Helsinki in 3 days

The Ateneum (Rautatientori — Finland's national art museum in a 1887 Italian Renaissance building facing the main railway station; the collections cover Finnish art from the 18th century to 1960 with particular strength in the Golden Age of Finnish painting (1880–1910): Albert Edelfelt (his painting 'Luxembourg Gardens' sent to the Paris Salon in 1887), Akseli Gallen-Kallela (paintings from the Kalevala epic — the scenes of Väinämöinen, Aino, and the pike cookery that every Finnish schoolchild knows), Helene Schjerfbeck (the Self-Portrait series across 6 decades, one of the greatest series of self-portraits in Nordic art). Adults €17.

Hakaniemen Kauppahalli (Hakaniementori — the working-class covered market, more local than the South Harbour's Old Market Hall, with Finnish farmhouse produce including leipäjuusto (squeaky bread cheese, fresh curd cheese made in a flat round, grilled and eaten warm with cloudberry jam), karelian pies (karjalanpiirakka — oval rice porridge pies in a thin rye crust, served with egg butter, the most Finnish thing you can eat at a market), and kalakukko (a traditional Finnish pastry, a round rye bread baked with whole small fish (vendace) inside — a time-capsule rural food from Savo region). Lunch at a market stall: €8–15.

The Helsinki Design District (a 25-block area south of the city centre between Punavuori and Ullanlinna — designated as Finland's design quarter, containing 200+ design showrooms, studios, galleries, cafés, restaurants, boutique hotels, and the Design Museum (Korkeavuorenkatu 23 — the history of Finnish design from 19th century to present, permanent collection free, adults €12 for special exhibitions)). Key stops: Arabia design studio on Hämeentie (the factory outlet for Finland's iconic ceramic brand, 50% discount on seconds), the Artek showroom (Alvar Aalto furniture, the original Aalto stool in every finish), and Marimekko's flagship (bold graphic prints since 1951).

The Finnish sauna (löyly — 'steam' in Finnish, specifically the steam produced by throwing water on the sauna stones; the Finns invented the concept, have been doing it for 2,000 years, and take it with absolute seriousness as a social, spiritual, and physical ritual) is available to visitors at several public saunas in Helsinki. Löyly (Hernesaarenranta 4 — a spectacular public sauna complex opened 2016, architect Avanto; three saunas (smoke, steam, and dry) with a terrace and sea swimming directly from the building, adults €19, restaurant attached). Allas Sea Pool (adjacent to Market Square — outdoor heated pools, two saunas, direct sea swimming, adults €17; the most central option).

Kallio (the working-class neighbourhood across the Pitkäsilta bridge from the city centre — Helsinki's answer to Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg or Lisbon's Mouraria; a grid of 1920s apartment blocks now filled with bars, second-hand shops, and the densest concentration of gay bars in Finland). The neighbourhood bar scene (starting around 21:00 in summer, later in winter) is where Helsinki's under-40s drink: Kuudes Linja (Hämeentie 13a — live music, €3 beers), Bar Loose (Annankatu 21 — rock bar, the oldest rock bar in Helsinki, since 1993).

Temppeliaukio Church (Rock Church — Lutherinkatu 3, designed by brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, completed 1969; a Lutheran church excavated directly from solid bedrock, with walls of exposed natural granite and a 24-metre copper dome spanning the excavation from above; the acoustic is extraordinary — recording studios use it as a reference for natural reverb — and the 30cm of natural rock between the road outside and the interior means the church is completely silent in the middle of a city of 650,000). Free to enter, open daily except during services. Photography permitted. In summer, the choir rehearses on Tuesday evenings (19:00) and the acoustics make it one of the most beautiful ways to spend an hour in Helsinki.

The Kamppi Chapel of Silence (Narinkka Square, Kamppi — designed by Mikko Summanen, K2S Architects, 2012; a tiny elliptical chapel of laminated spruce wood with no services, no pastor, and no specific religious affiliation — just a quiet room in the middle of the busiest shopping area in Helsinki where anyone can sit in silence for as long as they wish; the wood-lined interior absorbs sound and the oval shape focuses what little remains into a gentle hum; one of the most remarkable architectural experiences in Scandinavia). Free, open daily 08:00–20:00. The building exterior (a curved wooden ellipse emerging from the concrete of Narinkka Square) is also beautiful.

Ravintola Savoy (Eteläesplanadi 14 — designed by Alvar Aalto in 1937 for the restaurant that bears the same name as the hotel below it; the original Aalto interior (the sinuous pendant lamps, the leather chairs, the built-in cabinet system) was restored to its 1937 state in 2014 after decades of modification; one of the most complete surviving Aalto interiors in existence and the only one in a functioning restaurant). The Finnish menu features Aalto's favourite dishes: perch fillet with brown butter, pike-perch quenelles, and the legendary Aalto salad. Lunch menus from €28.

Kiasma (Museum of Contemporary Art — Mannerheiminaukio 2, designed by Steven Holl, 1998; a curvaceous white building with a twisted roofline that responds geometrically to its urban context (the curve aligns with the railway tracks, the twist responds to Töölönlahti Bay); holds the national collection of Finnish and international contemporary art from 1960 to the present, with a strong programme of temporary exhibitions by Nordic and international artists). Adults €15. Free for under-18. The building's interior natural light system (Holl designed the windows to bring northern light in from specific angles through the atrium) is what makes it special as a museum space.