also order individual dishes from the menu. If you eat at the buffet and leave a lot of food on the plate, you need to pay for it – only take as much as you can eat, you can refill your plate as many times as you like.
Malmin Kuningas ravintola
Ecological lunch meals using surplus food of supermarkets as the main raw material for the meals.
An Asian fusion restaurant.
A Thai restaurant.
A bakery.
British pub.
A pub restaurant.
Irish pub.
A pub restaurant.
Live music, darts, billiard table.
Pub Maria
A pub.
This hotel in the Tattarisuo industrial area is likely the only one in the north-eastern corner of Helsinki proper. You can choose between dorm accommodation or private room. The hotel has ample parking space, free Wi-Fi, TVs in the rooms and some rooms have their own bathrooms.
Prisma hypermarket and about 80 other businesses.
Also features an indoor climbing area.
The southeastern half of the shopping complex on both sides of the railway in Malmi. Connected to Malmintori with a covered walking bridge through the Malmi railway station.
The northwestern half of the shopping complex on both sides of the railway in Malmi. Connected to Malmin Nova with a covered walking bridge through the Malmi railway station.
A bit outside the centre but reachable by public transport, is Europe's biggest military surplus store. Has probably the friendliest and the most knowledgeable staff you'll find in Finland. Varusteleka sells anything from modern combat gear, to 1930s Nazi leather trench coats, to very good value-for-money modern gore-tex hiking coats that some army somewhere had too many of.
Ukrainian grocery store.
A grocery store selling Asian and Middle Eastern foods.
You can get in from elsewhere in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa by local trains and local buses. See Journey Planner or Google Maps for routes and schedules.
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