Afternoon in Helsinki

[castlewood]

My wife and I are looking through the excursions for our upcoming cruise . . . such a brief time in Helsinki, it almost seems a shame to spend it all (or most) on a single tour. Would anybody have insights into:

 

--(1) does the ship dock near enough to the city center for easy access by passengers not taking a tour?

--(2) has anyone taken the "Finnish Architecture" tour?

--(3) what about the "Cruising Helsinki Archipelago" tour?

 

We'd love to hear about your experiences on either or both.

 

What's Helsinki like just to stroll around for the afternoon? We spent an afternoon in Antwerp doing that on a cruise a few years ago, and it was a really magical day.

 

Thanks for your help.

[MJN1]

The ship will be right next to the city center. It is easy to stroll around. There is a big open market next to the port, and the Tuomiokirkko (church) is close by. The Temppeliaukion kirrko (Rock-Church) can be reached by tram or by taxi. We did not take any tours.

[duct tape]

Helsinki is so accessible from the ship, I would also encourage you to do it yourself. Get a small guidebook and plan your own excursion. Enjoy!

[Winner]

The latest issue of Cruise Travel magazine has a feature article on Helsinki. It could be very helpful in making your plans.

[McMer]

We just got back and did do the "Finnish Architecture" tour. If choosing again, we would simply do Helsinki on our own. The cruise overall was great, so have fun!

[castlewood]

Thank you for these insights. We're looking forward to our afternoon in Helsinki, and very much to the cruise.

[eleang]

We just came back from our cruise, we took the Cruising the Helsinski Archipielago tour, which departed right in the morning, is a nice boat ride through the islands where most of the people vacation, it is a nice boat ride with coffe and cookies and a nice way to start your day, after the trip we stayed in town and walked for about 2 hours seeing the main sites and took a break in a streetside cafe to have a wonderful finish bear under the sun. It was a great experience and we had plenty of time to see it all, if you want to save money you can skip the Cruising the Helsinski... excursion if $$ is not a concern I would recommend to take it as you see this other part of the city and you still will have time to stroll on your own after. Bon Voyage!

[duct tape]

On the homepage of CruiseCritic, there is port info on Helsinki. Enjoy!