"Daughter of the Baltic Sea" a Helsinki Travel Page by Sjalen

I wish I had a pound for every time this view has been the Helsinki intro on a VT page but it IS a very rewarding one, with the market square and the cathedral setting the tone. Helsinki is a place I keep returning to on mini cruises from Stockholm so you won't find many nightlife tips on this page as I party on the huge ferries, but hopefully a page with ideas on what to do on a visit to this fascinating city. It is not big by any means, and its archipelago ends rather abruptly contrary to the seemingly endless appearance of islands in Stockholm, but Helsinki, or Helsingfors as I call it since I am Swedish, still manages to be interesting. As I myself come from a country which held Finland for centuries but which hasn't been to war since we lost it, there is a definate "spark" to Finland which you don't find in the more placid Sweden. It is a place where people have experienced hardships in modern times which has shaped the citizens in a totally different way despite all the things we share, such as a love for archipelago cottages. There is also the alluring Russian part of its history which is especially noticeable in Helsinki with its Russian restaurants, orthodox church and tsar statue. It is only a stone's throw to St Petersburg. This spark is also felt in the way that Linux was invented here, the Nokia factory has become a culture centre and well...just go here yourselves to see what I am trying to express.

The official tourist site is: http://www.hel2.fi/tourism/en/matko.asp