Helsinki in December

Visitor, Tourist or the Travelling and hard working Business man, welcome to Helsinki in December

Temperatures may range anywhere from +5 celcius to -20 celcius. At the moment it looks like in 2017 are going to be at around 0 to -5 degrees celcius depending on the hour of the day, so please dress accordingly. Therefore, in order to warm yourself up we recommend you order your self warm “glögi”, pronounced something like “gloegie” with a big lump at the back of your throat. Nevertheless its very tasty and warm, it’s a sort of mulled wine. And now on to our quick recommendations on what to do in Helsinki this December (2017).

Crystal Show Club recommends this December in Helsinki:

Go see some hockey.

Helsinki has a team, Jokerit, playing in the Russia led rival to NHL, the KHL. And Jokerit is hot this season. They have a significantly smaller budget than the big Russian rivals but Jokerit is 3rd in the league at the time of writing this. Jokerit home games are played at Hartwal Arena, extremely accessible by taxi, train (any local train) and tram (numbers 9 and 7 see map). Jokerit have a home game on December 7th. See more details at the Jokerit website. Jokerit is point “a” on our map.

Go and experience a modern Finnish Sauna.

Located in the southern most tip of central Helsinki you will find Löyly – a modern restaurant, bar and sauna complex. Its a strange modern building covered in wood lining but completely comfortable and welcoming with full amenities inside. Just have a look at the website and you see what we mean. Definitely worth a visit, even if its just for a drink – the view is to the sea. The sauna experience is approximately the kind you will get in a 5 star (Note: Scandinavian 5 star 😉 ). Get there from the center by taxi, foot or the bus number 14. Point “b” on our map.

Go see hockey, but outdoors.

This is really a once in a decade event. HIFK is a hockey team with arguably the most prestigious history. HIFK have more or less always been representative of what hockey at top level in Finland can be, both in performance and tradition. They are currently 4th in the league. The team is turning 120 years old and they are playing an outdoor match to celebrate it. HIFK plays in the Finnish national hockey league (They are currently 4th in the league). The Finnish league that has produced quite a few NHL stars over the years, including the late great Matti Hagman who was the first Finnish player in the NHL (who grew up and learned hockey in Finland) , and he was from HIFK.  (His first season was in 1975 in the the Boston Bruins). You may expect a great atmosphere and the red shirts at their best. The location is nice and central – the Kaisaniemi park – literally 2 minutes from the central railway station. And come to have it HIFK is playing the most northern most team in Finland who are currently top of the league, Oulu Kärpät, so having travelled a long way they are sure to do their best to ruin HIFK’s big day.Make sure you get your tickets in advance from the HIFK website. Kaisaniemi park is point “c” in our map.

Try the Finnair Skywheel

This is a great simple thing to do if you are a tourist and just want to experience some simple fun things. Located right outside the presidential palace, standing 40 meters tall it’s overlooking the harbor and providing great views over the Esplanadi park and the city center. There’s also the option to get a VIP experience with special cabin on the wheel complete with leather seats and a champagne reception. Please see the website for more details. The Skywheel is point “d” on our map. And since this s Finland, there is a restaurant and sauna complex with outdoor pools sitting right next to the Skywheel, so could be a great way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

The Ateljee Bar at the top of Hotelli Torni

This is a centrally located, very cosy and classy bar, that’s simply very much worth experiencing. This is a bar that is centrally located – point “f” on map – and keeping up with our theme of views overlooking the city, sits at 70 meters above sea level. Take a lift to the top floor of the Torni Hotel and walk up the spiral staircase and set yourself up for some early evening drinks and great views both inside (hint: its called Ateljee Bar) and outside. Nothing tricky about this one, just get there and enjoy.

Get and experience worth tweeting about – go all in and hit the Sompasauna.

So we saved the weirdest item as our last recommendation on our list. Sompasauna is something you probably aren’t going to come across anywhere else. What looks like a fairly isolated spot – “e” on our custom map – feels probably more isolated by the time you get there. The area has been zoned for some type of construction so the Sompsauna isn’t going to be there for ever, and its the perfect way to experience something very Finnish: some darkness,mild isolation and sauna. Because once you get there you realize you weren’t the only one who made the pilgrimage.

There is an active community of sauna enthusiasts who run and maintain the sauna and have even put together a website for it, plus the odd number of tourists and probably an occasional weirdo there as well. This is a modern cultural experience and worth experiencing, well quite frankly if you have the balls for it. The location is that isolated that you might as well get in and join the fun if you bother to make the trip. (note: isolated here means 10 minutes from the city center, and a great view of the city, but when you hit an area where you see nothing for the last 2 minutes of your taxi ride you may get a feeling you are entering some weird post apocalyptic hippie land).

If you are trying to gather up the courage for the experience we recommend you view this youtube video some friendly city hippie made about the Sompasauna. Despite what they say in the video, Sompasauna is still alive and well, at least for now so get there while you still can! (Disclaimer: Enjoy the Sauna and the swimming at your own risk).

Hungry?

There are good restaurants scattered around the town and this time we will only highlight a few, but these aren’t going to disappoint. For anyone decidedly keen on having some some great Pizza, we recommend a relative new comer Via Tribunali. The pizza is among the best if not the best this city has to offer. Located in the very center (near point “d” on our map – please see google maps for this one), Via Tribunali is as far as we know the only pizzeria in Finland that’s been accredited by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana and only number 675 globally.

Want to experience something Finnish instead – then go to restaurant Juuri. Its tiny, centrally located and the food is amazing, beyond our descriptive abilities. Juuri is a restaurant on a mission to restore (or establish?) the Finnish culinary tradition, and as far as we are concerned they are absolutely acing it. This is one of those places that you aren’t going to forget. That is if you manage to get a reservation, the place is really tiny. If there’s one thing you do before you travel to Helsinki, then its to contact Juuri and see if you are able to book yourself a table, you wont regret it.

Well there is another thing you could do, to be honest, and that’s contact us (or via our facebook page) and arrange yourself a free limousine transport from Juuri to Crystal Show Club to really spoil yourself.