An Afternoon in Helsinki

After our amazing few days in Rovaniemi, Lapland, it was time to explore a little bit more of Finland. We flew down to Helsinki, where Dad left us to go back to work, and Mum and I caught the train into the city centre.

It takes around 30 minutes to get into Helsinki from the airport, and we could see the huge snowflakes falling as we sped along the tracks.

Once we arrived, it was just a short walk to our hotel, but with so much fresh snow that hadn’t been cleared yet, it was quite a challenge dragging our suitcases along!

After checking in, it was time for a spot of lunch, and we popped into a nearby Italian restaurant to get out of the snow.

Since we only had a few hours until the sun would start to set, Mum and I set out to see a bit of the city. Luckily it’s a fairly small city, and easily walkable, despite having to trudge through the deep snow!

Our first stop was the stunning Helsinki Cathedral.

With all of the snow surrounding the cathedral, there was a lovely silence in the air. We managed to find a way up where the wind had blown the snow into huge drifts at the side of the stairs, and had a wander round the inside of the cathedral.

Although all of the sides look the same, once you’re at the front of the cathedral you’ll be in the huge open square in front, which I’m sure would be lovely to visit in summer.

After the cathedral, we strolled on down to the harbour. The water was completely frozen over!

Just near the edge of the water is the Old Market Hall. We popped inside for a look around, and found plenty of stalls selling local delicacies, and a few cafes as well. We sat down in one of them to warm up with a hot chocolate before heading back out into the cold!

By this point it was already starting to get dark, and had been snowing almost non-stop the whole day.

We continued walking around the harbour until it got dark, then slowly made our way back to the hotel to put our feet up for a bit before dinner!

I really enjoyed spending an afternoon exploring Helsinki, and I’m sure it’s equally as pretty in the summer!

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2 Comments

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      February 21, 2018 / 3:48 pm

      Aw yes I was very happy to visit! I need to come back in summer when there is less snow but I heard there are a lot of mosquitos haha!

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