Helsinki Right,
Now.

Helsinki's main railway station, a granite landmark at the center of the city and the hub for every commuter line, the metro, and the airport train.

The white neoclassical cathedral above a cobbled square ringed by the government palace, the university, and the old senate buildings.

A Finnish restaurant on Aleksanterinkatu serving eastern and northern dishes in a dining room assembled from old timber and logging-era tools.

A red brick Orthodox cathedral with golden onion domes standing on the rock of Katajanokka, above the eastern side of the harbor.

The open-air market on the quay where the harbor meets the city, with orange canvas stalls selling food, produce, and crafts.

Helsinki's oldest indoor market hall, a long brick building on the quay filled with fish counters, delis, small kitchens, and coffee bars.

A small cafe on the balcony level of the Academic Bookstore, inside a building Alvar Aalto designed, lit by his own brass fixtures.

Finland's national design museum, covering everything from Aalto furniture and Iittala glass to Marimekko prints and industrial tools.

A compact French bistro in the Design District, doing classic Paris cooking and a serious wine program on a quiet side street.

A small round chapel clad in curved spruce planks on a busy downtown square, kept for silence rather than for worship services.

A public sauna and restaurant on the Hernesaari shore, built as a low black timber structure with a climbable roof and ladders down into the Baltic.

The restaurant inside the Loyly building, with a long west-facing terrace on the water and a menu built around Finnish fish and grill cooking.

The public ferry connecting Market Square to Suomenlinna, running year round as an ordinary part of the Helsinki transit network.

A sea fortress spread across six linked islands, with grass-covered ramparts, barracks streets, cannon batteries, and a working village.

The ceremonial stone gate at the southern tip of the fortress, opening directly onto the sea where warships once entered the harbor.

An island cafe in an old wooden building on Suomenlinna, known for its baking and its pastries.

The fortress museum near the main quay, telling the island's history across its Swedish, Russian, and Finnish periods.

A brewery and restaurant on Suomenlinna, brewing on site in a stone building near the ferry pier.

An ornate glass and iron pavilion at the harbor end of the Esplanadi park, part cafe and part restaurant, surrounded by trees.

The central tree-lined promenade running from the harbor into the city, with a park down the middle and design shops along both flanks.

Finland's contemporary art museum, in a curved silver and glass building opposite the parliament house.

A restaurant inside the Glass Palace, a 1930s functionalist building beside the square that now covers the Amos Rex museum.

Helsinki's central library, a curved timber and glass building where the top floor holds the books and the lower floors hold workshops, studios, and public space.

A restaurant on the top floor above the Esplanadi, with an interior designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto and a terrace over the park.

A small wooden cottage cafe on the Taivallahti shore in Toolo, selling coffee, buns, and sausages to grill over an open fire.

A monument to composer Jean Sibelius made of hundreds of welded steel pipes forming a wave, standing in a seaside park in Toolo.

A church blasted out of solid granite, sunk into a rock outcrop in Toolo, with rough stone walls and a coiled copper dome overhead.

A Toolo restaurant open since 1932, hung with paintings and long associated with Helsinki's artists and writers.

A bay in the middle of the city ringed by a walking path, with concert halls, wooden villas, and the parliament quarter along its edges.

A restaurant on the western shore of Toolonlahti bay, built with glass walls facing the water and a terrace on the shoreline.

A specialty coffee roaster and bar in Kallio, one of the small operations that built Helsinki's third-wave coffee scene.

A two-floor brick market hall by the water in Hakaniemi, with food counters below and textiles, clothing, and design above.

A restaurant in the granite workers' hall by the Hakaniemi shore, serving Finnish cooking in a room that has barely changed in a century.

A grey granite church standing on the highest point in Kallio, its tower visible from across the district.

A small hillside park at the center of Kallio, named for the bronze bear statue that stands in it and ringed by cafes and bars.

A traditional public sauna in Kallio, heated with wood and running in its original building since the 1920s.

A Neapolitan pizzeria in Kallio, working from a wood-fired oven in a large old hall building at the Kurvi junction.

A large cafe and bakery on the Esplanadi, known for oversized cinnamon and cardamom buns and a full breakfast counter.

Finland's national art gallery, opposite the railway station, holding the country's main collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century art alongside some European works.

A floating pool and sauna complex on the harbor beside Market Square, with a heated pool, a cold seawater pool, and sun decks over the water.

A brasserie in a former bank hall on the Esplanadi facing Market Square, with high ceilings, tall windows, and a terrace on the square.

The rail connection from Helsinki Central Station to the airport, running as a normal commuter service on the I and P ring lines.