Anna

I have read that Helinksi is a beautiful city to visit but am wary of going there as I inly get one vacationa year. Has anyone been and would they recommend it?

Patrick

We spent three nights there as part of an extended (about 2 months) trip through Scandinavia. It was a nice and interesting city. Toured its spectacular opera house which looks like a giant refrigerator from the outside but is beautiful inside. Ate fresh peas by the waterfront with the locals, tossing the shells on the ground. Ate at some very interesting restaurants. Toured an interesting open air museum. You can do day trips to the lakes not far away -- very pretty. If nothing sounds outstanding here, it's probably because it isn't. A major destination if there are many unvisited places calling you? Doubtful. Been almost everywhere and looking for something different? Maybe.

angela

Anna
I visited Helsinki and loved it. The highlight was the flight coming into Finland with the wonderful view of the Archipelgo below me. At the end of the holiday I took a ferry to Stockholm again passing through the archipelgo, it was so very beatiful. When I went it was still light after midnight and I always felt very safe just walking and exploring the sights even at that time of night. If you have time you could "do" Helsinki and Stockholm. Agree with Patrick that the open air museum was fun (I love them) and the Finlandia Hall and some interesting Russian style architecture and churches. Enjoy it!
Patrick,
I thought you avoided the "should I go" questions ;-)
Angela

angela

ps I would also add that I did prefer Stockholm and that if you are coming from the States with little time and one holiday a year then there are probably more "important" cities to visit. For me thought the Archipelgo (ie lakes, of which there are thousands around Finlands coastline)was worth it in itself. Finland has much more of an Eastern European/Russian feel than the rest of Scandinavia, though this would seem natural due to the history of the country.

Patrick

Actually, Angela, I tend not to skip over any posts -- that's how bad my addiction is. But what I did mean on Rex's post was that I would really prefer posts like this to say, "should I go to Helsinki" so the average person would have more of a specific reason to look at the post or not. Hint to Anna for future postings.