Don't mistake Finns to be rude or unwilling to talk if you engage them and they take their time to respond. Most Finns are friendly and helpful, but the pace of discussions is slow and we like to think before we say anything. Silence is a part of discussion and we feel it's polite to be silent unless you have something important to say. Silence is rarely awkward here and Finns can have long pauses especially when talking to strangers. It's not like Finns don't like to talk, but it's easy to get that impression if you're used to more talkative expression.

When you meet a local Finn who speaks English, you’re allowed to make one Finnish/finish pun, but that’s your quota. 😏

As a scandinavian (Denmark) Finland enjoys a unique reputation. I've yet to meet someone who dont like finns. Everybody loves finns. Even Icelanders who generally do not like anyone, not Icelandic, likes finns. However Finns are extremely low key. The polar opposites of Italians for instance. They are not people who show emotions alot and they dont do wild exclamations at all. If a finn tells you that meeting you was "good", then thats about as hefty a praise you will get from them. They do have one thing, some people have trouble undestanding. They are fiercely patriotic. And I mean fiercely. The american south have nothing on the finns. Knowing a bit about finnish history will go a long way. Knowing a bit about finnish heros like Mannerheim, Simo Hayha or Lauri Torni will go a very long way of making friends in Finland especially with more old finns.

Fun fact: The Finnish word for November, "marraskuu", literally means "month of death". That's how awful November in Finland is.

We just got back from Helsinki a few weeks ago. It was BEAUTIFUL! And i loved how quiet it was, it was so strange for me coming from Southern California, i always expect so much noise lol I cant wait to go back! Rakastan Suomi!

I'm a finn, I live in Helsinki and after watching this, I really want to visit Helsinki as a tourist. :D Thank you for a great video and love towards Finland and finns

My don'ts: Don't skip Linnanmäki amusement park (and especially those rollercoasters). Don't expect that every apartment building has a sauna. We had to search for one on some other place. Don't expect Helsinki to be a warm place... even in summer. It can take pretty chill in a while. Don't worry about the transport to Suomenlinna fort by the boat. You just need to have standard ticket for bus or tram and you can use it for this ride too. Don't buy more than one bus/tram tickets per day. Buy only one for the whole day and you do not need to care about travelling around the city any more.

A thing to notice about public transportation: Often people will tell you not to go to district X, Y or Z because it's restless area and you will get mugged. Not here. Sure there are some areas considered a bit more shady than the others but still even late at night you won't get harassed. At worst some drunkard will start talking to you and you can't figure out what he's saying, but they're not aggressive, so feel free to ignore them and walk past.

The transport system in the city is amazing! The trams cover most of north and south Helsinki and the trains go as far as you dare to explore. I used them up to Vantaa Airport!

I think the biggest mistake most of the tourists make is only visiting just bout 2km away from the central train station. Theres plenty of stuff to see and do outside of the actual city centre, some of these areas are super underrated. Helsinki area is also full of Nature that is missing in most of the places in europe ive visited. Go explore it. Some places I would recommend seeing outside the actual city centre. Vanhankaupunginkoski/Vanhakaupunki/Toukola (The Old Town, most of my friends here dont even know anything about this area, like ruins of first church in Helsinki or where Helsinki original built place memorial is, Also you can get glimpse of Finnish countryside, Annala Villa, Kellomäki (hidden hill with nice views), Horse stables, gardens etc.), Lammassaari (Sheep Island), Tapiola, Puu-Vallila (Wooden Vallila), Puu-Käpylä (Wooden Käpylä) Suvilahti and Kallio areas (for hip and ug culture), Sompasauna (Free Public Community Sauna), Walk around Keilalahti and the small islands connected by roads (also in Espoo there is islands like Pentala, Stora Herrö etc. which you can visit just like Suomenlinna), Espoo Cathedral area, just to give few examples.. Also day trip to Porvoo (around 45min-1h from Helsinki) is kinda must if you gonna come to Finland and just visit Helsinki. Also if you tend to like brutalist architecture go and see Merihaka or Itä-Pasila. Also if you want to visit nice viewpoint got to Linnanmäki rocks next to train tracks, Pihlajamäki Rocks (Vanha graniittilouhos), Taivaskallio (also has old air defense structures on top). And as local when i go to the city centre most often what i do there is going to senaatintori, kauppatori or tähtitorninmäki with takeaway cup of coffee and sit. Eat in Hietalahti Market Hall or go to Kiasma, Also for friends of beer go to Pien Shop/Bar, Bar Juova, K-supermarket Kamppi, Ruoholahti K-citymarket or K-supermarket Redi, these places have some of the biggest and most special collections of different variety of beers what I've seen in Finland. And my fave/most beautiful place for metrostation here is Koivusaari, i think its the deepest also. You step outside the metro station and you are in very different world than few stops back in Ruoholahti or Kamppi

