I’ve visited my Finnish blogger friend who lives in Helsinki, Finland recently. She has shown me around her hometown and I’ve met her family too. I was very lucky with the unpredictable Finnish weather and mostly had sunny weather, apart from a rain shower just before our dinner on Thursday. I’ve spent 2,5 full days exploring Helsinki. It was enough to see the main sights such as the Senate square, Uspenski cathedral, Temppeliaukio church and Sibelius monument but I didn’t visit any of the museums. I walked a lot to burn off those cinnamon bun calories. My friend took me to Suomenlinna island (UNESCO protected site) by public ferry as well. I was surprised by a very authentic Samba parade that took place on a Saturday during my visit. All in all, it was great to finally meet in person my dear Finnish friend and to walk around beautiful Helsinki.
ps. my friend didn’t think I’d find Christmas ornaments in June but almost every souvenir shop has them, and a big souvenir shop near Esplanade park even has an entire lower floor dedicated to Christmas ornaments. So, now I have a new Christmas travel ornament from Finland for my Christmas tree
Snapshots from Helsinki











Senate square








Suomenlinna island






Samba parade



Have you been to Helsinki? What did you like the best?
Let’s be social Twitter / Bloglovin’ / Facebook / Instagram














[…] and my return flight was a red eye flight on Sunday. So, there was just enough time to explore Helsinki with my friend and to meet her family. I rarely fly with national airlines but in this case I […]
LikeLike
[…] a short overview post of my blog’s highlights last year. 2023 was a year of travel (Krakow, Helsinki, Padua, some Croatian trips, London) so there’ll be more travel posts here on the Red Phone […]
LikeLike
[…] visited my Finnish friend in Helsinki this June. It was funny because I mentioned to her how I wanted to buy a Christmas ornament but she […]
LikeLike
After Stockholm and Copenhagen, I would very much like to visit Helsinki and Oslo. The picture of the rail station building and its monumentality spoke to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I have been to Oslo and Stockholm and now Helsinki but still have to visit Copenhagen
LikeLiked by 1 person
I liked Helsinki from the very short time I visited many years ago now. but I didnt see a Samba Parade! I remember that incredible church in the rock too! Thanks for sharing Tanja some great pics!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Andy
LikeLike
I am glad to see you had a wonderful time visiting your blogger friend in Helsinki and great weather too to enjoy being out and about the city. Despite living so close to Finland, only an hour by plane, I never ended up exploring the neighbouring country. And as I can see from your beautiful photos, there’s so much to see and do. Thanks for sharing and have a great day 🙂 Aiva xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. You should definitely visit Helsinki
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful. I am envious that you got to meet snow and had a wonderful time in Helsinki, but it was so beautiful seeing your photographs and remembering all the wonderful sites there. It’s a great city, I loved it. And did you have dinner at kapelli? It was booked out when I was there.😭
LikeLiked by 1 person
We had cake at Kapelli, lovely place. I am glad my photos revived good memories for you
LikeLike
I could not even have cake at Kapelli. No seats available. I waited in a long queue to be told by a dour faced woman that they were no vacancies. Glad you got there though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s too bad. I guess we were lucky then
LikeLiked by 1 person
It looks like you had a great time. I’d love to go to Finland.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did, thanks.
LikeLike
[…] I’ve visited Helsinki, Finland earlier this month. My main reason for visiting Helsinki was to meet up with my Finnish friend. But of course, I’ve done a lot of sightseeing too. I’ve visited Oslo and Stockholm some years ago too but back then I wasn’t interested that much in taking photos of doors. So, here is now my selection of beautiful, interesting doors from northern European city of Helsinki. If you want to see some other photos from Helsinki besides doors, you can check out this post. […]
LikeLike
I like to visit finland a lot,i just heared about it’s culture and it is one of the peaceful countries in the world, people living there always stay happy and healthy
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for the comment, hope you visit it too
LikeLike
I only had a day in Helsinki years ago, but I recall visiting the Rock Church and found it very distinctive and innovative! It’s great you had a local friend take you around the city to experience a bit of the Finnish culture– and with (mostly) good weather to boot!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, it was great, thanks. Church in the Rock is very impressive and I was even treated to a free piano concert🙂there was a musician rehearsing
LikeLiked by 1 person
beautiful pictures from Helsinki 🙂 the Sibelius monument is incredible!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks. There are a lot of interesting places in Helsinki. And Sibelius monument in honor of Finnish composer Sibelius is quite striking
LikeLiked by 2 people
All my favourite places Tanja. How lucky that you were there when the samba festival was taking place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it was a most forunate coincidence. There are more things to see in Helsinki as you know but I think I covered the most important sights
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, that was lucky
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fun to see your photos! I’m happy you found that Xmas ornament!! 😆 And of course it was SO COOL to meet you in person! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
💖
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful shots, love the church in the rock. The samba parade is unexpected but looks a lot of fun. Glad you found your Christmas ornament, it will bring back lovely memories later in the year!
LikeLiked by 2 people
All the dancers were great as well as costumes. Yes, can’t wait to hang my new Xmas ornament
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most excellent! Lovely blue skies and architecture. That church in rock and the Sibelius monument interest me the most, and I really like that rainbow flag on that building. And the parade! Happy for both of you to finally meet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Manja
LikeLiked by 2 people