Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
maps out five well-described walking tours), and
Finnish Design
. If interested, ask about
concerts; popular venues are Kallio Church and the Lutheran Cathedral (free organ recitals
Sun at 20:00 in summer).
The tiny
train station TI,
which consists of a one-person desk inside the Helsinki Ex-
pert office, provides many of the same services and publications.
Helsinki Expert:
This private service sells the Helsinki Card (described next), ferry
tickets, and sightseeing tours, and also makes hotel bookings. They have one branch in
the train station hall, another occupying the front desks in the main TI on Market Square,
and a small sightseeing kiosk out on the Esplanade (summer only, not all services). They
charge an €8 fee for ferry bookings and for walk-in hotel reservations, though the hotel
fee is waived if you email or phone for reservations (main TI branch: June-Aug Mon-Fri
9:00-18:30, Sat-Sun 9:00-17:00; Sept-May Mon-Fri 9:00-16:30, Sat 10:00-16:00, closed
Sun; train station branch has similar hours, tel. 09/2288-1500,
www.helsinkiexpert.com
)
.
HelsinkiCard:
If you're planning to visit a lot of museums in Helsinki, this card can be
a good deal (€36/24 hours, €46/48 hours, €56/72 hours, €3 less if bought online and picked
up on arrival at the downtown TI's Helsinki Expert desk; includes free entry to over 50 mu-
seums, fortresses, and other major sights; free use of buses, trams, and the ferry to Suomen-
linna; free city bus tour; and a 72-page booklet; sold at all Helsinki Expert locations, most
hotels, and both Viking Line and Tallink Silja ferry terminals,
www.helsinkicard.com
)
.
For a cheaper alternative, you could buy a public-transit day ticket (see “Getting Around
Helsinki,” later), take my self-guided tours (the “Welcome to Helsinki” walk and “Tram
#2/#3 Tour”), visit the free churches (Temppeliaukio Church, Lutheran Cathedral, and
Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral), and stop by the free Helsinki City Museum.
