{"id":32,"date":"2016-08-13T03:17:34","date_gmt":"2016-08-13T03:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/?page_id=32"},"modified":"2017-07-11T21:41:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T21:41:49","slug":"helsinki","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/helsinki","title":{"rendered":"Helsinki, Finland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Helsinki<\/a>

Helsinki Cathedral, Ferry Boat<\/p><\/div>\n

The ferry from St. Petersburg arrived on time at 8:00 in Helsinki. I barely had time to shower in my cabin and pack before we docked \u2013 I slept surprisingly well in the small bed.<\/p>\n

Exiting the ferry terminal in Helsinki, I promptly got on a tram running almost in front of the ferry terminal into the center of town. On a Sunday morning, the town was pretty dead as you might expect. The sky was cloudy, almost rainy. I put my bags into a locker at the main train station and headed down to the market square by the waterfront.<\/p>\n

\"Helsinki<\/a>

Helsinki Train Station<\/p><\/div>\n

From here I took a ferry out to Suomenlinna Island, about a 15 minute ride. I took the HSL ferry (part of the city public transit system). I bought a day ticket for the whole transit system, something I should have done in the first place in the morning to cover my initial tram ride, because it covered both the ferry and the eventual train out to the airport.<\/p>\n

\"Cannon<\/a>

Cannon on Suomenlinna<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ehrensv\u00e4rd\u2019s<\/a>

Ehrensv\u00e4rd\u2019s tomb, Suomenlinna<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Suomenlinna was pleasant \u2013 an old fortress among several islands. Some interesting churches, a town square, a bunch of old cannons. The town is cute but not quite quaint \u2013 also feels a little rough around the edges. This may sound funny to say, but the highlight of my visit was to meet a friendly cat \u2013 I love cats, and on this trip I had barely seen any. In the Baltics and St. Petersburg I saw a lot of pet dogs but almost no cats.<\/p>\n

Arriving back at the market square in Helsinki to a few minutes of rain (didn’t have my umbrella but didn’t quite need it), I wandered back to the train station, then camped out at the easiest option I could find: a McDonalds with free WiFi and free bathrooms. (Though Helsinki seems to have free public bathrooms, something I didn’t find in the Baltic states or in St. Petersburg.)<\/p>\n

One thing I noticed immediately upon arrival in Helsinki: it’s much more expensive than the three Baltic states or of course Russia! Prices seems about 50% higher, on average, for fast food and public transit, for example. I noticed the same thing in the Netherlands when I got there, too. The Baltics + Russia is certainly cheaper than other places you could visit in Europe.<\/p>\n

\"Helsinki<\/a>

Helsinki Cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n

I had mixed feelings about not spending a night in Helsinki. Truly, I felt \u201cdone\u201d with Helsinki even by lunch time! OK, that’s not fair. I didn’t research the town’s main sights, but the town felt…pleasant and relaxing more than charming. I missed not taking night pictures in Helsinki, but that’s probably the only regret I had about not staying over a night. Otherwise, Helsinki seemed like a pleasant place to hang out for a while. On Sunday, it was pretty dead \u2013 so my impression may have been skewed \u2013 but folks I had met on the ferry who had just spent two nights in Helsinki had a similar travel style to mine (fewer museums, more waling around) had about the same impression of Helsinki that I had. When I told them I’d be spending only a few hours, they said, \u201cThat’s plenty of time for Helsinki!\u201d But some people do seem to like the town more and enjoy spending more time.<\/p>\n

I took the airport train to Helsinki airport. The train runs in a loop between the train station and the airport; you can take it either direction on the loop from the Helsinki train station; one direction is slightly quicker than the other direction. My FinnAir flight to Amsterdam was running about an hour late \u2013 something I knew before leaving the train station so could have spent more time, but I didn’t have much else I wanted to do. I just camped out near my gate at the airport and made a couple of phone calls home.<\/p>\n

\n \"Helsinki,
View \n More Photos of Helsinki, Finland on PortlandBridges.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n


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\n<\/a>\"\"\n<\/p>\n

\nLonely Planet Scandinavia (Travel Guide) - Buy on Amazon.com<\/a>\"\"\n<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\nRick Steves Northern European Cruise Ports (Travel Guide) - Buy on Amazon.com<\/a>\"\"\n<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

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\nRick Steves Snapshot St. Petersburg, Helsinki & Tallinn - Buy on Amazon.com<\/a>\"\"\n<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/p>\n

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The ferry from St. Petersburg arrived on time at 8:00 in Helsinki. I barely had time to shower in my cabin and pack before we docked \u2013 I slept surprisingly well in the small bed. Exiting the ferry terminal in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":18,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-32","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233,"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32\/revisions\/233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/baltics-trip-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}