Is Helsinki "open"
 

I understand that I can travel to Finland, but are businesses in Helsinki (bars, restaurants, nightclubs, etc) open for business and basically back to normal?

The reason that I ask is that I've been to Helsinki in the summer pre-covid, and hotel prices were always fairly high. I'm looking at hotels now for a planned stay in mid-July and the hotels are downright cheap. About $100 - $150 / night for nice (not luxury, but nice) hotels in the heart of Helsinki. In the past they have been double or triple that in the summer.

So, what's up? Why is everything so cheap? Is this a great deal or am I going to get there and find that there's nothing to do because everything is closed?

Hi,

From here, it looks like the restrictions have been lifeted

https://mixmag.net/read/helsinki-clu...ns-lifted-news

https://www.hel.fi/helsinki/coronavi...-restrictions/

Regards

TBS

Covid is considered a thing of the past here. The only remaining covid measure is that face masks are still recommended (not required) and even that is supposed to change next week.

The single biggest nationality of tourists visiting Finland in 2019 was the Russians. As they are obviously not to be expected this summer, the hotels will have problems getting enough customers. At the moment it also seems that many tourists coming from the west are concerned about Finland's proximity to Russia. The only neighbours of Russia to the west that are not members of NATO are Finland, Belarus and Ukraine and we've already seen what has happened to Belarus and Ukraine.

We are open, welcome! :)

Mask recommendations were not yet repealed as the infection rates have been on slight rise lately, but all pandemic related restrictions are already gone.
Another group of tourists that used to flock to Finland in previous years, but won't be returning in great numbers this year is Asians, especially Chinese. And that is not due to Finnish restrictions.

Everything is back to normal. Masks are "required", but you choose if you want to use one. It might protect you from angry looks. Many people still work from home and avoid public events, so everything seems a little slower. But yes. Feel free to visit.

Is there any indication on where could the mask advice be withdrawn? I'm trying to plan some trips for upcoming month or two and I wonder if I should leave some space open for Finland (which I'd very much like to visit when masks stop being a norm). Thanks :)

Even when mask wearing wasn’t required around Levi this month, some businesses wanted patrons masked in places. But at restaurants and karaoke, masks were not commonly in use. But this was Levi with a mix of people from different places this month.

It's optional (really) - there never was a mandate even in 2020 or 2021 - once you step off the plane. (except in medical facilities - I guess you don't want to visit them) Businesses may recommend but not require masks.

Thanks. I'm aware of that but I still prefer to avoid places where they're commonly worn and recommended - partially out of respect for locals and partially because I don't fancy being treated like a mass murderer :D I hope that when the recommendation is withdrawn, most people are going to stop wearing them, just like in other Nordic countries.

From my experience aside from theaters, I'd say it's at least 60-40% for the unmasked in closed places (shops). Restaurants, bars are 80-90% mask free. Theaters seem to be an exception, with nearly everybody wearing a mask - at least where I have been lately. True, the audience was very much on the risk-group/elderly side, so somehow understandable and I also put on a mask for their sake. OTOH it's still totally ridiculous, because pre-theater and in the intermission you take of your mask in the theater bar.

The public areas of some hotels in Levi had the hotel visitors in those areas wearing masks earlier this month. Not required, but wanted. Most guests/visitors wore them anyway in those areas.

My main concern re masks is and has always been public transportation. I can skip all other places, or only visit them briefly but without being able to move around, the trip doesn't make sense to me. And in general I try to be respectful and follow local advice and norms.

Like it has been this far with Covid, we can't predict the virus far ahead, and that's why the authorities in Finland don't want to make any speculations about upcoming restrictions. Talks about withdrawing the mask recommendation took place when the number of infections was declining rapidly. After the remaining restrictions were lifted in the beginning of March, infections started soaring again. During the last week the trend has again turned, so if there are no new developments, I'd expect the mask recommendation to be withdrawn soon.

Actually the latest news is that in Helsinki region the covid situation is getting worse. But this development does not seem to indicate that there would be reintroduction of the previous restrictions, but I think mask recomendations will stay around for a while longer.