Go Citybreak:Finland is known as a country of innovation, lateral thinking and a charming sort of madness, and Helsinki is no exception, writes Lorraine Courtney
UNDER-PATH heating. It's the perfect encapsulation of Finland, its people and its capital city. Originality, lateral thinking and simply oodles of common sense all wrapped up in one piece of innovation that is brilliant in its simplicity. But then, that's the Finns all over. Helsinki's premier shopping streets are kept snow and ice-free thanks to this minor miracle of Finnish free-thought. And when the temperature plunges to minus 15 degrees and snow falls by the metre rather than by the centimetre, you begin to value just how switched on the Finns are.
Helsinki is a port and the place to begin sightseeing is at the open-air Kauppatori market at the harbour's edge. It is a jolly place overflowing with fresh fish and fruit, and many Finns take their breakfast of coffee and cakes there. In the middle is a tall obelisk known as "the toothpick".
From the market you can make out a fine line of neo-classical houses along the quayside, including the town hall and the president's palace. These were both built by the German architect Carl Ludwig Engels, whom the Russian tsar drafted in to create the new capital after the 1812 decision to move the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki, something Turku has never forgiven. Engels laid out the wide streets, mostly at right angles, which makes it so simple to find one's way about the centre of the town.
Senaatintori, or Senate Square, Engel's main glory, is dominated by the Lutheran cathedral, which rises from the top of a great flight of granite steps and has soaring gilt domes, like a benign, white-robed lord.
To one side of it stands the Senate building, on the other, the long ionic-column facade of Helsinki University. In the middle of the square there is an 1863 statue of tsar Alexander II, who gave Finland its independent currency, the markka (mark), and established Finnish as the national language.
At the turn of the century a wave of new nationalist-minded young architects launched national-romantic architecture, the Finnish version of art nouveau. If you stroll from the market up the double-laned Esplanadi into the more modern part of the city you come across many fine buildings from this period, their sculpted facades adorned with bears, squirrels and other countryside motifs and images.
Finland attained independence in 1917, and since then it has embraced modernity with a vengeance. An arm of the sea cuts through Helsinki with a park stretching along the shore, and it is here that you can find two of Helsinki's most striking new buildings - Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall, a concert and congress hall of 1975, and the colossal National Opera. The nearby Sibelius monument both commemorates one of Finland's favourite and most famous sons and also highlights this knack for innovation and design. The same can be said of the Temppeliaukio Church - known as the "Church in the Rock" - which is carved into a stone amphitheatre, though its merit divides local opinion.
Helsinki's structures reveal something of just what a crazy bunch the Finns are. This is crazy in terms of fantastically eccentric and brilliantly creative people. It is crazy in terms of the bewildering and rich diversity of culture. It is crazy in terms of the Moomins (yes, those odd-speaking and even odder-looking characters of your childhood hail from Finland). They're also hardy souls to dive into the icy waters before heading back to the sauna to beat themselves with leafy twigs and thaw out.
Mad, completely barking mad, but in a most engaging way.
Where to stay, eat and go in Helsinki
5 places to stay
Accome Töölö Apartments. Museokatu 18, 00-358-9-2511050, www.accome.fi. A new hotel in an old apartment building in the elegant residential district of Töölö. Rooms are modern, spacious and have nice views to the park across the street.
Hotel Helka. Pohjoinen rautatiekatu 23, 00-358-9-613580, www.helka.fi. A dependable standby within walking distance of the city centre.
Omenahotelli. Eerikinkatu 24, 00-358-600-18018, www.omenahotels.com. A self-service hotel with no front desk. Book and pay on the internet and let yourself in with a pass code. Prices start at €36 per person for four people and €87 for a single room.
Klaus K.Bulevardi 4, 00-358-20-7704700, www.klauskhotel.com. Helsinki's first boutique hotel. Rooms range from the small Passion and Mystical types, to the aptly named Envy Plus. Central location, funky styling and reasonable prices make this a winner.
Hotel Kämp. Pohjoisesplanadi 29, 00-358-9-576111, www.starwoodhotels.com. This historic hotel claims to be the only true five-star in Scandinavia, with prices to match. The eight-room Mannerheim Suite can be yours for €3,300 per night. Kämp is also the only Scandinavian hotel on the Condé Nast Traveller magazine's "Best of the Best 2007" list.
