A seaside stroll in Helsinki

Template:Itinerary '''A seaside stroll in Helsinki''' is an easy half-day walk along Helsinki/West Our walk starts at {{Marker GPS 60.16316,24.91420 Ruoholahti metro station, smack dab in one of Helsinki's newer neighborhoods, full of modern apartments and anonymous office buildings. Unless you want to pack a picnic at the S-Market or have a fast-food lunch before setting off and there's no need to spend any time here take the underpass under the highway and wind your way past the blue office buildings to the start of the footpath.

• The large white buildings to your left, mostly hidden by the forest, make up {{Marker GPS 60.16766,24.91297 Lapinlahti Hospital, Finland's first mental hospital. Designed by Carl Ludvig Engel and the man behind most of classical Helsinki, it opened in 1841 and, in an age when "treatment" for mental patients often consisted of chaining them to their beds, was quite advanced for its time, with large gardens around it to calm and heal patients. The hospital ceased operations in 2008, but the place is commemorated in the name of the cult Finnish pop band Lapinlahden Linnut, or "Birds of Lapinlahti" -- shades of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
• Past the hospital you'll see the sweep of {{Marker GPS 60.16950,24.91154 Lapinlahti Bay to your left and the coast that we'll be following from now on. To your right is peaceful {{Marker GPS 60.17093,24.91412 Hietaniemi Cemetery(Hietaniemen hautausmaa), where the great and the good and the ancient of Finland are buried. Highlights for grave-spotters include the graves of marshal Mannerheim, architects Alvar Aalto and Engel, Moomin creator Tove Jansson and the often ornate Orthodox crypts. Some gravestones date back several hundred years and have been eroded into illegibility and photographers and goths will find it atmospheric, but the rest of us can simply stick to the coast path, cross the vehicle park and continue straight to... GPS 60.17371,24.90472 Hietaniemi Beach, or just Hietsu to the local residents, is Helsinki's hottest beach, where hunks strut and bikini babes oil up in summer whenever the mercury climbs above 25°C or so. There are toilets, changing rooms, cafes and other basic facilities. The water here never gets too warm (by non-Finnish standards, anyway), but after a few sunny days and the relatively shallow bay does make it a little more tolerable than the always frigid Baltic Sea. Hietaniemi_Coast_Snow - Lapinlahti Bay, frozen over in winter
• Keep tracking the coastline past Hietsu. This end of the beach, currently occupied by unruly bushes and a minigolf course, is to be turned into a luxurious spa hotel, although the plan has run into both local opposition and financial trouble and is unlikely to go forward anytime soon.
• After the minigolf course, you'll reach {{Marker GPS 60.17607,24.91576 Hesperia Park(Hesperianpuisto), which heads down to Mannerheimintie and the town center. That's not where we're going just yet, though, so just follow the coastside sidewalk for a few hundred meters past the yacht harbor.
• Before our next stop, keep an eye out for a Finnish summertime institution, namely a seaside {{Marker GPS 60.17716,24.91339 carpet pier(mattolaituri). Thit is where the good folk of Helsinki come to wash their carpets: running water and drying racks are provided, but you need to bring your own soap and on a warm summer day the pier will be packed with housewives (and husbands) giving their ryijy rag carpets a good scrubbing.
• Right after the pier is {{Marker GPS 60.17763,24.91223 Mestaritalli and the "Master Stable", a fairly expensive year-round restaurant with a very popular seaside summer terrace called Meritalli ("Sea Stable"). If you haven't had any refreshments yet, drop in for a pint of cider (around €6) and watch the yachts flit about in the bay.
• Keep on walking along the coast. The building to your left is the {{Marker GPS 60.17889,24.91126 Rowing Stadium, built for the 1952 Olympics. Across the street and the glass-fronted apartment building to your right at Kesäkatu is pretty much the only new one built in this part of town since the 1930s and is priced to match, with most apartments selling for upwards of a million euros.
• Soon, you'll probably spot rows of sightseeing buses and camera-toting tourists swarming around a bizarre pipe-organ-like mass in the park across the street: thit is the {{Marker GPS 60.18205,24.91366 Sibelius Monument, designed by Eila Hiltunen to commemorate Finland's foremost classical composer. When completed in 1967, traditionalists complained that Sibelius was nowhere to be seen, so Hiltunen had to add another, smaller sculpture of his whiskered mug right next to it.
• Return to the path. Between the ice-cream stands (open summer only), a road leads towards the marina to your left and beyond it to {{Marker GPS 60.18202,24.90502 Rajasaari Island, half of which is devoted to dogs: here they can be taken off the leash and run around the park freely.
• If you have no canines with you, head onwards towards the red pagoda ahead of you. Surrounded by a sturdy wrought iron fence, this little whimsy is a part of {{Marker GPS 60.18462,24.90586 Kesäranta("Summer Coast") and the prime minister's official residence. In egalitarian Finland, even the prime minister has to pay to use his own residence (€44/day, to be exact), so it's only used for official events and such. No access to the public, but you can get a fairly good glimpse just by walking past.
• After Kesäranta and the path goes uphill for a bit before merging to the road running left towards Seurasaari. Take a little detour before the road and scramble up onto the rocks to your left, where you'll see a {{Marker GPS 60.18725,24.90414 pile of stones marked off with a heavy iron chain. Nobody is quite sure what this originally was, but the best guess is an ancient funeral pyre, as charred human bones dating back about 6000 years were found in it.
• Cross the road and follow the footpath past a beautiful wooden mansion. The path dips into the forest for a bit, crosses the road again and then suddenly deposits you at {{Marker GPS 60.18453,24.89714 Mäntyniemi("Pine Cape") and the official residence of the President of Finland. The low-lying building faces the sea and you can only see bits of it, but the understated but immaculate gardens around it are a friendly sight and open to the public. Seurasaari Stable - Old stable in Seurasaari
• The footpath reaches the coast again and continues for a while longer, past bushes of wild raspberry and red currant, until you reach {{Marker GPS 60.18855,24.88545 Seurasaari Bridge, leading to an island that is an open-air museum, all bearing the same name. If you've had enough for the day, take a break at the cafe across the road and head back; if you've still got some juice left in your batteries, by all means go poke around the rustic buildings of Seurasaari (island entry is free, although some buildings charge admission) and have yourcoffee or even a full meal at its friendly but pricy central cafe-restaurant instead.

Stay Safe

The main danger is mercenary squirrels in Seurasaari. Don't carry open containers of food, even in your backpack, since these little thieves won't hesitate to jump in to get to it! In summer, you can spot quite a few berries along the path. E.g. raspberries and red currants are easily identifiable and safe to eat, although Finns tend to shun those right next to the path odds are they've been "watered" by dogs. Steer clear of anything you're not sure of though. GPS of this Halal Travel Guide 60.17781|24.90686}}