I'm a Finn but I don't really go to Helsinki that often. It was funny to me that in the tourist shops in Helsinki they were selling lots of Lapland merch. It's as if Finland only had Lapland and Helsinki and nothing worthwhile on that 1000 km stretch of land between them.

Budget tip: Eat at a student canteen (Unicafe Porthania for instance). There are some cheaper restaurants but you just have to know them a bit. Lots of free or cheap stuff to see, e.g. Oodi library, museums but also some public free events. If you come on 1st of May, this is the best time to see students and former students gathering in Kaivopuisto! Finns also love coffee so don't get a takeaway from R-Kioski or something, go to a coffee roastery. :D And always check the weather forecast before you come! It can be a scorching +30°C todays and in two days it can be horizontal rain and +10°C.

I lived about 200 metres from where you filmed this video. Helsinki is a great city to live and to visit.

Love how you portrayed Helsinki! It’s a beautiful city in the summer!

Really, really useful tips. Having lived and worked a big part of my life in Helsinki, you really hit the right spots. Well done!

Thanks man, I'm thinking about planning a solo trip to Helsinki and this was extremely helpful :) cheers from Portugal

The video came out just at time ! I am going to Tallinn in a few weeks and I'll also spend some time in Helsinki with the ferry. Thank you for this, I can't wait !

You nailed the one item I was listening for, the cinnamon roll. I’d almost go back again just to have another one. We visited during early December so although we had winter, it was a ‘magical’ visit. A winter wonderland (and our visit to Tallinn was like being in a snow globe). Love your videos!

Great video! Always love to hear good things about my home country but this video was extremely great! Thank you:)

Hi, you do a great job on your informative videos. It's a thrill to see other Parts and culture of the world. Planning is the key in facilitating one of these adventures and getting a great travel package deal. 😯😇

I did a Scandinavian tour of Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen last month and whilst I expected the least from Helsinki it was my favourite place out of the lost. It was such a winter wonderland and when it was dark and snowy it made for a great walk. No need for a metro or a bus ticket unless you’re going from the airport or the islands. And I found the Finns to be friendly and patient for how awkward I normally get interacting with people. I would definately go back and go inside some of the cathedrals (I’m not a big fan of interior designs as much as I am of architecture but I’d love to give Helsinki the chance on a longer trip).

One of my favorite cities! Definitely agree to take a trip over To Talinn! What an amazing place! Always love your advice!

Winter in Finland & in Helsinki is just stunning! My first trip there was just amazing & it felt so surreal, as I'd longed to visit for many years, then my dream came true. I do long to return to Finland & i will definitely head back as soon as I'm able. These videos are helpful & interesting, but to me personally, are more so funny & very entertaining!

Your channel has been a life saver for me on so many of my trips. Thank you so much for this amazing content!! We are going to Helsinki en route to Singapore in 2 days and will be exploring the city. This has been incredibly helpful!! Thank you again!!

Been watching you for years, always nice to see the different cities around the world.

