Amos Rex
Mannerheimintie 22-24, 00100 Helsinki
Amos Rex is Helsinki's most exciting contemporary art museum — an underground gallery beneath Lasipalatsi (Glass Palace) Square whose presence is announced by a series of domed skylights that bulge from the plaza surface like bubbles rising from the earth.
Ateneum Art Museum
Kaivokatu 2, 00100 Helsinki
The Ateneum is Finland's most important art museum — a Renaissance Revival building from 1887 that houses the national collection of Finnish art from the 18th century to the 1950s, including the defining works of Finnish visual culture: Akseli Gallen-Kallela's Kalevala paintings, Albert Edelfelt's Parisian-influenced portraits, and Hugo Simberg's strange, haunting allegories that remain among the most recognisable images in Nordic art.
HAM Helsinki Art Museum
8 Eteläinen Rautatiekatu, Kamppi, Helsinki, 00100, Finland
HAM is Helsinki's city art museum — housed in the Tennispalatsi (Tennis Palace), a functionalist building from 1938 that was originally built as a tennis court for the 1940 Olympics (which were cancelled due to World War II) and has served as a cinema, entertainment centre, and since 2015, Helsinki's primary venue for contemporary art exhibitions and the city's public art collection.
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art
Mannerheiminaukio 2, 00100 Helsinki
Kiasma is Finland's national museum of contemporary art — a curving, asymmetric building designed by American architect Steven Holl and completed in 1998 that was controversial when it opened (Finns are not natural enthusiasts of asymmetry) and has since become one of Helsinki's most important cultural landmarks.
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.
Explore museum in Helsinki
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.