Spending 48 hours in Helsinki, Finland

Finland is known for being super expensive, especially the capital, so when I knew I’d be spending time in the city I was a bit apprehensive, given how much I like to do my trips on a budget. The original plan was 3 nights but I decided to be sensible, I cut my trip short and ended up spending 48 hours in Helsinki instead, giving me time to see a fair bit of the city without spending too much money. You can definitely see a lot of the city in 48 hours, and this post talks about how I’d recommend doing that.

Day one-open top bus, Museums and Moomins

I arrived by ferry, which I’d taken from Tallinn, Estonia, so my first glimpse of the city was the port. I knew that only spending 48 hours in Helsinki would mean I didn’t have a lot of time to be transporting my bags to my hostel so I started out with an open top bus tour to see the main parts of the city quickly without having to carry everything around. I paid about £25 and although I didn’t get off the bus on the route, I could have as many times as I’d wanted, which would have been useful. The bus was a great way to get my bearings a little too-always a bonus in a new place.

I got on the bus outside Helsinki City Museum and got off at the same spot for ease. I then headed to the National Museum of Finland to find out more about the history of the country Entry was free and the museum had free lockers where I could leave my bag and coat-very handy. The museum was really interesting and a great way to find out more when I was only spending 48 hours in Helsinki.

After I’d explored the museum, I was ready for some food and a rest. I headed to Forum shopping centre to get my McDonalds (I always do a McDonalds in a new country) and to have a look in some shops, but my main plan was to visit the Moomin shop.

At this point I was ready to turn in for the day so I went over to my hostel to do some washing and make a plan for the next day. Spending 48 hours in Helsinki, or any city, can be exhausting and when travelling with fibromyalgia I really need my rest too.

Day two-A monument, a park picnic, churches and a tough decision

Waking up on my first morning in Helsinki was really strange, because when I’d gone to bed at about midnight it was still daylight outside, and I felt like there’d not been any night time. I woke up still exhausted and knew I needed a fairly lazy day, and as at this point I was meant to have two more days in Helsinki I decided to take things steady.

My first stop for the day was The Sibelius Monument, one of Helsinki’s most popular statues, located in Siebelius Park. I called at a supermarket for some snacks and had a little park picnic, before walking through the park to find the monument. It’s pretty spectacular and well worth going to see, and I knew it would make a great photo. I wasn’t wrong!

After a morning in the park I wanted to see a couple of Helsinki’s famous churches. Temppeliaukio Church, better known as the Rock Church, is built directly into a rock and it’s a really cool building. It did take me a lot longer than I thought to get to, though, so bear that in mind if you’re going to visit. The church was really peaceful and I spent about half an hour sat in there, just having some quiet time.

My last stop of the day was back in the centre of the city. The Kamppi Chapel, known as the wooden church, is designed as a place for quiet in the middle of the busiest area of the city. At this point of my trip I probably didn’t need another church but I did need more quiet, and it wasn’t too difficult to get back to my hostel from there, so I spent another half an hour sitting in the chapel, enjoying some silence.

On the way back to my hostel I realised that I’d need to cut the trip, originally planned as Riga-Vilnius-Tallinn-Helsinki-Budapest-Bratislava-Zagreb, short because my body just couldn’t handle anymore, so I spent my evening booking a new flight home and working out the quickest way back to the UK.

Day 3-the things I wanted to do next

My original plan saw me having a go on Helsinki’s big wheel down by the port, for some aerial views of the city. I would’ve then headed to Kruunuvuori, an old abandoned neighbourhood in the woods, for some urban exploration and what would’ve been a great set of photos. My last day in the city would have ended with Linnanmaki, a small amusement park, for some rides.

Deciding to cut the trip short was a really difficult decision, but for me, for this trip, it was definitely the right one. I hope to be back in Helsinki at some point to finish my planned itinerary, I did Budapest and Bratislava a few months later and I’m doing Zagreb later on this year too. Things always work out in the end.

Have you been to Helsinki? Would you visit Finland?