Valuable advice about Helsinki!! 👌👌👌😍 Thank you for another informative Video, Wolter!! Greetings from Barcelona 👍❤☺🇪🇸

Thank you for this high quality video tour of Helsinki. Very informative and entertaining.

Wolters always delivers great content - well done again.

Love your dedication to traveling ... ❤️

Thanks, enjoyed the video as a Finn living near Helsinki. Regarding churches, the ones in downtown Helsinki are relatively new; if you have interest in old churches, there are two well within reach of the Helsinki area regional transit system; the Espoo Cathedral from about 1490 and the church of St.Lawrence in Vantaa (there's another with the same patron saint in Lohja, but that's well outside the capital region. It must be noted on these oldest churches that often what is left of the truly original is varying part of the main structure, built of large rocks; the interior has seen many changes, either just due to religious affiliations along the times, or as results of fires destroying the wooden parts. The reason of not having that old churches within the downtown Helsinki is that the city of Helsinki was founded in 1550, and even the original city location was approx 5 km from the current Helsinki railway station.

It's great to see your videos again in Finland. I watched your videos on Finland years back and now I live here myself, very cool. Here are some of my Don'ts as an American living in Finland, directed at other Americans especially. 1) Don't miss out on the night life if you're looking to socialize! Find a karaoke bar/live music bar and chill out there. Finns are are nocturnally social creatures. With a few drinks in them this is your best chance to to engage them in conversation. 2) Don't be overly pushy and intrusive, it can happen very easily in Finnish culture. Take a VERY relaxed approach, be polite, patient, and tone down the social energy to that of a blooming flower in spring and desire to talk over them or dominate the conversation, it can happen accidentally in your excitement. 3) Don't miss out on summer! It's by far the best time to visit. I'd recommend July ideally, but weather can be unpredictable. When the sun is shining all day and it's warm it's magical and it's great to swim in the lakes, visit the islands off of Helsinki conveniently via ferry near the market square. 4) Don't worry about getting lost, explore! Things are very compact in Helsinki and there's so many trams, metro, buses, bikes to get around back to where you started that it may feel like a lot but think of it as an ant hill, most of those things are going to and from the same places, like the rail or bus station in the center. 5) Don't neglect the other cities, like Porvoo or Tampere. Although a good distance away you can take a buses or a ship in the summer. 6) Don't miss out on Linnanmäki, the local amusement park, especially with kids, there's lots of medium to small rides there they'll love

I have only visited Finland once, and that was nearly 25 years ago. I travelled extensively around Finland, using both train and bus. I was very worried about how place names were pronounced. On my very first day I discovered that if I pronounced place names according to GERMAN rules of pronunciation, I got the right result!

This video has been very insightful and helpful for me! Currently planning a trip abroad and Helsinki is on the list. 😊

Your video is great and the tips you shared are very helpful. Thank you for sharing them with us 😊

Just discovered your video. I'm a huge Tove Jansson/Moomin fan and through being a fan have learnt a lot about Finland. The more I hear or read about it the more I think that me and Finland will get along well. One day my dream is to visit. Thank you so much for this wonderful video.

For a layover or weekend Do's: rely on rail - cheap and effective, gets you from the airport to Helsinki center in roughly 30 minutes. When in the city - you are surrounded by sea on all sides except north so you can't really get too lost by walking before running into a seafront east to west. And regardless where you end up - there is a tram to pick you up or give you a hint of direction frequently enough. Same goes for metro which travels in one straight line from East to West. Find value in silence - in Finland its not awkward but a sign of respect and humility. It makes people have a deeper thought on when they say something - and Finns are exceptional listeners in a conversation - small-talk or conversation-fillers wont lead the conversation far but if there is a topic - there'll be a broad substance and variety of themes covered! Dont's: Bragging without being ready to back it up. Finns are humble. If you ever hear someone on the street say "Yeah, Im pretty good at driving". Then its probably one of many rally, formula, or other motorsport world champion speaking. Helsinki is small and the pools of expertise and experience are small. What I'm saying is, if you are bluffing for attention it wont work with the Finns who are very very very genuine and honest.

Next, make a Don't video about Porvoo, the second oldest city in Finland located about 50 kilometers from Helsinki.

Thanks for great tourist info on Helsinki! you are awesome!

Loved this video. I’ve been to Helsinki twice, 2012 and 2018, and my wife and I are going to visit together in the next summer or two after I’ve fully recovered from chemo (no worries, I beat it). My favorite way to explore the city is on the delightful trams, and if I can lose enough weight to be able to use the scooters and bikes, I will as my feet aren’t good enough anymore to walk a lot, alas, but I’m not going to let it stop me on my third and final trip to this wonderful city! Hopefully we can fit in a train trip to the far north and actually see the aurora borealis, but that probably isn’t all that likely in the long daylight of summer! You do excellent videos, especially in things Finnish. BTW, on a couple of my visits to the Rautatieaseman Hesburger the guy behind the counter complimented my Finnish as I had studied it for several months before my 2018 trip. If you ever want a cool and placid video of Helsinki and it’s neighborhoods, check out the UKpostsr AsItIs: he does walks without narration or music (thank god) and they’re very calming. Kippis!

Love the video! You shared some good points about the city I call home. One disagreement though - if you are here between January - April and outside of the tourist shopping area (Esplanadi/Aleksanterinkatu), the sidewalks are likely to have a layer of ice on them. If you have poor balance or are concerned about falling, bring some slip-on spikes for these spots. Very few sidewalks/pavements are cleared of ice in the winter. Also - November is lovely! Moody and dark - just the way we like it here in Finland. ;)

I’ll be there on sept 24!!!!! I can’t wait! So excited!

Thanks for the great video! Couple of things you could have also mentioned: the worlds simplest metroline 🙂, Helsinki jäätelötehdas icecream and Vallisaari.

I miss Helsinki 😢 lived 6 months there

Great video. Greetings from Helsinki.

Always enjoy your vlog. You give out tons of info which comes very handy when traveling. It's amazing to see how many different places you go with your family. If you don't mind me asking, do you have a day-job that takes you to all these locations? My wife says you must be a pilot for a large airline to be able to travel to so many places. Hope it's not to personal asking. 🍻🍻🍻

I went to Helsinki in November. I loved it. Of course I would also like to visit in summer but I loved the late fall atmosphere.

I used to live there in the 70s (Töölö and Espoo). I've been back a few times since 2009, including in April this year. Love the place and the Finns.

I really wish this video came out 2 months ago, when I was in helsinki. Video is great, made me realized I missed out on some fun things. I also learned some finnish drunk. The public sauna was geeat

You’re explaining it very lovely way sound good nice

Some great advice here - we warmly welcome you to our city!

I agree with you, summer is the best time to visit Helsinki

I like this guy Lmao He’s funny 👍 Thanks for making a video on my home city!

Awesome video

It looks like a good holiday destination in the summer , good food, culture and possibility to combine it with tallinn much lakes and green in Finland

I was debating whether I should do a day trip to Tallinn. Now I'm definitely doing it.

One day, Freiburg, the next Basel, and now Helsinki! I have some respect for you man, keep traveling!

One don't is, don't tell a person from vantaa that you are flying to helsinki. The airport is in vantaa, part of the capital region but not Helsinki.

Helsinki Esplanadi Park, Senates Square and old market square by the sea are amazing in winter , especially at night when its quiet, snow falling and lots of christmas lights.

Wow you travel more than me!This was the first i see of your channel.I will be back.Keep up the good work.Where is home base?

A really beautiful city. Very transport friendly, especially if you buy the Helsinki city card, which will probably save you money (entry into most of the popular sites plus public transport, the trams are good fun to ride).

Your clips of Aleksanterin katu looked like the were from 4.6.2022. That was also the day that we celebrated my son's college (lukio) celebration party by the Senate Square and saw all the military formations. Glad to know you were there too.

A very pretty park.

Get a day or multiday transit pass at the train station when you arrive.

I'm glad many people in Helsinki speak English. I was in Copenhagen a couple of weeks ago and found the same there. I'm looking forward to going to Helsinki in July and like the idea of visiting that island. I was wondering if the Chapel of Silence is open now because I think I read somewhere that it wasn't 🤔

I just returned from Stockholm and Helsinki. Although it is February, there was something cool to me about snow falling on Finnish boreal forests. It was a real "winter wonderland" to me.

protip for any Catholics and other Christians: visit the st. Henry's Catholic cathedral! it's my home parish, and it's relatively simple compared to other european Catholic churches, making it easy to delve deep into prayer. it's easy to get to, it's usually not busy, and it's a nice place to cross off your bucket list! if you want some history of the cathedral, there's little laminated papers that explain the history and architecture at the back, in finnish, swedish and english! God bless

Don’t live in Finland for 7 years before planning a trip to Helsinki! 😂😅 Apart from flying in and out of the country we have only been to Helsinki once in the 7 years that we have lived here and that was for urgent Embassy stuff so we only actually spent a few hours wandering around… My second donut is; Don’t forget which underground car park you parked in and spend 1.5 hours trying to find it/or the pedestrian entrance again… 3rd don’t, - don’t miss the opportunity to pop into the public library by the sea, it is free and beautiful (and one of the few things open in the late afternoon on the 2nd January). Seriously though, great video and we are planning an overnight trip to Helsinki between Christmas and new year hopefully getting cheap bus tickets (Onnibus) and cheap overnight place so we can spend the best part of two full days there.

Cool

Is Tblisi, Georgia on the agenda soon? I'd love to see your take on Eastern European and Caucuses countries.

Thanks Wolter.. long time no see! Soo, you are now stuck in Helsingfors? Its this.. you are great, and I hope that you enjoyd all your trips! In anyway, you was in my country (sweden) and even to my city (Gothenburgh)! I could have corected you in minor cases, but you promoted tourist travelers things to visit and try to eat! Its still this.. you kind of promote those things tourists should try!

Helsinki has been a safe city, but lately there's been quite a lot of incidents of teens and young adults robbing people and sometimes beating or stabbing them. In the past when I was younger basically no one even carried knives but these kids have been found with actual firearms.. I haven't heard or read anyone getting shot in a robbery yet tho but I guess it's just a matter of time. Just look at Sweden. Usually Finland follows 10 years after...

If you are on a budget go to a grocery store instead of R-Kioski.

Oh man! I was planning to go next year at the end of November 😪

A bit about the prices... Market places and most restaurants around them are expencive, even by Finnish standards. However, if you go looking, there are a lot of more affordable places to eat. You should consider 10€ for main dish (or lunch buffet) to be cheap. With 15€ you can find almost anything that is not fine dining, and anything over 20€ starts to be on the expensive side (but still OK for special occations). Water should be free, but you can expect beer etc. cost somewhere between 5 and 8 €, depending on the place. If you want to try what ordinary people eat around here, try to look for construction workers (easy to spot, they don't have a cantine at their workplace, and they eat on budget). Since quite a large percentage of construction workers in Helsinki are not Finnish, the restaurants they eat in most likely have menus etc. in English. These restaurants tend to have little to no marketing, and most of them operate only during the lunch time (opens around 10:30 or 11:00, closes between 13:00 and 15:00). There you will find normal Finnish food that ordinary people are willing to pay for, and that will keep you going. Some food items to look for: "Paistettu muikku" = fried vendace, very traditional food item sold in marketplaces. "Kotikalja" = home made beer, a traditional dark brown non/very-low-alcoholic drink. Can be found in lunch buffets. "Ruisleipä" = rye bread, traditional bread that is rare outside Finland (at least to my knowledge). Comes in many different shapes, forms and tastes. My recomendation is to find whole bread (non-sliced) or anything that mentions "jälkiuuni". "Saaristolaisleipä" = bread of the archipelago? It's effectively a much sweeter variation on the rye bread, but more difficult to come bye. If you see some in a store or marketplace, definately give it a try. None of these is fine food, but they all qualify as the small things that make life so much better. Don't hesitate to look further away. You can get to Turku in about 2 hours by train (trains approximately every 60 min), Tampere in about 1h 30min - 2h (about 30 Intercity trains a day, and about 10 commuter trains a day), or Lahti in about 1 h (12 Intercity trains and 17 commuter trains a day). You can also search for your preferred activity (weather its some sport, art, entarteinment, monumets etc.) around helsinki, and check HSL (public transit authority) route planner.

