Helsinki, the capital of Finland is where we experience the city vibes after visiting the medieval town of Porvoo and meeting Santa Claus and his reindeer at Lapland (northernmost region of Finland) near the Arctic Circle. It may look like an ordinary capital with plenty of modern buildings and busy streets but our impression of it is more towards a peaceful, cool, introverted and quiet city. Well, this sounds boring but there are actually many hidden gems within this beautiful city giving us a relaxing, friendly and comfortable feeling as we explored it. As we wandered along the streets, we learnt to appreciate the tasty local foods, the friendliness of the Finnish people and the incredible details of the architectural works!
We were able to spend some time in this city thanks to the comfortable overnight VR train all the way from Rovaniemi arriving at Helsinki early in the morning while it is still dark. Since we had to board the cruise heading to Stockholm at about 4.30pm, we decided to store our luggage at the cruise terminal itself, Olympia Terminal.
Experience sharing and money saving tip (1): We arrived at Olympia Terminal quite early in the morning and found that the luggage lockers were not operating yet (it probably follows the operation hours of the terminal). Luckily, the staff at the convenience store next to these lockers solved our problem by offering us a much cheaper rate to store our luggage in the store’s storage room for the entire day.
Then, we purchased the ONE DAY HSL Ticket at EUR9 (price as of 2018) which provided us with unlimited rides for different modes of transportation within the area of Helsinki. This ticket certainly gave us the convenience to hop onto any public transport anytime anywhere and save the time needed to buy a ticket before every journey.
Notes and money saving tip (2): The ONE DAY HSL Ticket allows you to take any modes of transportation such as trams, metros, buses and commuter trains within a day. It would be advisable to visit both Suomenlinna and the other attractions of Helsinki on the same day since the return ferry fare of Suomenlinna is included in the ticket (this return ferry ticket cost EUR5 by itself and is only valid for 12 hours). If you are travelling to the airport (In Vantaa) by train, you are required to purchase the regional ticket. For a better understanding, you can always visit their official website, https://www.hsl.fi/en/information/how-use-public-transport
While waiting for the stalls in Kauppatori Market Square to set up, we went to check out Uspenski Cathedral followed by Helsinki Cathedral and Helsinki Senate Square since the 3 of them are just within walking distance.
We believe that some of you may have heard about these cathedrals because they are usually the must-visit attractions in Helsinki especially when it is so close to the Kauppatori Market. We also noticed that the cathedrals have some eastern elements especially for Uspenski Cathedral. Well, Russia is just next to Finland anyway.
Sadly, only a few stalls were open (selling coffees, breakfasts and jams) at the Kauppatori Market Square after we visited the cathedrals and the Senate Square. Instead of getting some coffee, bagels or sandwiches, we were more interested with the yummy fried fishes or seafood platter that we had on our first day in Finland (before boarding the ferry for Suomenlinna). Sadly, we were told by the stall owner that they will only be ready for business around 11.00am.
Without further delay, we headed to the next attraction in our itinerary, Sibelius Monument, before having breakfast at the nearby Café Regatta (they are famous for their Cinnamon Bun). Sibelius Monument is a statue made of welded steel with over 600 pipes. It looks simple yet nice and if you are looking from far, it may give you a musical feeling of ups and downs.
Just a few minutes of walking distance away from Sibelius Monument, there is a small red cottage café baking the locals’ favorite pastry, the cinnamon bun. It is not only famous among the tourists but also among the locals as well. Their cinnamon bun is strongly recommended and definitely cannot be missed.
Initially, we only thought of trying just one cinnamon bun since it is never our favorite! However, Café Regatta’s freshly baked cinnamon bun is the best that we have ever had. Its soft texture, good taste and strong fragrance are something which you cannot say no to. We even ordered a second cinnamon bun because the temptation is just too hard to resist.
