Things to do in Helsinki during holiday season help!

isaluba · Post by **isaluba** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:01 am

So the season is upon us again and I am soon going to be hit with visitors from abroad during the holiday They think they will be coming to a winter wonderland during Christmas which as we all know is unlikely in southern Finland in December. I want them to have a great experience here. Going up north is out of the question. I have booked tickets for Talvisirkus. What else is going on that is wonderfully finnish during the holidays for adults and kids?

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richard berman · Post by **richard berman** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:30 pm

I know they do the Ice church at some point but I cannot remember when. For adults there is the ice bar in town.

EP · Post by EP » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:50 pm

Something that is "wonderfully Fiinish" are cemeteries on Christmas Eve. Go to Hietaniemi cemetery.

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:42 pm

We have the same thing happenin..and we re takin a cruise to Tukholma and back!!

Sara · Post by **Sara** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:31 pm

The Christmas market on Esplanadi is lovely to walk through and of course you need to get a hot glögi

Stockmanns Christmas window for the kids. I dont know if they have a Santas grotto for the kids too.

If there is good snow, buy some of those 'bum mats' and go sledging. Good for adults and kids

Could do some Christmas baking, make the ginger cookies and ice them for the tree or just for munching!

The best thing to do is pick up Helsinki this week once it comes out with the December edition. It has a day by day list of events and activities

You can see it online too http://www.helsinkiexpert.fi/helsinkith ... index.html

I just looked and they have it as Nov-Dec already

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 6:41 pm

Let's face it folks... the answer to the OP is "nothing".

If there are any fantastic Finnish traditions during the Christmas holidays, apart from the Bishop doing his bit on telly outside Turku Cathderal, then I must have missed them.

I just asked the missus, she agreed with what has been posted already & said everything is closed.

Finland at Christmas = deader than a recently expired doornail.

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:47 pm

sinikala wrote:Finland at Christmas = deader than a recently expired doornail.

You're absolutely right

However, for me at least, the whole purpose of Christmas-time rather revolves around "doing nothing special"... except spending quiet and leisurely time with the loved ones. Which is actually something I'd call "special".

There are a lot of traditions, and the biggest one of them is that one is supposed to share the Christmas traditions with one's own spouse/family/relatives only

That's why most places are closed...

Xochiquetzal · Post by **Xochiquetzal** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:44 pm

My visitors like taking the ferry to Tallinn and go shopping in the medieval marketplace. And lunch at the medieval restaurants. It's a very different experience for nearly every person I know.

There's also the Russian restaurants. Most people don't have an opportunity to try Russian food - and it's VERY good!

Finally, there's the Christmas stuff at Fiskars. Lots of Finnish handcrafts, though somewhat pricey, very lovely. And since most people know of Fiskars, there is a point of reference.

isaluba · Post by **isaluba** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:10 am

[quote][quote="sammy"][quote="sinikala"]Finland at Christmas = deader than a recently expired doornail.[/quote]

You're absolutely right

However, for me at least, the whole purpose of Christmas-time rather revolves around "doing nothing special"... except spending quiet and leisurely time with the loved ones. Which is actually something I'd call "special".[/quote]

There are a lot of traditions, and the biggest one of them is that one is supposed to share the Christmas traditions with one's own spouse/family/relatives only

That's why most places are closed...[/quote]

I completely agree! And we will be doing much of that. However, I want to show them finand and all it has to offer. I want to show them where I am raising my daughter and I want to show their kids a unique cultural experience. When I was a kid the most intresting place I vacationed was the Grand Canyon in the back of my Dad's orange VW bus. Maybe my expectations are too high. This is why I alway tell people come in the SUMMER

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:09 pm

isaluba wrote:I completely agree! And we will be doing much of that. However, I want to show them finand and all it has to offer. I want to show them where I am raising my daughter and I want to show their kids a unique cultural experience. When I was a kid the most intresting place I vacationed was the Grand Canyon in the back of my Dad's orange VW bus. Maybe my expectations are too high. This is why I alway tell people come in the SUMMER Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

As you know, there are no Grand Canyons here. But it is very hard to say what someone else would consider "interesting". A walk in the snow-covered forest by moonlight when it's -20 degrees can be quite an unforgettable experience for someone who is not accustomed to winter - but if one expects things on a Grand Canyon scale, that might appear rather dull

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:27 pm

sammy wrote:
sinikala wrote:Finland at Christmas = deader than a recently expired doornail.
the whole purpose of Christmas-time rather revolves around "doing nothing special"... except spending quiet and leisurely time with the loved ones.

Exactly. So thats why everything is closed as those peoples are supposedly with their families too...

Personally, I get bored to death and always plan on going to Dubai or someplace like that to escape.

sammy · Post by **sammy** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:51 pm

An idea - it might be worth checking whether there are any Christmas concerts at the Uspenski Cathedral. The wonderful renaissance vocal group Lumen Valo has given Christmas performances there for example.

http://www.lumenvalo.fi/

I'm sure your guests would be awestruck - the place is of such beauty, and with slowly unfolding vocal harmonies it would be hard to beat as an "experience".

Which made me check on possible appearances by the Novospassky Choir. The last concerts of this autumn's tour were TODAY in Helsinki. Auuuugh!

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:39 pm

Last year we went to the zoo (I think it was Boxing Day). We just wanted somewhere to go for a walk and a coffee and it turned out really nice. We didn't stay long but we had a nice sunny walk and many of the animals are quite active in winter (in summer they sleep all day).

Suomenlinna is open all year round:

http://www.suomenlinna.fi

and is lovely if there is snow. Kids can explore the tunnels. Take a glögi picnic!

There are plenty of ice halls open to the public (free) over Christmas. You might need to borrow some skates from somewhere.

You can pack up some sausages, soup, glögi etc and go to Nuuksio national park for a walk (some of the signposted walks are not too long), look for tracks in the snow. Or walk through Seurasaari, I am sure there will still be squirrels on the scrounge.

It really depends on the weather. If it's raining.....

littlefrank · Post by **littlefrank** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:17 pm

Well it's closed xmas eve and xmas day, but there's the winter Gardens, my daughter likes it, and daddy likes it too, it's free and it's warm.

http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Rakennusvi ... ter+Garden

http://www.helsinki.fi/en/index/matkail ... yydet.html

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