Free tour

The Essential Free Tour of Helsinki - 2025

4.87

Excellent(577)

Helsinki

Duration: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Languages: English and Spanish

Guru: Helsinki

PRO

Verified quality

Registered on 5 November 2021

Hello, visitor to Helsinki! We're Ana, Daniel, Ed, Paco and Valeria - here to take you on a journey through Helsinki! We're passionate about Helsinki's Culture, History and Architecture, and we love showing people around the essential sights of the city we all call home. We're the ones with the Umbrellas at Alexander ii Statue. We look forward to showing you Helsinki!

Free reservation and cancellation

Pay-what-you-want tour, no set price, reservation and cancellation are free

Tour description

ENGLISH - 5+ TOURS A DAY
Español - Generalmente dos veces al día. Más en verano.

Welcome to Helsinki, the capital of the happiest country in the world for 8 years in a row!

On our tours, you will get to know the history of Helsinki and Finland in a dynamic and fun way, walking through the most emblematic parts of the city. We start at the famous and historic Senate Square - where the Helsinki Cathedral, the University of Helsinki and the old Senate are located. We will learn about the country's past and how Helsinki went from being a small fishing village into a great capital.

We explore the National Bank of Finland and the House of the Estates. We will also reflect on the evolution of the local language, Finnish.

Before reaching the port and the Market Square, we will walk through the oldest quarter of the city, and see the largest Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe.

In the Market Square we will talk about Finnish food culture, and Finnish cultural heritage: the sauna. Next to the market square is the famous promenade de la Esplanade, inspired by the Champs Elysees in Paris. Past the park, we will visit the statue of the poet of Finland's national poet and the connection it has with Tolkien.

Finally, the tour will conclude at the most modern part of the city - where we will explore a modern office building, Sanamatalo, see Helsinki's most recently built architectural buildings, and we will discuss Oodi library - the perfect place to grab a coffee after the tour!

Finland is known to the world for its education system, welfare state, and generous taxes. We will be covering these topics during tour stops as well as giving clues as to why Finland is the happiest country in the world, and exploring other cultural nuances and anecdotes.

We look forward to showing you all that Helsinki has to offer!

Highlights

What will we see on this tour?

Meeting point:

Hallituskatu, 00170 Helsinki, Finland

Alexander ii Statue, Senate Square Guides with a Pink/Red Umbrella and name badge.

Outside visit

Senate Square (Historic Center & Start Point)

The Senate Square, marks the start point of the tour. This is the most historical part of Helsinki, and some say the most beautiful - with it's Russian Neoclassic architecture. Here we can see the Helsinki Cathedral, the University of Helsinki, and a great viewpoint of the Senate Square for photos.

Outside visit

Helsinki Cathedral (White Church, 1850s)

Following our visit to the Senate Square, our next stop is the White Helsinki Cathedral. Perhaps one of the most impressive buildings in Helsinki, it is also the most visited building. We will allow a little time to visit inside (providing there are no services or weddings), and we will allow time to take photos of this building so you have a souvenir to take home.

Outside visit

The National Library of Finland

National Library of Finland is nestled in the very heart of the Senate Square, and has an impressive interior. This treasure trove of knowledge and culture, houses manuscripts, rare books and exhibitions. We will allow time to visit inside, if the groups aren't too big, and if the library is open (on week days). Otherwise we have photos of the magnificent interior to show you!

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end the amount they consider appropriate (amounts usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).