Ateneum gives a very good overview about Finnish and European art in 1800s and 1900s. The place…read morehouses some of the most important oil paintings of national artists. The cost is well in par with the historic value the expos provide.

Fantastic museum in a lovely historic building. The Kallela and Klimt collections are worth this…read morevisit alone. Helpful staff, worthwhile value of time and money.

Wonderful nature and peace in Helsinki. Lovely place for walking and picnics. Trees, forests,…read morewater, nature. Nice open air museum and cafe, lots of happenings around the year.

June 2012. It's too…read morebeautiful to spend the day inside, so we visit Seurasaari. A century ago, an ethnographer named Axel Olai Heikel began collecting traditional Finnish structures out on this island. Sweden already had an open-air museum like that (Swedes!), so Heikel decided that Finland should have one, too. The number 24 bus drops us off at the entrance an hour before the island closes, so we rush to the ticket booth and grab a map, hoping to squeeze as much of Finland's glorious architectural heritage as we can into sixty minutes. We read that there are historical re-enactors in the buildings, so we're expecting a Finnish version of Colonial Williamsburg, with artisanal baking demonstrations and maybe some farriery or blacksmithing. Coopering. That kind of thing. But the re-enactors we encounter are mostly high school kids with attitude whose summer job is to hang out on the island wearing period costumes and make sure no one tags the traditional structures or steals stuff. We hustle through a series of smoke cabins, crofter's dwellings, granaries, and farmyards. We glimpse a wooden church. We spot a parsonage. We read that many of these buildings are the last surviving examples of early 19th-century Finnish architecture. They're lovely, these rustic wooden structures with elegant joinery and stripped down minimalism that look like something Alvar Aalto might have built if he'd been a crofter.

We only visited the outside of this lovely theatre and statue. The architecture is unique and…read morebeautifully designed. The structure was built in 1902

Lovely old theatre at downtown Helsinki. Wonderful…read moreatmosphere. Excellent shows. Totally worth visiting.

Glims Farmstead Museum is a lovely place, especially in summer and Christmas time. It's mostly…read moreabout rural 19th century Finland but has also temporary exhibitions. In summertime they have different handicraft demonstrations and guidings almost every day and there are sheep and hen you can meet. It's nice to visit any time of the year, but November-December the main building has 19th century Christmas decorations and they tell about traditional Finnish Christmas. The personnel is extremely helpful and enthusiasted and know their stuff - ask them anything about their subject and they will answer! They have a nice museum shop, if you're searching for gifts. There is also a small and cosy cafe which has excellent pullas (sweet buns).

This large statue of Alexander II, Tsar of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland sits in one of the most…read moreimportant squares of the city of Helsinki. Senate Square. The bronze Alexander II is wearing a guards uniform The statue was erected in 1894 to commemorate his re-establishment of the Diet of Finland in 1863 as well as his initiation of several reforms that increased Finland's autonomy from Russia. The statue is surrounded by four smaller figures representing Law (the Maiden of Finland, wearing a bearskin and with sword/shield), Light (the woman accompanied by an angel with a lyre), Peace (woman with fruit and corn) and Word (man with a hammer and woman with a sickle). [Review 10066 overall, 1651 of 2018.]

Czar Alexander II This statue depicts the Czar of Russia,…read moreAlexander II. In case you're not counting, he was the kind, benevolent czar that everybody loved. He was czar over Finland too, since that was once part of Russia. This statue is huge- it sits in the middle of Senate Square, a large plaza with the church on one end, and the governmental offices on the other. At the base of the statue, it depicts the different studies and things that the Czar believed in, like law and agriculture. This statue features a QR code that you can scan with your smart phone, and learn a bit more about it. However, when I tried, it wasn't functioning properly on the website. The statue is quite old, commemorated in 1894, built by Walter Runeberg. Finland still has longstanding ties with Russia, since St. Petersburg is just up the bay from Helsinki. I'm thankful that they're friendly! The statue is a symbol of quiet resistance against any Russians trying to take over Finland, and says more about their history than I'll ever know. It's a nice piece of public art, prominently placed in one of the most important squares in the city. Check it!

The Vesikko is a World War 2 submarine that's permanently docked at Suomenlinna. During the war,…read moreFinland had five subs but when the war ended, they sold four of them to Russia to raise some cash. The Vesikko is the last of the subs. Nowadays, you can take a tour of it. Inside, it's predictably cramped, but tidy and thoughtfully designed, the way things are in Finland. The docent tells us that while the Russians and the Germans would cruise around the open ocean in their submarines looking for trouble, the Finns were much more careful, which is probably why the submarine survived the war and Finland did, too. I get the idea that being careful is a guiding principle for Finland. Perched way up north with Europe on one side and Russia on the other, it's a country that's made an art of being careful.

The stadium is worth a look and there are many walking and cycling trails to explore. We walked all…read morethe way to Central Library along the Central Park area from the Stadium.

If you're ever in a city that was a host for the Olympics. You just see the Olympic stadium. The…read moretours of the stadium are generally available and I was lucky enough to arrive in Helsinki during the Metallica M72 European tour. I couldn't NOT make an attempt to see the greatest metal band in an Olympic stadium. Which did not disappoint. But don't take my word for it, TRY IT OUT