Helsinki in summertime

The summer tourism season in Helsinki begins in May and continues to the end of September.



From the start of May sightseeing cruises begin sailing again, the island restaurants open, outdoor markets throng with life, and free-of-charge city bikes appear on the streets. A sure sign of summer, the Tourist & Convention Bureau’s popular Helsinki Helpers begin patrolling the streets and parks on Helsinki Day, 12 June.

International cruise ship passengers are as clear a sign of the arrival of summer as the migratory birds. The cruise ship season, which begins in late April, brings to Helsinki approx. 300 international cruise ships carrying with them almost 300,000 passengers. On the busiest days of the cruise ship season, members of the Finnish Road Service (STM) direct sightseeing busses at the popular Temppeliaukio Church and Senate Square.

Although many Helsinki residents spend summer at their cottages in the countryside, the city centre bustles with life. Open-air terraces, parks and events invite people to relax outdoors. Helsinki’s many sights and attractions entertain visitors from both Finland and abroad.

White nights

Few things impress first-time visitors to Finland more than the midnight sun in summertime. Although the true midnight sun can be enjoyed only as far north as Lapland, in Helsinki the sun sets for only a couple of hours on the longest day of the year. Nightclubbers leaving the bars in the middle of the night can be quite startled by the daylight!