Helsinki - 60° 10' 24" N 24° 57' 57" E

Helsinki Cathedral

And so continues our tour of the great cities of The Baltic!  Delaying our departure from Tallinn for the day proved worthwhile and we had a great sail across to Helsinki.

BUSY!  We were on the ferry route and ferries must run between the two cities every half an hour or so. The Gabriella passed us three times! We also crossed the shipping channels and kept a sharp eye out for Russian warships! 

Will we really fit in there??

Arriving at the marina, it was our first experience of threading Chinook between posts into her berth.  She is 4.5m and we wiggled into a 5m berth. Hurray for rub rails! We managed to get secured without harm to ourselves, the dock or other boats.  

There is (supposedly) room for another boat on the other side of us. Boy, that's not a lot of spare space!

After taking a walking tour, we felt far more knowledgeable about Helsinki, and indeed Finland. As you know, we are big fans of the walking tour.  It's a way to get an overview of a city with a few wonderful nuggets of information thrown in.  

Helsinki is not as old as we thought.  Whilst it has been a settlement since the 1500s, it did not become a significant centre until after 1809. Russian defeated Sweden in the Finnish War and annexed Finland. Alexander I moved the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki to be closer to St Petersburg and away from Sweden.  

Uspenski Cathedral

He decreed a couple of churches be built - the Helsinki Cathedral for the Lutherans and the Uspenski Cathedral for the Orthodox church.  He also moved the university from Turku to Helsinki and it just kept growing from there.

We learned that both Finnish and Swedish are official languages of Finland so street signs around the city are in both languages. 

Finnish, Swedish and ...unicorns???

During the Finnish War, much of Helsinki was burnt. It was rebuilt but many residents (including the firefighters) were illiterate so couldn't read the street names.  So they named the street corners using pictures.  Even if you couldn't read, you could find Unicorn Corner! 

Anyone who has been to Finland or Sweden will know of the Moomins. Written by Finnish* author Tove Jansson, they are bigger than Bluey.  Originally, picture books published in the 1940s, there are now comic strips, movies, TV series, plays, theme parks, stores, songs, video games... You can buy Moomin anything, from mugs to tee-shirts to watches.  Moomin is a €700M brand! 

And the point of this story?  Tove Jansson lived in the Katajanokka district of Helsinki when she wrote the initial books.  We had a wander around and you can see the inspiration for the Moominhouse in the architecture of the district.  And it is gorgeous!

Katajanokka

Also in the Katajanokka district is the Home Hotel.  It is a charming hotel in an protected historic building that dates back to 1837.  It is surrounded by a high red-brick wall which is also protected by the Finnish National Heritage Board.  The hotel services breakfast, Fika and dinner as part of your rate.  But the most unique thing about this hotel is it is the former Helsinki Prison!  

The Home Hotel Katajanokka.
A tad more comfy these days than it once was!

Perhaps you know about the Finn's obsession with saunas.  We have been loving it. Every marina and small island we pull into has a sauna.  But Helsinki takes it to a new level - literally.  The Ferris wheel has a sauna car.  Yep, you can bask in the heat while taking in the views.   You wouldn't want someone to toss a liberal about of water on the rocks as you were at the top as the options for bailing out are limited!

The SkySauna on the SkyWheel

As we sailed into Helsinki, we noted a large cable-stayed bridge further down the harbour.  We discovered that this bridge was the longest and tallest bridge in Finland and had only just opened.  Most wonderfully, it is for pedestrians, bikes and light rail, not cars! Well, that's certainly worth the walk!

The Kruunuvuori Bridge was opened to cyclists and pedestrians on 18 April 2026

Due to one bike being out of commission, we decided that Kate would run and Sean would ride.  Fortunately for Kate, we could cross the 1.191km bridge within a 5km run from the boat. Phew, living on a boat is not conducive to being cardio fit!

Pedestrian, bike and tram lanes - no room for cars here!

We managed to time our stay in Helsinki over Midsummer or Juhannus. Midsummer marks the longest day and Midsummer Eve is a time for celebration - and a public holiday in Finland.  Music, bonfires, saunas, swimming are all a part of the festivities. 

Flowers are a big part of the celebration and many boats sported birch branches.

There were big parties going on around the city with bonfires and maypoles and dancing.  We joined the fray and took our picnic to the island park across from the marina. Music was playing and people gathering in groups to eat and drink and enjoy the sunshine.  A perfect place for people watching and enjoying a midsummer beer! Finnish liquor laws are a little more liberal and drinking in public spaces like parks and beaches is allowed providing it does not disturb others.  

Hyvää juhannusta!

A festival atmosphere

The new and the newer - traditional bike delivery and a robot!

Finland is the global leader in icebreaker technology with 80% of the world's icebreakers designed and 60% built in Finland.  Indeed, Canada's new icebreakers are being designed and built in Helsinki with the fit-out being done in Quebec.  Finland does not have an all-season port.  All their ports freeze so they are very reliant on their fleet of icebreakers.  And five are stationed in Helsinki - visible from our berth.

Five icebreakers are stationed in Helsinki - and over the summer get some love and maintenance

And they are powerful monsters.  They can zip along at 6 kn through ice 1.2m thick.  And if they get serious, they can ram through 3m thick ice.  That is very impressive.  

We caught the ferry to Suomenlinna, a sea fortress protecting Helsinki. We sailed past it on our way in.  Once a true fortress, it was the base for the Russian Baltic Fleet during World War 1, it is now a popular tourist destination. So tourist we did! We wandered around in the sunshine, watched the yachts navigate the narrow channel we had sailed through and explored around the old dry dock and its buildings. 

The church on Suomenlinna is unique.  It is one of the very few churches that also acts as a lighthouse! (there is also one in Crimea and two in Italy) Its range is 20.5nm and it has four white flashes every 15 seconds. (Fl(4) W 15s).  The four flashes are morse code for the letter H - for Helsinki!  

The Suomenlinna Church, also known as the Harmaja Range Rear Light!

The downside of being in Helsinki for the Midsummer holiday meant that some things were not open.  We were particularly disappointed that the National Library of Finland was closed.  Despite its nondescript exterior, its interior is, apparently, stunning.  Guess that just means we need to return to Helsinki to see it! 

* While Tove Jansson was Finnish, she was Swedish speaking and the original Moomin books were written in Swedish.  Thus they hold a special place in both Finland and Sweden.

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