In the days before my trip to Helsinki, I felt a mix of excitement and worry. I was excited to re-visit a city I had previously visited on a short two-day trip, and fallen in love with. I wanted to explore more of the city and also introduce it to my husband who had never been to Finland before. But it was December and a part of me was worried about travelling to Helsinki in the middle of winter. Would it be too cold, would the days be too short, would there be enough activities to keep us entertained? – I wondered. It turns out I shouldn’t have worried at all! Helsinki has so much to offer to visitors, no matter their tastes and interests and no matter the season. Yes, the hours of daylight are limited in December, but there is plenty to keep you entertained after the sun goes down.
British Giulia Mule & Sandeep Patel visited Helsinki in winter and published several posts about their stay on Giulia's popular Instagram account mondomulia.
Here follows a short summary of those posts with 5 tips out of their recommendations in Helsinki:
1) a “cupping” (coffee tasting) session with the 2019 Finnish Barista Champion, Kaisa Kokkonen, at Kaffa Roastery. One of their coffees, a washed Kenyan single origin, tasted of sweet and berries, so it was like drinking blueberry juice. It was very tasty and a coffee I won’t forget easily! I visited over 10 speciality coffee shops in Helsinki and I can easily say Kaffa makes my Top Three list.
2) I have a weakness for cinnamon buns, so naturally I spent a good amount of time on the hunt for Helsinki’s best ones. All in the name of research, of course… my favourite one was from Kanniston Leipomo, a bakery and coffee chain with several shops in the city. I thought their quality was consistently high (yes, I have tried a few…), the pastries fresh and the prices fair.
3) Food Market Herkku: what a wonderful discovery! I spent hours wandering the aisles of this fancy food hall, located in the basement of Stockmann department store, looking at all the different foods and drinks on sale. Inside the supermarket you will also find a bistro serving hot dishes; the salmon soup is a must try!
4) a flawless 6-course tasting menu with wine pairing at restaurant Spis. The tiny restaurant in the Design District has just 18 covers, so guests are truly looked after. The food was sensational, and so were the natural wines the chef paired with our dishes.
5) Way Bakery and Wine Bar is a great spot to hang out with friends. The tiny shop serves coffee, cakes and cinnamon buns throughout the day, but turns into a wine bar in the evenings, focusing on natural wines. This bakery makes the best sourdough bread in Helsinki!
See all their photos on Instagram here, and read the Helsinki blog posts here!
In the evenings, I got into the festive spirit by walking through the wooden stands of the Christmas Market at Senate Square, sipping glögi (a hot spiced drink) and nibbling on a freshly-baked tähtitorttu, a star-shaped pastry typical of the Christmas season. As a food and coffee lover, my favourite part about being in Helsinki was learning about Finnish cuisine, its traditional dishes and seasonal ingredients. I was blown away by the sheer amount of amazing restaurants, bakeries, bars, food markets and specialty coffee shops. I never spent too long outside in the cold weather because I was always inside a cozy café or a trendy restaurant. I spent hours chatting to baristas, waiters/waitresses and chefs.