5 places to eat
Fazer. Kluuvikatu 3, 00-358-20-5553000, www.fazergroup.com. This 110-year old cafe has been an institution since its birth. The Fazer Cafe is famous for its decor, architecture, ice creams, pastries and coffees. There's also the Fazer Bakery shop next to the cafe. If you are visiting, pay attention to the round room topped with a dome. People say that if you tell secrets here, the other customers will hear them across the room due to the acoustics of the dome.
Kahvila-Suomi Ky. Pursimiehenkatu 12, 00-358-9-657422, www.kahvilasuomi.fi. Huge portions of no-nonsense Finnish food, such as meatballs and mashed potatoes, which explains the dock workers that crowd here at lunchtime. The Japanese tourists, on the other hand, come because the cult hit movie Kamome Shokudo was filmed here.
Sea Horse. Kapteeninkatu 11, 00-358-9-628169, www.seahorse.fi. This former low-boozer was established in 1933 and the functional interior and the menu have been preserved from that time. Try the famous herring dishes. Helsinkians usually call Seahorse sikala, which means a pigsty.
Saaga. Bulevardi 34 B, 00-358-9-74255544, www.asrestaurants.com. Traditional Lapp food in kitschy Lapp surroundings - reindeer horn chandeliers and the lot - but unlike some of the competition, it doesn't compromise on food quality. The octo-lingual menu runs the gamut from smoked elk to bear meatballs. Don't miss the buttermilk pancakes (äkäset) for dessert.
Ravintola Savoy. Eteläesplanadi 14, 00-358-9-61285300, www.royalravintolat.com/ savoy. A luxurious restaurant with a magnificent view of downtown Helsinki's rooftops. Savoy is decorated just as Alvar Aalto designed it in the 1930s, and they still serve some of the dishes that field marshal Mannerheim used to order, such as the famous Vorschmack.
5 places to go
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. Mannerheiminaukio 2, 00-358-9-17336501, www.kiasma.fi. The sometimes unusual collections mostly include works by contemporary Finnish artists and artists from nearby countries. In addition to this, there are also periodical exhibitions. The building itself is arguably a work of art.
The Church in the Rock/Temppeliaukion kirkko. Lutherinkatu 3, 00-358-9-494698). An atmospheric if minimalistic church, this was literally dug out of solid rock. From above, it resembles a crashed UFO. The roof is made of 22km of copper strips. Completed in 1969, this has become one of Helsinki's most popular attractions. Concerts are often held here thanks to the excellent acoustics.
Sibelius Monument. Sibelius Park, Mechelininkatu. The world-famous composer Jean Sibelius's monument was designed by sculptress Eila Hiltunen and unveiled in 1967. It is one of the most well-known tourist attractions in Helsinki as nearly every guided tourist tour is brought to Sibelius Park to marvel at this work of art resembling organ pipes, welded together from 600 pipes and weighing more than 24 tonnes.
Kotiharjun sauna. Harjutorinkatu 1, 00-358-9-7531535, www.kotiharjunsauna.fi. This is one of the few wood-burning public saunas in Helsinki. There are separate saunas for men and women, with a washing service and traditional bloodletting (kuppaus) also available. There's a good chance you'll find a top-level chess match in the dressing room. Don't miss cooling off outside, especially in winter.
Catch the MS JL Runeberg(www.msjlruneberg.fi, 00-358-19-5243331), a former steamship, from Helsinki's fishmarket to Porvoo. It's an idyllic, quaint little place only 56km west of Helsinki. Little seems to have changed here since the 19th century. Spend the afternoon wandering its medieval cobblestone streets.
Where to shop
Stockmann. Aleksanterinkatu 52, 00-358-9-1211, www.stockmann.fi. The present store, built in 1930, is a classic example of Nordic art deco. At its core is a central atrium that rises four floors to a vast, patterned glass ceiling, shattered by Russian bombers during the second World War. Since Stockmann was founded in 1862, the store has been an integral part of the Finnish experience. In addition to the usual displays of clothing, appliances and furniture, Stockmann also trades in Finnish design crafts, such as Marimekko fabrics and Arabia tableware. There is a fur-storage vault and a fashion consultant and, in the deli department, a bountiful supply of fresh reindeer meat.
Hot spot
You can hit the town in the Aleksanterinkatu precinct's lively bars. But Lux nightclub (1A Urho Kekkosen katu, Kampin kauppakeskus, 00-358-20-775-9350, www.luxnightclub.fi) is where you will find Helsinki's beautiful people. Its airy terrace is excellent for people-watching on summer evenings under the midnight sun.
Go thereAerlingus (www.aerlingus.com) and Finnair (www.finnair.com) operate direct flights from Dublin to Helsinki Vantaa