highlanderfil

I'm traveling to Helsinki from Tallinn on Jan 5th (Friday). Current plan has me getting in at around 10 a.m., grabbing a rental car and heading to Tampere for about 24 hours to check out a couple of car museums (opinions of what else to do there/en route welcomed), then coming back to Helsinki on the 6th and leaving back to Tallinn on the 8th in late afternoon (my sailing is at 16:30). Staying at Hotel Lilla Roberts in Helsinki (got a good rate with which to burn my Amex Platinum Hotel Collection benefit). I've been to Helsinki once before, also on the way to Tallinn, but only spent a long afternoon there (and it was summer). The zoo and Suomenlinna would have been two easy places to go to for me, but as I've been to both during that one afternoon, kinda looking to branch out. Things I like, apart from the aforementioned cars, are furry creatures (so, cat and other "anti-cafes" are very much fair game), interesting architecture (which I find that the Nordics have plenty of), food (in particular, grocery stores and markets - I try to check out a couple in every country I visit), good running paths (preferably on flat land - these creaky 41-year-old knees can't take elevation as well as they used to) and generally any other random things someone might consider to be cool. Not heavy into art or museums, unless they're of the anthropological or technological variety.

Open to suggestions for Tallinn, as well. I know that city fairly well, having visited about half a dozen times since way back in 1994, but I'll be camped out there for about a week around the Helsinki trip and wouldn't mind checking things out that aren't only in the Kadriorg-Old Town corridor.

Thanks!

dbuckho

Was there just before Christmas last year. It was really cold, so first day did the Hop On/Hop Off bus to get the lay of the land. One stop was the Temppeliaukio Church which is architecturally interesting.

My older son loves aviation stuff - we visited the Finnish Aviation Museum out by HEL and he did a flight simulator session there. We also went to the Helsinki Tram Museum. Not too much there but it is also where we discovered the SpåraKOFF which might be an interesting experience.

Shopping we had the holiday market and Stockmann displays. Not sure if the Stockmann windows will still be there in early January.

I know you said not into museums, but I found the Story of Finland exhibit at the National Museum interesting.

Also one night we attended a performance of the Talvisirkus winter circus at the Erkko Hall, Dance House Helsinki. It was interesting going over to that area and this year's show will be on while you are there. In the same complex they have a few museums (Photography museum, Hotel and Restaurant Museum) - we did those and then grabbed dinner at the nearby mall before the show. If the dates line up you might enjoy the show - definitely counts as a random thing to experience in Finland.

highlanderfil

Thanks! Good call on the Hop On/Hop Off - I'm typically not a fan of tourist traps of any kind, but when temps drop, they can provide a useful means of escape.

The aviation museum might be a good idea for a stop on the way to/from Tampere. The Tram museum also sounds cool and so does SparaKOFF - in my native Moscow there is a similar tram which I'd never got a chance to ride, so maybe this will make up for it

Story of Finland is the exact kind of museum I think I'd be into. It looks kind of like Perlan in Reykjavik, which I enjoyed.

The circus, though, not exactly my thing

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

A few years ago I went to Helsinki in Jan ( it was cold ( just below freezing ) but avoided the very cold spell a couple of weeks earlier when it was -20.
Although I had been to Suomenlina previously, seeing it all covered in snow was beautiful (i stuck to the main paths which were fine) and with fewer tourists .
I went up the Olympic stadium tower

The National Museum is now closed for renovation and expansion until 2027. When I was there in october they were going to be open for 48hrs over the weekend prior to closure

Regards

TBS

sushanna1

I'm a big fan of the Helsinki City Museum https://www.helsinginkaupunginmuseo.fi/en/ If you like Finnish design, I suggest the Design Museum https://www.designmuseum.fi/en/ That said, I 'm sorry to learn that the National Museum will be closed during your time in Helsinki.

sushanna1

One more thought. If you are interested in architecture, you might enjoy visiting Oodi, the Helsinki Central Library. It is really close to the main train station. See https://oodihelsinki.fi/en/

tsastor

If visiting, it is worth noting that the Architecture Museum is right next to the Design Museum. According to a sign, they will eventually be combined and housed in a new purpose-built building. We visited on a Saturday before our Viking ferry to Stockholm and, although the exhibition was limited, there was an excellent English-language guided tour. In Helsinki, I second the suggestion of visiting Oodi.

In Tampere, Vapriikki houses a variety of exhibits, also Tech (think Nokia) and my favorite, arcade games. I would also recommend Näsinneula, a revolving panoramic restaurant. While these used to be located in every serious metropolis, they are actually more rare nowadays, at least in the Western world. Besides, the food, while expensive, was very adequate.

highlanderfil

That looks awesome. Definitely putting it on my list.

highlanderfil

That sounds cool, too. Thank you!

