itinerary for 4 days in and near Helsinki

What time of year will you be going?
Any specific interests?

Helsinki is lovely! Yes, it may be small compared to others capitals...and perhaps I love it because I have friends there...But it is one of my favorite! Finns come across as reserved....but they are so much fun!!! My only worry is that if you have a day in Turku and one in Tallinn...it only leaves you with 2 days in Helsinki. Can you add one? If not, I guess you can see a lot in Helsinki in 2 days. Very good choice to go to Turku...it has a completely different feel I thought. Lots of Swedish speakers there....lively uni town...! Lots to do.
In Helsinki...Go up the Torni hotel to get beautiful view of the whole city. Visit the main churches. Go eat at the city market near the cruise port. Have some linkero. Visit some of the museums like the Finnish National one.

Perhaps we can help you more once we know your interests.

Bon voyage!

Will you have any time to spend in Stockholm? If you've never been, it is a wonderful city and well worth 2-3 days too. But I love your idea of flying into there and taking the ferry. The archipelago scenery as you sail out of Stockholm is amazing and well worth it. I recommend the buffet dinner and taking the first seating so you'll have plenty of time after to stand on deck and watch the islands go by and the sunset. I assume BTW that you will be doing this in summer or good weather.

Helsinki can be easily seen in 2 days since it is small. So that leaves the day for Tallinn, which is well worth it and a day for Torku and travel to Helsinki. So there won't be much extra time to do much more than that. But if you had a car, you could spend an overnight somewhere and then head into Helsinki the next morning.

Thank you both for your responses.

We plan to be in Finland from about June 17 and returning to the states on June 22. We will be travelling in eastern France before heading to Finland. I am sorting out whether to fly from France to Stockholm then the ferry to Helsinki and fly back to the states from Helsinki or fly from France to Helsinki and then at the end take the ferry to Stockholm and fly home from there. As lovely as Stockholm sounds my family preferring to spend the time in France.

As for our interests, we love just hanging out and doing what the locals do. trying to fit in with the local culture. Our goal is just to experience the Finnish people. We enjoy walks, scenery, sipping coffee outdoors, exploring local markets and cuisine. We would also enjoy a well put together museum or art exhibit but are not. A lot will depend on the weather. If it is a beautiful day we would be hard put to stay indoors. We are more day people rather than nightlife people. Is that of any help?

M.E.

Regarding which direction to take the ferry ...

I think its better to take it departing from Stockholm. The main reason is that you travel through the Stockholm archipelago in the evening and that is really the prettiest part of the journey. If you take the ferry in the other direction, you are passing through the archipelago in the early morning. I suspect you will also have more flight options from Paris to Stockholm than from Paris to Helsinki.

Laura is right, the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki (or Turku) is better than the return trip. The archipelago extends for about four hours and on the return trip, most of it is missed with the early morning (unless you are up-at-sunrise people).

Okay! We leave Stockholm on Tuesday evening; arrive in Helsinki and Wednesday and fly home on Sunday. We plan to rent a car in Helsinki. Would there be enough to do to spend two nights in Turku or is it close enough to Helsinki what we could keep Helsinki as our home base for our stay there in Finland. Here are places we are thinking of seeing: Rauma, Porvo, Hanko,Fiskars factory, general seashore exploring and going as far north as Yyteri (if the weather is amazing). Any opinions on any of these destinations? Any recommendations for eating and/or sleeping?

Your comments are very helpful and much appreciated. Thank you so much!

M.E.

I know most people don't travel to Europe to visit zoos, but if you have an interest in big cats, Helsinki's island zoo has a pretty nice collection.

If you run out of things to see, consider a side-trip to Porvoo. I admit, I wasn't completely blown away, but it does provide a nice contrast to Helsinki. During the summer, you can take an excusion into the countryside aboard a steam locomotive.

I will second the zoo in Helsinki. It is a fun boat ride to the island and a very nice zoo.

The zoo does sound like a fun excursion, especially since we will be staying near Kaivopuisto and it looks like the ferry to the zoo is near by.

Porvo is also on our to-do list, especially if we rent a car, something we are still pondering.

Any recommendations for grocery shopping and/or restaurants? Since we will have an apartment we may eat some meals in bu we definitely will be hanging out at some cafes, sipping something.

Thanks again!