Travelling with children is always about them as the main focus. If kids are happy and entertained, the travelling goes smoothly. We don´t want yelling or crancky child with us, wouldn’t we? Otherwise, we as parents will start to feel exhausted so easily. Travelling in the main city doesn´t need to be expensive. Summer is coming and school is starting soon in the summer holidays. Why not a trip to the Capital city of Finland?
Here are points of interest for the family with small kids in Helsinki without spending a lot of money and surely the whole family will enjoy and have the experience they will never forget. If you are travelling with a pram or stroller, it makes it even better. One parent who has the baby in the pram or stroller has a free ride in public transportation like the tram.
This post is a collection of our trips when we visit Helsinki very often before. Our relatives lived in the city centre and wandering around the big city is so much fun for the whole family. This first part of my post are the places you can be with kids for free and the last part are with fare ticket.
Linnanmäki
This is one common destination in the main city if you have small kids. Linnanmäki is an amusement park in the capital. What makes it even more popular is the fact that you can go there without paying for an entrance fee. There are about 9 rides that are free, this is very suitable for family with small kids and sometimes enough for them too. One thing you need to remember though, be prepared for a long queue so reserve time being in the amusement park. If kids are bigger, you can buy a ticket for them depending on their height limit.
Helsinki Winter Garden
Way to Linnanmäki is the Helsinki Winter Garden. If you like gardens and flowers, this is a must to see. During summertime, in front of the garden is the amazing rose garden. After a long day in the amusement park, we usually take a break and sit down on the bench inside this garden. Roses are so marvellous.
Töölö Bay (Töölönlahti)
Does your family like to walk and capture the beautiful view of the bay and the city? This is the best place to see the beauty of nature in the middle of the city. There are beautiful villas, restaurants, picnic park and Opera house that you can pass by.
Trip to the playground
There is playground everywhere and we make sure to bring our kids to at least one of those everywhere we travel. Beside the Töölö Bay is a small playground located in the Hesperianpuisto but our kids favourite is the playground is located in Topeliuksenpuisto. There are plenty of things to do for kids of all ages and there are plenty of public toys to use too.
Sibelius Monument Park
If you know Finnish music history, then you know the composer Jean Sebelius. This is the monument dedicated to him. It is a very common tourist destination too. When we were there, a lot of tourist from another country are visiting. The park is so big that it is also very good to have a picnic with the family. There is an ice cream place beside it as well and a public toilet. After a nice walk in the city park, we went to the cafe Regatta. Thanks to my sister in law who brought us there. It was a lovely place beside the sea. The atmosphere and the view is amazing!
Finnish Museum of National History
I like bringing my kids to the museum. We had been to many museums with them. This I think is a must to visit if you are in the capital. It is a place that your kids will never forget and will have a lot of questions. We spent a great time here, there are also kids section where they can draw and so on if they get tired for some time. Well, there are so much to see especially the elephant to their amazement and also there is the dinosaur skeleton. Its a must see I tell you 🙂
Suomenlinna Sea Fortress
If you translate Suomenlinna straight from Finnish to English then it is Finnish Castle. or Castle of Finland. Do you know that you can use the same ticket what you buy for riding the tram to ride the ferry going to Suomenlinna? Yes, it is, but there is only a specific time limit to use the ticket. This is very convenient and financially friendly for family. That means if you have pram and baby with you, basically you are a free ride. I mean one parent who takes care of the baby on the pram/stroller only and children under the age of 7.
I love visiting Suomenlinna actually. Why? Because we can spend the whole day with the kids. They can explore the green picnic area and check out the historic castle. This is an island where people actually live, so there is constant transportation going back and forth. Then there is a local grocery store, no need to buy everything from the mainland. There is a beach for swimming too. A beautiful wide green park with a beautiful history, what else can you ask for a day family picnic? Though a piece of advice, don’t let them out of site, always safety precautions must apply. The place where is the canyon is quite high.
Sightseeing in the Center
You can stroll in the city and watch the buildings around the centre for free or you can try the sightseeing tour bus HopOn HopOff. It was worth to try, there is a translator for different languages too. We hope in and drop off in the same location which is on the opposite side of the Opera house.
Other important buildings to see if you are sightseeing which is closer to each other and are in the Töölönlahti Bay. These are Parliament House, Finnish National Opera and Ballet, Finlandia Hall and The Helsinki Music Center.
- Helsinki Cathedral and Senate Square
This Senate square is known as the oldest part of the city of Helsinki. You can there also the Helsinki Cathedral. This cathedral of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran is over 160 years old. It is a must to experience climbing the stairs and check the inside of the church. Every time we visit there during summer or autumn, there are always full of people. It is a popular tourist destination and of course, it is one of the main stops of the sightseeing tour bus too.
- Market Square and Harbour
Central market square in Helsinki and usually in summertime, this is full of people and people selling their products. From foods, crafts and souvenirs, you name it. It is a good idea to have the market square there just beside the harbour where big ships and ferries are departing and arriving.
- Shopping Malls
What else to do in the city if you don’t check out the shopping malls. My two favourite is Stockmann and Kamppi. What I like in the shopping mall in here like Stockmann is that, if you have a really small baby, there is a quiet room for you to take care the baby (lastenhoito paikka) while having a break in your shopping time. There is also a place where you can leave your child for a while into a professional caretaker inside the shopping mall. If you want to shop peacefully, though I haven’t tried this one.
Korkeasaari Zoo
Well, if you are going to Korkeasaari you have to reserve one day being there. You will be going by ferry because it is located on the island. This is the biggest Zoo in Finland and there are many animals to see and a good place for a picnic. This is a very common tourist destination if you are visiting Helsinki for the first time with long days to stay and want to see what the city has to offer.