Hezu

Also worth a note that January 6th is the Epiphany and thus a public holiday in Finland, which means that some places are closed that day, although these days, eg. shops can freely decide their opening hours and thus majority are probably open. Also it is possible that if the weather is cold and there has been significant snowfall, many running paths have been converted into cross country skiing tracks. And even if snow cover is thin, it is possible that some pathways are icy and slippery.

And regarding museums: Museum of Technology might interest you, its location is also quite interesting as it is located in a small island between two forks of river Vantaa, which meets the sea there.

highlanderfil

Change in plans. I am now arriving in the afternoon of the 22nd of December and leaving Christmas morning. The rally museum in Tampere closes on the 18th, though, so I think I'm just going to spend the weekend exploring the city. Staying at Hotel Katajanokka, which, I'm given to understand, used to be a jail. Good way for me to blow through expiring Marriott certs, although, at only 23K points/night, not the most awesome of redemption rates.

FlyingJoy

Here are some ideas from my own attempts to branch out in both cities (I live in Australia, but I visit both Helsinki and Tallinn regularly due to having close friends in Finland)...

Helsinki:

• Markets: Hakaniemi, Hietalahti, Old Market Hall. Near the Hakaniemi Market, there is a 24-hour grocery store (S-Market Ympyrätalo), since you say that you're interested in those. The basement of the Stockmann department store also has an interesting gourmet grocery store/food hall.
• Some of my favourite food places: Kanniston Leipomo (bakery), Cafe Regatta, Ravintola Kolme Kruunua (historic restaurant), Ekberg 1852 (oldest cafe in the city), Sea Horse (another historic restaurant).
• Kamppi Chapel - a cool wooden chapel in the middle of the city.
• Löyly - sauna complex, modern architecture. Named one of Time's "World's Greatest Places" in 2018. Located right on the sea with a ladder into the water for cooling down between sauna.
• Yrjönkadun uimahalli - an historic Art Deco style swimming hall (the oldest in Finland) with an indoor pool and multiple saunas. It's about to close for renovations, but it will still be open on December 22nd and 23rd. I like to rent a private lounge cabin on the 2nd floor, which comes with its own daybed. Quite a unique experience for €16. You can also order drinks and snacks to enjoy at the tables outside the cabins overlooking the pool.

Tallinn:

• Market: Balti Jaama Turg
• Some of my favourite food places: Rataskaevu 16, Kompressor (pancake pub), Reval Cafe
• Interesting parts of the city which are not the Old Town or Kadriorg: Telliskivi, Rotermanni
• Katariina käik - a hidden gem in the Old Town. A beautiful medieval passageway where you can view 14th/15th C tombstones with interesting inscriptions.

highlanderfil

Thank you! That's a hell of a flight to take regularly...

Hezu

Also this time of year, there is a Christmas market aka "Tuomaan markkinat" (~ [St.]Thomas's Market) held at Senaatintintori (~ Senate Square, just next to Helsinki Cathedral), which offers selection of local delicacies, handworks suitable for gifts etc.

Worth to remember that at Yrjönkatu swimming hall there is separate days for men and women as the facility operates on swim clothing optional basis, thus this year December 22nd is for women and 23rd for men.
One more interesting place to go swimming is Allas Sea Pool, which as name suggests has outdoor swimming pools, one of which is heated year around, while the other one has the same water temperature as the sea happens to have that time of year. And yes, indoors there is saunas, so if you getting cold outdoors you can go into one to warm up.

FlyingJoy

The flight is always a delight...as long as I'm sitting in Business or First I'm used to very long flights, given that I live near the bottom of the world but I have many relatives and close friends across Europe, Asia and the US. It's worth the effort to stay connected with everyone!

Yes a big +1 to Allas Sea Pool! I personally prefer the saunas at Löyly to those at Allas, at least the "old" saunas at Allas, but Allas is such a lovely spot right on the harbour. I haven't been back there since they opened the new saunas though (@ OP, a cruise ship collided with the Allas complex in Jan 2022 and it had to be partially rebuilt).

Opposite Allas, if you look up at the SkyWheel, you'll see one sauna gondola on it. I thought that was quite funny (where else in the world would you find a sauna on a ferris wheel?!) and I actually want to book it someday haha. The sauna gondola isn't in service in winter and I can't recall if they remove it from the wheel during this time, but if it's there, it's cool photo op.