HELSINKI, Finland — Finland’s capital is often overlooked in winter, when many travelers assume darkness and cold outweigh the rewards.
That assumption doesn’t hold.
The colder months strip away crowds and reveal a city of about 695,000 souls that functions with remarkable efficiency. Finns don’t hibernate in the winter. Streets are cleared, trams run, and daily life continues uninterrupted. For visitors willing to travel in the off-season, Helsinki becomes easier to read and, in some ways, more legible than in summer, when the city is defined by long daylight hours.
Helsinki’s history reflects a layered past, first under Swedish rule and later as a grand duchy under the Russian czars. Those influences continue to shape the cityscape.
Relatively young by European standards, Helsinki was founded in 1550 by Sweden’s King Gustav Vasa as a modest trading town intended to compete with the Hanseatic port of Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland. For more than two centuries, it remained secondary, overshadowed by Turku, Finland’s administrative and ecclesiastical center.
That changed in 1809, when Sweden lost Finland to Russia. Tsar Alexander I made Helsinki the capital of the grand duchy in 1812. The fledgling capital was modeled on neoclassical St. Petersburg.
Senate Square, designed by German architect Carl Ludvig Engel, anchors Helsinki’s historic city center core. Government buildings, the university and a cathedral face one another with deliberate balance.
The cathedral is Helsinki Cathedral.
Completed in 1852, its domes, neoclassical columns and statues of the 12 apostles make it one of the most prominent landmarks. It serves as the seat of the bishop of Helsinki in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, one of the country’s two national churches.
Lutheranism arrived under Swedish rule and remains an important cultural element of Finnish identity even as religious observance declines.
Inside, the cathedral is restrained. In keeping with the Reformation tradition, ornamentation is minimal, apart from the gilded pulpit and high altar with its altarpiece painting depicting Jesus being taken down from the cross. The overall impression is one of order and clarity.
That restraint heightens the contrast across the harbor.
Uspenski Cathedral rises from a hill overlooking the water. The red-brick walls and onion domes signal a different tradition. Built during Russian rule, it belongs to the Orthodox Church of Finland, which, since independence, has been under the authority of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople. Inside, candles, icons and incense define the space. A gold iconostasis separates clergy from laity, reinforcing a sense of ritual and hierarchy.
Where Helsinki Cathedral reflects Protestant discipline, Uspenski expresses Eastern Christianity. Visible from one another, the two churches embody Finland’s long-standing position between East and West.
Russian rule ended in 1917, but Helsinki didn’t dismantle its past upon becoming a republic. Neoclassical buildings continue to house modern institutions. Lutheran and Orthodox churches coexist. Even imperial monuments from the grand duchy era, including the statue in Senate Square of the Russian tsar as grand duke of Finland, remain in place.
After several days walking the city, one impression stood out: Helsinki in winter is surprisingly normal.
Ferries continue to operate as ice forms along the harbor. Market stalls remain open. Children skate on seasonal rinks. Finns, dressed for the season, stroll through Esplanade Park, a Parisian-inspired urban park typical of the City Beautiful era.
Travelers willing to look past the calendar will discover a European capital that reveals its true character.
If you go
Arriving from Michigan, which claims the largest Finnish American population, the winter conditions felt manageable and, at times, milder than those back home. Of course, bringing the right clothes and dressing in practical layers is critical.
I stayed at the NH Collection Grand Hansa, a five-star hotel that opened in 2024 following the redevelopment of two historic buildings. Rooms are modern, including the high-tech bidet toilets rarely found outside Asia. The breakfast buffet is extensive and notable for its emphasis on locally and regionally sourced foods, including salmon smoked in-house, Finnish baked cheese and assorted jams. You can even have lingonberry juice. Most of Helsinki’s major sights are within walking distance.
The food exceeded expectations well beyond the hotel. Helsinki’s restaurant scene is strong, with several establishments committed to seasonal menus or to serving only what can be grown, harvested, or otherwise produced in Finland.
The tasting menu at Skörd is particularly memorable. Wine connoisseurs shouldn’t miss the gooseberry sparkling wine, which is produced using the same method as champagne. This brut sparkling wine is precise and impressive. Meanwhile, Kappeli, located at the heart of Esplanade Park, is an elegant, old-school cafe, bar and restaurant that evokes the atmosphere of Vienna or Paris at the turn of the last century.
For deeper context, consider booking a guided walking tour, especially if visiting several of Helsinki’s churches. I toured with Emil Anton, a polyglot and theologian whose knowledge ranged well beyond architecture. He offers several itineraries and can be booked directly through his website.
One of the more unusual ways to experience winter in Helsinki is by hovercraft. REDRIB offers excursions across the ice-covered archipelago in the Gulf of Finland. My tour departed Gumbostrand, a small village about 18 miles from Helsinki, and traveled to where solid ice meets open water. It included a stop on an uninhabited island for a rustic lunch of salmon soup, rye bread, hot blueberry juice and so-called cowboy coffee.
Unfortunately, the National Museum of Finland is closed for construction until 2027. No temporary exhibits are offered. The Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki City Museum and Architecture & Design Museum are solid alternatives.
Anyone with an interest in architecture should visit Helsinki Central Station. Designed by Eliel Saarinen, whose son later achieved considerable prominence in the United States, the building is a notable example of Art Nouveau. Sari Saarinen, who is related to both the elder and younger Saarinen architects, offers guided tours that include a climb up the station’s 159-foot clock tower. Nearby, the 8-year-old Helsinki Central Library Oodi offers far more than books on loan.
Complete trip planning resources are available through Helsinki Partners.
Dennis Lennox writes a travel column for The Christian Post.
Dennis Lennox writes about travel, politics and religious affairs. He has been published in the Financial Times, Independent, The Detroit News, Toronto Sun and other publications. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter.
