Our stay in Helsinki has been an incredible experience! Being able to live the city like a local was a truly gift. Another thing we really liked about the stay was that it allowed us to explore the city with freedom, letting you choose your favourite transport method. Helsinki made it to the top of our list of “places we wouldn’t mind living in”. We love how proud Finns are of its national products and how well designed everything is, from big spaces to small tiny objects. We do have many excuses to pay you again a visit!
Spanish Anna Devís & Daniel Rueda visited Helsinki in summer and documented their trip on their popular Instagram accounts anniset & drcuerda.
Here follows a short summary of those photos with 5 tips out of their recommendations in Helsinki:
1. Riding around the city
Although Helsinki has an amazing public transport system, we highly recommend discovering the city by bike. This allows you to get lost and discover new beautiful spots you may not have in your list. Since we are really interested in architecture, not having a tight schedule helped us to design an itinerary focused on buildings and also, to take the time we needed to take pictures of them. One of our favorite unexpected spots was Helsinki’s Central Park. As architects, we are always looking for interesting buildings and we tend to overlook gardens and parks, but nature is so present in this city that we couldn’t miss this magical place.
2. Visiting Aalto’s work
As architects, this was absolutely one of the highlights of the trip. After studying all his works at university, seeing some of his best works in person and living the spaces he lived and worked in was such a joyful experience! We believe that understanding the architecture of the past is the only way we’ll be able to build the cities of the future. That’s why, whether an architect or not, we really recommend visiting at least his house and studio. If possible, book a guided tour for both too, so much worth it!
3. Read a book in a library
After this trip, we have discovered we may have a thing for libraries! You can find many libraries around Helsinki and all of them are simply beautiful. Oodi Central Library is a must-visit, of course. Finland’s 100th birthday gift to its citizens it’s for sure one of the most beautiful, yet modern, libraries in the city. You can go there to meet up with your friends for a cup of coffee, practice with your band, learn how to use a 3D printer, or even read books! How cool is that? The Helsinki University Library is another one of those spaces we fell in love instantly. The dialogue between its dark brickwork facade and its bright central atrium is really interesting! We also recommend checking the top terrace from where you can spot Helsinki’s Cathedral!
4. Sauna
This may sound cliche but you must go to the sauna when in Helsinki! We visited the city during the warmest days of summer, but even though the weather was nice, we didn’t want to miss a thing. And we are glad gave it a try by visiting Allas, one of the best wellness centres in the city. Our favourite part was experiencing the contrast between the heat of the sauna and the cold of the Baltic sea… I’m not so sure we would be brave enough to try this again in winter, though!
5. Design District Helsinki
We are big fans of nordic design and we couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit some shops when in Helsinki! We visited Hakola, Artek, Iittala, Marimekko, TRE, Minna Parikka… You will enjoy seeing those beautiful well designed pieces in real life as well as their amazing stores!
