helsinki

[miss dee]

i am looking for suggestions on what to do in helsinki.

[Travelanni]

i am looking for suggestions on what to do in helsinki.

 

Try this thread:-

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1606720

 

There are at least three 'locals' regularly answering questions here. We found some very good tips and advice although, unfortunately, we missed this port due to bad weather in SPB.

 

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[KirkNC]

Too bad as it is a great port. Catch the ferry over to the fort, wander the promenade area.

[Cindy]

We took a private tour with a one-man company called Paulo's Tours that I found on Trip Advisor. We toured Helsinki and spent considerable time out in Porvoo -- It was a great day! I know other people on my cruise took a tour with a company called Happy Tours and they also had a wonderful time.

[miss dee]

We took a private tour with a one-man company called Paulo's Tours that I found on Trip Advisor. We toured Helsinki and spent considerable time out in Porvoo -- It was a great day! I know other people on my cruise took a tour with a company called Happy Tours and they also had a wonderful time.

 

how many people were on your tour. how were paulos prices. thank you

[miss dee]

We took a private tour with a one-man company called Paulo's Tours that I found on Trip Advisor. We toured Helsinki and spent considerable time out in Porvoo -- It was a great day! I know other people on my cruise took a tour with a company called Happy Tours and they also had a wonderful time.

 

what did you do in copenhagen?

[Cindy]

how many people were on your tour. how were paulos prices. thank you

 

There were 6 of us, and the cost was 400 Euros...we were gone about 7 hours, and could have stayed out longer but my mom and another older lady were getting tired and were ready to go back to the ship.

 

 

what did you do in copenhagen?

 

We did a Celebrity tour called Royal Smushi Café or something like that. It was a walking tour of the city, a light lunch at the café, and then a boat tour that dropped us back at the ship. It was excellent -- our guide that day was fantastic!

[miss dee]

There were 6 of us, and the cost was 400 Euros...we were gone about 7 hours, and could have stayed out longer but my mom and another older lady were getting tired and were ready to go back to the ship.

 

 

 

 

We did a Celebrity tour called Royal Smushi Café or something like that. It was a walking tour of the city, a light lunch at the café, and then a boat tour that dropped us back at the ship. It was excellent -- our guide that day was fantastic!

 

thank you cindy. paulo unfortunately is booked the day that i am in helsinki.

[Mareigold]

We just got back and also took a private tour. We used Tomas Lonnberg who owns Kontiki Finland. There were four of us and the cost was 110 Euros pp price included lunch. We went to Provoo and had a very nice lunch there then toured the area in which he lives, then back to Helsinki to see some of the sites. I highly recommend Tomas, we had a great day.

[TLCOhio]

i am looking for suggestions on what to do in helsinki.

 

Glad that Houston's Miss Dee is preparing for a visit to Helsinki. We had a private tour through our travel agent's group provided for us. This included around the town and going out into the country to visit the home/office for one of Finland's most famous architects.

 

But in the central downtown, many of the key attractions are handy, fun and close, including the Market, Senate Square, etc.

 

Below are some of my visuals and some personal favorites to consider.

 

Here's the web location for the official tourism office in Helsinki.

http://www.visithelsinki.fi/In_English/Visitor/Helsinki/Tourist_Information.iw3

 

Helsinki does not have the centuries of Royal heritage and architecture that you will see in Copenhagen, St. Petersburg and Stockholm. The market area is a must-see for great "walking-around" sights and options.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 149,391 views. Nice to be hitting this high of a level for viewership. Appreciate the interest and follow-up questions/comments!!

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Helsinki’s Church of Rock, or Temppeliaukion Kirkko, is carved out of solid stone with a unique contemporary design. This Lutheran church was opened in September 1969. For economic reasons, its suggested plan was scaled back and the interior space reduced to about one-quarter of the original, pre-WWII plan. The interior was excavated and built directly out of solid rock and is bathed in natural light which enters through the glazed dome. The church is used frequently as a concert venue with its excellent acoustics. The acoustic quality is created by the rough, virtually unworked rock surfaces. The Temppeliaukio church is one of the most popular tourist attractions in this city with half a million people visiting annually. :

 

 

 

Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki’s traditional Eastern Orthodox Church, is placed on a solid stone base overlooking the main market. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary and designed by a Russian architect, it was built 1862–1868. On the back of the cathedral, there is a plaque commemorating Russian Emperor Alexander II, who was the sovereign of the Grand Duchy of Finland during the cathedral's construction. It is claimed to be the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe, has has several valuable icons and attracts over a half million tourists yearly. Admission to the Cathedral is free of charge and it is closed on Mondays.:

 

 

 

Overlooking and dominating Helsinki's Senate Square, this is the Helsinki Cathedral, originally called the Church of St. Nicholas. This Lutheran Church was commenced in 1830 and completed in 1852. Its dome is a key local landmark. A statue of Russian Emperor Alexander II, erected in 1894, is located in the center of the square. After Finland's independence in 1917, demands were made regarding the removal of the statue, but that never happened. Senate Square is one of the main tourist attractions of Helsinki.:

 

 

 

In Helsinki’s main downtown, this is the shopping area next to the main market:

 

 

 

Helsinki’s rail station was designed by famed architect Eliel Saarinen who has American connection through his later work here and his famed son, Eero, who did the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Dulles airport terminal, CBS building in NYC, TWA terminal at JFK airport, etc.:

 

 

 

This Helsinki park has a stainless steel sculpture dedicated to famed composer Sibelius who is best-known for his symphonic work. The monument was unveiled in 1967 and sparked a debate about this abstract art. It consists of series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. It weighs 24 tons and measures 8.5 × 10.5 × 6.5 meters. This Sibelius Park has a nice, wooded setting next to the water. It is about a mile and a half from the main downtown. Sorry, not as handy to the main Market/downtown area. It is also near the stadium setting for the XV Olympics for when it was staged there in Helsinki in 1952. The Olympics were supposed to be there in 1940, but that got moved back due to World War II.: