Best Helsinki Travel Guides

Before travelling to Helsinki last year I surveyed the available travel guides and discovered a surprising winner. Given Helsinki's small size there is an understandably limited number of travel guides devoted to the city itself. If you are willing to include ebooks, it expands your range of selection. I previewed some independent writers' travel guides, but ultimately narrowed my list down to three mainstream editions: Wallpaper* City Guide Helsinki, Lonely Planet's Finland, and Rick Steves' Snapshot Helsinki.

I've liked every Wallpaper* city guide I've ever read. They clue you in to the hippest parts of each city and have a strong emphasis on interesting architecture and design that is accompanied with stellar photography. For all its strengths though, I found the book was best suited for pre-trip dreaming.

Even as Lonely Planet has morphed from its indie backpacker bible roots into a corporate behemoth, I have retained an affection for the brand and the books that represent a travel perspective different from middle of the road publishers like Fodor's and Frommer's. Their Finland guide offers a strong section on Helsinki, but in the end it just didn't feel like a book I had to have at my fingertips for the entire trip.

Ultimately, I went with an electronic version of Rick Steves' Snapshot Helsinki loaded on my iPad mini (see my post on Four Essential Tools for International Travel for more on the iPad's indispensability). Once I got past Steves' Middle American TV persona, I realized the book was loaded with the best selection of practical details to get a Helsinki newcomer enjoying as much of the city in as short of time as possible.

Transportation

Whether it was getting us from the airport by shared taxi or back by bus, Steves not only shared the most economical options, but the right tip at the right time to ensure we wouldn't get lost in the airport or train station. Even though I was navigating a city never seen before, my family was getting places as if we were repeat visitors.

Although Steves writes about the importance of buying the 24/48/72 hour Helsinki Card, it didn't fully sink in that we had the full 24 hours to use them (not just the day of purchase) until reassured by the helpful guides at Helsinki Tourist Information (also recommended by Steves). This pass allowed us to use a combination of bus, tram, and ferry over the course of two days at very little expense. Given the high prices in Finland, every extra saving helped. As expected, Steves also added tips for catching the tram at the few station stops where confusion was possible.

Helsinki Card

Finally, his self-guided walking tour was easy to follow and provided a better introduction to the city than the ones suggested in the other guides.

Food

Forewarned is forearmed and we avoided the sticker shock of restaurant prices by following Steves' advice almost to a 'T' by doing the following:

• booking a hotel that offered a buffet style breakfast included in the price
• appreciating the power of the picnic by shopping at his recommended supermarkets and relying on his necessary food descriptions (don't expect English labels in the grocery stores)
• eating at the farmer's market beside the harbour
• lunching at McDonald's (OK, this was not his recommendation, but travelling with kids on a budget made the golden arches a lifesaver, stereotypes about North American tourists in Europe be damned)

Accommodation

I might have already mentioned here or there how expensive Helsinki is, and that includes hotel prices. What we weren't aware of before reading the travel guides is that many hotels only offer rooms for two and that the family oriented two double bed arrangement is relatively rare in Finland. Steves not only clued us in to this reality but steered us toward a selection of normally expensive ($$$) hotels that offered incredible ($) prices and packages in the summer months when business travel plummets in Helsinki as most Finns head to their summer retreats or go on duty free booze cruises to Sweden.

Thanks to his advice, we ended up booking our own room online at the Scandic Grand Marina on the east side of the harbour. This allowed us to book a room for four including breakfast, use of a safe, 10 Euros worth of hotel shop coupons, and amenities (housecoats and personal care products) for the price of a typical hotel room in North America (which also happened to be less than our travel agent said she could get on her own).

The rooms themselves did not scream $$$ luxury with a nautical theme in the hallway and rooms with a sauna-meets-IKEA aesthetic, but they certainly offered appropriate value for the money. The hotel had a nice workout room and his and hers sauna, but the children's play area could have been more accurately described as a toddler play area. Given the number of children's playgrounds within easy walking distance, this proved not to be a big concern.

Language

Having grown up in English Canada, I know the importance of making an effort to speak French when travelling in Quebec. Aside from surly subway ticket takers, people often smile and switch to English, but it is obvious they appreciate the attempt. Based on this experience and the enthusiasm which my efforts to speak Japanese are received in Japan, I was skeptical of Steves' claim that it wasn't necessary to learn any Finnish before going. His advice was no exaggeration as almost everyone we met did speak English; even the children in the park switched from Finnish when my stubborn 5 year old persisted in speaking to his new "friends" at the playground. The lone exception was a supermarket cashier who froze when my son asked her something about our purchase. My blond hair (Finnish roots on my grandmother's side) did lead to confusion at times when I was addressed in Finnish but responded in English, but the momentary surprise proved Steves was correct in advising that I did not need the phrasebook I had purchased. Anyone want mine?

Souvenirs

While one might like to believe that one's unerring taste will lead to the selection of the perfect local souvenir, Steves' advice proved invaluable once again by steering us toward portable relative-pleasing souvenirs available for purchase in the downtown market. My mother and mother-in-law both appreciated their wooden trivets made of poplar slices and we were tempted by the carpet beaters for use on futons.

To his list I would add the nifty sponge-like dish cloths we first discovered at Finnport in Thunder Bay and crystal from Iittala's flagship store on the Esplanade downtown. There were more discounts available here than at the airport and there was at least one Japanese employee available as well.

Odd and Ends

I grew up in a sauna loving part of Canada where my grandparents and parents both had wood burning sauna so I never really learned the etiquette of a public sauna. Thanks to Steves, I learned the importance of bringing in a disposable sheet of paper available outside the door to sit on for sanitary reasons. If you happen to forget, at least use your towel until you take a break from the heat. If you feel self-conscious about steaming naked with a group of strangers, get over it or risk missing out on an important cultural experience. Not only is the sauna a great social equalizer but there's an added resonance of seeing fathers passing on traditions to their sons while you let the heat work its magic on your body.

In the end, I only had one minor point of contention with Steves. He gave the Sibelius Monument a one diamond rating ("Worthwhile if you can make it") and it ended up being my favourite sight of the trip. Whether it was the time of day we went (a sunny evening), the size of the park surrounding it, the view of the sea, the sight of Finnish families relaxing in the park or the joy my kids had in running around the monument, it was a short bus ride and walk worth taking.

If you're open to a little advice when travelling, Rick Steves' Snapshot Helsinki will cover all the bases for you without making you feel like you're stuck on someone else's itinerary. Unless you have a local guiding you around, you won't regret buying this book before visiting Helsinki.

Nauttia! (There, I just got my money's worth from the phrasebook.)