The last destination of last year’s Baltic trip was Helsinki. After our lovely stay in Tallinn we took the ferry to Helsinki (about 2 hours with tickets booked in advance).

Helsinki is surprisingly different from everything I’ve seen before. I loved the simple/sophisticated vibe of the Nordic design, the people, the architecture, the restaurants. There are plenty of ways of spending quality family time.

Here is what we visited/encountered (since very often we just walk around without a plan):

Our son spotted first thing in the morning the Helsinki Eye, so we went there first. The Helsinki Eye is located in a beautiful area around the harbor. The funny thing about the Helsinki Eye is that one of the cabins was actually a sauna. We were there on a very hot summer day but I guess in the winter it might be an interesting experience. The view from the Helsinki Eye is amazing!

From the Helsinki Eye we continued to walk in a very beautiful area with colorful old mansions. Later I found out that this hidden gem is called Eira. A walk in this neighborhood is definitely worth it.

Walk around the city  with its beautiful streets and cathedrals!

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We took a trip to  the world heritage site Suomenlinna, a place with a very interesting history. It is situated on a group of islands of Helsinki and was built during the Swedish era as a maritime fortress. The island also hosts a toy museum, a submarine, a church, even a little beach. It’s definitely worth visiting it with kids.

The Serurassaari Open Air Museum is wonderful!

Children’s Town is an admission free, interactive children’s history  museum located in the oldest house in Helsinki, built in 1757. This is the best children’ museums we’ve ever been to and we visited quite a few. It’s a fantastic learning playground with a horse drawn carriage, a ship, a living room and a kitchen decorated in the 70’s style, where kids can play with everything. There is also a 1930’s elementary school class. In Children’s Town kids can play with everything on the display.

We loved Helsinki and will definitely come back once to experience the Finish winter.