After the fantastic breakfast accompanied by its warm and cozy interior, we walked around the outside of the café. We would say that it would be more enjoyable dining outside if the weather wasn’t freezing cold. It seems like a relaxing place to just sit down for some pastries and a cup of hot beverage.
Next attraction is the church which we were looking forward to check out its unique architectural works (made of solid rocks in its original shapes). Temppeliaukio Church (also known as rock church) is definitely a place worth visiting. We paid the admission fees of EUR3 per person to appreciate this unique masterpiece from within the church. The interior of the church felt so peaceful and comfortable at the same time. It is just amazing!
Time passed quickly as it approached lunchtime, we headed to the local market hall to source for the best seafood soup of lives. Tapaste Oy Soppakeittiö located in Hakaniemi Market Hall serves very delicious Bouillabaisse Seafood Soup filled with generous amount of salmons, mussels and shrimps. Before tasting the soup, we thought that the seafood soup would have a fishy taste and may not suit an Asian’s taste bud. But, the moment we scooped the soup into our mouth, it tastes super good and all our negative thoughts were destroyed!
Within the big bowl, there are chunks of salmon and other seafood wrapped in smooth broth tasting something like tomato flavor! This delicious soup is further enhanced by mixing with sour cream. Unlimited refills of basket of breads with herb oil for dipping are also provided. This is just the perfect food to warm up our hearts and bodies on a cold day!
We walked around Hakaniemi Market Hall which is also the local market hall in the area after savoring the fantastic soup. We just love visiting local market halls, farmer markets and supermarkets wherever we go because we felt that this are the places where you can perhaps understand the locals a little while getting to know more about their culture and foods.
With just a few hours left to board our cruise, we headed to a nearby supermarket to get some local foods to be brought back to Malaysia and of course to get some snacks as well. Fortunately, we finally found the Finnish Classic Skincare Brand which is rated as one of the most valuable cosmetic brand in Finland. I quickly bought 2 tubes of body lotions for skin moisturizing with ingredients of Nordic water and cloud berries respectively. It is cheap and very good to use under the Scandinavian climate.
Then, we also went to get some cheap souvenirs from a shop selling fridge magnets at only EUR1 each. This would be one of the best places to get some souvenirs for your family or friends. Obviously, with such pricing, the magnets are simple looking and you can’t expect too much for its quality.
Money Saving Tip (3): The name of this souvenir shop is Euro Kauppa. You can easily get here by getting down at Kaisaniemenkatu Station via Tram Route No. 3.
Before heading back to Kauppatori Market, we quickly went to Stockman supermarket to get some blueberry powders which is actually a famous Finnish product. However, it is not easy to find. We only managed to buy the bottled form from Stockman but we noticed that the packets form from LiDL Supermarket in Lapland is much cheaper. Well, if you are taking a flight, you can actually get these from the duty free stores.
Money Saving Tip (4): If you have a plastic bottle, remember to keep it for recycling purpose. There is a plastic bottle recycling machine which gives you a voucher to spend at the supermarket. Save the earth and some money at the same time.
Once we were done, we took the tram to Kauppatori Market to get our favorite fried fish and seafood platter for dinner on the cruise later. This was our second time eating it before leaving Helsinki. This small market has quite a lot of things to check out such as handicrafts, homemade jams, souvenirs, berries, reindeer meat and many more! We wanted to try the reindeer meat but we felt cruel eating Santa’s pet. In the end, we only bought some handicrafts and souvenirs before leaving for Olympia Terminal (the cruise terminal).
It was sad saying goodbye to this wonderful city and country. We will definitely be back! Certainly miss our times there as we are writing this blog post. 😭
Visiting a place for the first time may not give you what you want but visiting it for a second time will certainly accomplish what you missed the previous time. This was the case for us when we visited Helsinki. We strongly believe that one shouldn’t only use the eyes to capture all the beautiful scenery and buildings, but should also taste the unique local foods while exploring the city to your heart’s content.
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