Helsinki Central Railway Station
Kaivokatu 1, 00100 Helsinki
Helsinki Central Station is the most recognisable building in Finland — a granite Art Nouveau-meets-Art Deco railway station designed by Eliel Saarinen and completed in 1919, whose clock tower, arched entrance, and four stone giants holding globe-shaped lamps have become the symbol of Helsinki as surely as the cathedral.
National Museum of Finland
Mannerheimintie 34, 00100 Helsinki
The National Museum of Finland is housed in one of the finest examples of Finnish National Romantic architecture — a castle-like building designed by the trio of Gesellius, Lindgren, and Saarinen (Eliel Saarinen, father of Eero) and completed in 1910, with a tower modelled on medieval Finnish churches, a bear-motif entrance, and frescoes by Akseli Gallen-Kallela depicting scenes from the Kalevala, Finland's national epic.
Senate Square (Senaatintori)
Senaatintori, 00170 Helsinki
Senate Square is Helsinki's most architecturally complete public space — a neoclassical ensemble designed by Carl Ludvig Engel in the 1820s and 1830s that groups the Cathedral, the University of Helsinki, the Government Palace, and the National Library around a cobblestone square with the precision of an architectural model.
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum
Meilahti, Helsinki, Finland
Seurasaari is a forested island connected to the mainland by a wooden footbridge that houses Finland's national open-air museum — a collection of 87 historic buildings from across the country, relocated here between 1909 and the present to preserve traditional Finnish wooden architecture.
Suomenlinna Sea Fortress
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland
Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage sea fortress spread across six islands at the entrance to Helsinki harbour — built by the Swedes in 1748, captured by the Russians in 1808, handed to the Finns in 1918, and now a residential neighbourhood, museum, and one of the most popular day trips in Finland.
Uspenski Cathedral
1 Kanavakatu, Katajanokka, Helsinki, 00160, Finland
Uspenski Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe — a red-brick Russian Revival structure with golden onion domes that sits on a rocky promontory overlooking the harbour, providing a dramatic counterpoint to the white Lutheran cathedral across the square.
Vallisaari Island
Helsinki, Finland
Vallisaari is a former military island that was opened to the public in 2016 after being closed for 200 years — a 33-hectare nature reserve and heritage site in the harbour archipelago that has been reclaimed by forests, wildflowers, and the rare species that thrived during two centuries of human absence.
Explore history in Helsinki
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.