Ot - Hel
 

As I am planning to head to HEL later this year. Which month will be best? Autumn (Sep/Oct) or Winter (Nov/Dec)

What are the key things you would recommend in HEL?

THanks

theres a hotel with a tower on it and a coffee bar at the top with good views but i've been trying to clear the tescpo wine mountain so i;m dammed if i can remember whats its called but the hot chocolate wa sthe best i ever tasted,

Depends if you like the cold or not. If you want to see the Baltic with chunks of ice floating in the harbour and the wind literally freezing your face off, and only about 4 hours of daylight, Dec is the month...compensated by lots of (expensive) booze in bars with twinkling lights...or in Sept it can be quite mild and late-summery...dunno about Oct. HEL is great - lots of stuff to do - good galleries, museums, shopping etc (except for fashion - Marimekko excepted, it's hardly a fashion mecca) - and nice people...and you have to like eating salmon, mashed potato, berries and smoked reindeer!

Hi,

How averse are you to the cold!! ( and limited daylight hours)

Sep/Oct will be warmer.
Sights to see;

Senate square
The two major cathedrals ( Lutherian and the one on Senate square)
Olympic Stadium
The Esplanade
A boat trip to Summolina Fortress ( an island fortress about a 10-15min boat trip -from the city centre- free with the Helsinki Card.

An open air museum near the city centre

A trip to Tallinn maybe ( 90mins by fast boat-may not run in the winter-only the slower larger ferries) or 30mins flying time.

I have an Insight guide book and will post more stuff tomorrow

Regards

TBS

Take plenty dosh.

Only been twice both in a summer heatwave and loved it - it's a great city for walking about so I would go in Sep/Oct if I had the choice,though I can imagine it would be nice in winter in the snow.
I would fly over to Tallinn if you go for the day - the boat can be full of booze cruisers.:D

Many Thanks.

I never knew HEL is good for shopping? I thought those Northern Europe cities can be EXPENSIVE?

Also is there like a Nokia museum or shop we can goto near HEL?

What are the main things worthwhile buying in HEL
A trip to Tallinn maybe ( 90mins by fast boat-may not run in the winter-only the slower larger ferries) or 30mins flying time.

I have an Insight guide book and will post more stuff tomorrow

Regards

TBS[/QUOTE]

Wows.ers Having re-gasted my post-pub flabber at seeing an OT post on Imaportan Life Decsion Making(TM from the OP, I can say September. Unless you like nsow (well, except last year). Eat at Lappi ^ Train to Tampere and see the lakes and nice scenery if there's time and the weather's good. Spend time to idly walk around the city centre and explore.It is fairly compact and very pleasant. Now shortage of bars and nice local food.

The only item I bought in Helsinki was a hunting knife - I was going through a Ray Mears phase at the time :confused: - they do make good quality knives.

Dont forget the Eurovision bar- Con Hom,bres!:D

In September you will have the best chance of having a good experience. There is still a reasonable chance of good weather, crayfish are in season, and there is still plentiful light. Finnish winter can be great; however Helsinki rarely gets good winter weather, especially before January.

A few suggestions:

* Stay at Hotel Kämppi. It is far and away the best hotel in Finland. It is centrally located and the prices are not bad.
* Have dinner at Restaurant Demo and/or Chez Dominique (one and two stars, respectively)
* Have lunch at Restaurant Salve (traditional Finnish food)
* Go to Hakaniemi Market Place one early morning. It is much less touristy than the main market place. Have a cup of coffee and a jelly donut. Also go into the market hall which is adjacent.
* Visit Ateneum and Kiasma (the main art museums). Also, if you are artistically inclined, you may want to go see the EMMA museum in Tapiola (roughly 5 miles away). Smaller, yet interesting museums include the Didrichsen Museum.
* Visit Tarvaspää (the summer house and atelier of Akseli Gallen-Kallela, one of the greatest Finnish artists) and/or Hvitträsk (the atelier/huose of Eliel Saarinen and his colleagues).
* For a slice of Finland of yore, go and have a stroll at the Seurasaari open air museum. Close to Seurasaari is Tamminiemi, the home of former president Kekkonen, which is now a museum.
* Take a boat cruise to see the islands and Helsinki from the sea.

Hope you'll enjoy Helsinki!

Cheers,
T.

The Nokia Flagship Store is located on the corner of Aleksanterinkatu and Mikonkatu. It's a store where you can try and buy the latest Nokia products. It's not as big as the ones in NYC, Chicago, HK, Mexico, Moscow, etc...

DEFINITELY stay at the Kamp. It is excellent, albeit very much in the 'English gentlemens club' style. There is a new design hotel opened opposite (Klaus K or something?) but I do rate the Kamp based on my 1 visit.

There is 1 rule when visiting Scandi-land - ALWAYS go in late July / August / early Sep. The Summer is very short up there and these people know how to enjoy themselves when it comes round!

Personally, I think Stockholm is 100 times better than Helsinki. The Vasa ship restoration is one of the most amazing things you will ever see. Once you've done Stockholm, then do Helsinki / Tallinn, and only then do Copenhagen which I really can't get to like. Bergen is also very pleasant but doesn't really have the big city vibe.

Personally I think HEL is a much much nicer city that ARN. I think HEL has a natural charm to it, and the people are so nice. ARN has a touristy island full of of tat, and a busy shopping area that resembles East Berlin, although the Vasa ship is really cool.

As well as the Kamp, I really like the suites in the Scandic Continental, which are big and not so expensive. And you get full HHonors points. Plus you have the AY airport bus stopping right at the back door. Oh, and the BA crew stay there too.

I have to agree with Smirnoff HEL is a wonderful city and I really look forward to going there every few weeks. The people are amazingly friendly and the only problem I have is getting back to my bed at a reasonable hour (and sober!) when I'm out for dinner with my customers :eek:

Klaus K is a design hotel on Bulevardi (a couple of hundred of meters from Kamp). However there's another design hotel which just opened close to Kamp called Glo (http://www.palacekamp.fi/hotellit/hotel_glo/ sorry only in Finnish) which is in the same chain as Kamp.