By the way it i.ever get the time too travel. I can't think of one family I would like too spend time and vacation with but your family. Such an awesome family too spend so much time with. Just a family that want others to have that great adventure of others countries. 😇

We usually go to Helsinki at least once a year, apart from a couple of years, for obvious reasons. We don't mind being there in November, still a great place. We were there when Finland qualified for the Euros, what a night that was! This year we are going in early December.

Welcome back to finland man!

Thank you. Love from HKI

Nah man R-kioski is not the way to go, that shit 300x the normal price

I think you just answered my “Where do I want to go” next year. Would 2 weeks be too long? Even with that day trip to Estonia?

10:34 if you want cheaper snacks go to normal store not R-kioski

I saw some Northern Lights in Helsinki last winter.

Full of energy v log

Finalnd has one of the biggest and fastrst ferries and ferries in here really look like a cruise ships but smaller

Fins love things to be calm and quiet….immediately hear loud child screaming in the background 😅 Great video, Mark. I hope I can go to Finland one day, I’ve yet to be in this part of the world.

I’m thinking about going in March 2024. Is the city still exciting to go to?

Now I regret a little bit the airplane tickets that I bought after watching your video haha! Because I'm planning on going to Helsinki in November 😅

You should do rovaniemi

Nice

Don't forget WRC rally in august at Jyväskylä area

I've even had Finnish food and my girlfriend has made some, need to ask her to make some more, because Finnish food is amazing.

How easy is it to take the ferry to Tallinn? Also how easy it is to fly into Helsinki for 1/2 the trip and ferry to Tallinn and depart from there? Do you go thru customs once off the ferry? Thanks! I didn’t know it was a ferry ride!

How large would one say the inner city is? I mean I can Google, but the "feel"... Is it like half Amsterdam, or half Stockholm? Sevilla?

Turku cathedral is next level compared to one in Helsinki. It was built in 13th century and is very beautiful inside.

The reindeer meatballs are really good if you find some.

I noticed that once he said that Finland is not a loud place is the exact moment a kid in the back screamed at the top of their lungs

are you coming to the åland island too?

I am totally coming at the end of November. hahaha.

If you are like me and vastly prefer Autumn & winter to summer or especially spring. I know there are many others who will agree , Helsinki or i.e Tampere are just beautiful right now in October ^^ . In particular Black Metal will be a unifying force of grim darkness of the north.. 🤘🤘

Kiitos - Thank You ! We Finns are amazed to see and hear - what NON Finns - think about Helsinki and Finland in general ! Many say that Public transpotation is 2nd to No Other City in Europe ! #2 Some are amazed of white nights - as They Dont know - When to sleep ? #3 as This Weekend - NHL IS here to play two games as Colorado plays Columbus Blue Jackets ! Both Team Have Players like Mikko Rantanen & Artturi Lehkonen & Patrik Laine ! These Are household names in Finland - but usually foreigners - have never heard of any other - Well known Finns ! #4 Before Coming to Finland - IS there anyone - A FINN - that You have heard of - before coming over ? Please write His / Her name below - Thank You / Kiitos