{"id":4042,"date":"2018-03-15T03:20:10","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T03:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=4042"},"modified":"2018-03-15T03:20:10","modified_gmt":"2018-03-15T03:20:10","slug":"helsinki-as-the-place-to-go-to-for-a-green-urban-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/helsinki-as-the-place-to-go-to-for-a-green-urban-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Helsinki as the place to go to for a green urban experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0is the hidden gem of\u00a0Northern Europe<\/span>\u00a0and the fastest route between\u00a0Asia<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Europe<\/span>. The Finnish capital is a year-round city of events and an inspiring design destination that promises even more in 2018.<\/b><\/p>\n

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IMAGE SOURCE<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0is attracting more visitors than ever before. The city challenges the established tourist attractions in\u00a0Europe<\/span>\u00a0by offering visitors new kinds of experiences. The fastest flight route between\u00a0Asia<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Europe<\/span>\u00a0is through\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>, with the national airline\u00a0Finnair<\/a>\u00a0offering over 250 direct flights a month between Asian cities and the Finnish capital. In 2017 the number of overnight stays in\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0by visitors from\u00a0Singapore\u00a0<\/span>increased by 42 percent, from\u00a0China<\/span>\u00a0by 31 percent and from\u00a0Japan<\/span>\u00a0by 15 percent.<\/p>\n

“Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0is an urban, trendy and cultural city that is very close to nature. Visitors can find everything from design to delicious restaurant experiences and museums to outdoor activities. Getting around time is really easy, so you don’t waste any time sitting in traffic jams, and you can get by with English everywhere,”\u00a0says\u00a0Laura Aalto, CEO of Helsinki Marketing.<\/p>\n

The already generous selection of over sixty hotels in\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0will be further expanded this spring when the five-star\u00a0St. George\u00a0opens in a historic building in the city centre. The exclusive new hotel combines wellness, cuisine and art to create a complete experience for guests.<\/p>\n

Exciting city of the arts<\/b><\/p>\n

Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0also has many great museums right in the city centre, including four leading art museums within a one-kilometre radius. These will be joined in\u00a0August 2018<\/span>\u00a0by the brand-new\u00a0Amos Rex<\/span>, an innovative art museum that has been built below ground and that has already attracted a lot of international attention. The opening exhibition will present the\u00a0Tokyo<\/span>-based\u00a0teamLab\u00a0art collective.<\/p>\n

Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0is also known as the hometown of\u00a0Tove Jansson<\/span>, creator of the Moomins, and numerous Moomin caf\u00e9s and shops can be found in the city. Visitors can learn more about\u00a0Tove Jansson’s<\/span>\u00a0career as an artist at the\u00a0Helsinki Art Museum HAM.<\/p>\n

Diverse design attraction<\/b><\/p>\n

Design and architecture are at the very core of\u00a0Helsinki’s<\/span>\u00a0identity. The city features layers of architecture, from Empire-style to\u00a0Art Nouveau<\/span>\u00a0and Functionalist to Modernist. Designs by legendary Finnish architect\u00a0Alvar Aalto\u00a0can be seen throughout the city, and his home and studio are also open to visitors.<\/p>\n

In addition to functional urban planning,\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0is also home to many internationally recognised design brands. Visitors will find the flagship stores of design icons such as\u00a0Artek,\u00a0Iittala\u00a0and\u00a0Marimekko, as well as many smaller boutiques selling the latest creations of successful young fashion designers. Marimekko recently launched a new special edition together with\u00a0UNIQLO, and its original textile printing factory and outlet can be reached within just 15 minutes from the city centre by metro.<\/p>\n

Design District\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0brings together the city’s creative enterprises, encompassing boutiques, galleries and showrooms all within the same neighborhood. It is also home to the\u00a0Design Museum\u00a0and\u00a0Museum of Finnish Architecture.\u00a0Helsinki Design Week\u00a0in turn is the biggest design event in the Nordic region and takes place each year in September.<\/p>\n

Pure nature and public saunas within walking distance<\/b><\/p>\n

Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0is a city of contrasts that combines urban culture with pure nature. From any hotel in\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0guests can walk to the seashore or a green park in just minutes. Unforgettable outdoor destinations include the many islands in the archipelago, which are perfect for daytrips. The city is literally surrounded by pure nature, offering visitors lots of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, for example by picking blueberries in the forests in July and August.<\/p>\n

The spirit of\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0also includes Finnish sauna culture, which visitors can experience in their hotel saunas or any of the public saunas. For example, both the\u00a0L\u00f6yly\u00a0design sauna and\u00a0Allas Sea Pool\u00a0offer the chance to cool off in sea water after a hot sauna session.<\/p>\n

Oodi – the new Central Library and a masterpiece of modern architecture<\/p>\n

The new\u00a0Helsinki Central Library Oodi\u00a0designed by ALA Architects will open in the heart of the city in\u00a0December 2018<\/span>. State-of-the-art libraries like\u00a0Oodi<\/a>\u00a0are not only a key element in the international renowned Finnish education system but also design attractions in themselves. Oodi showcases Finnish wooden construction expertise and sets an example for the libraries of the future. CNN has referred to Oodi as one of the most anticipated buildings of 2018.<\/p>\n

Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0is a pioneer in digital services for visitors<\/b><\/p>\n

Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0aims to be the world’s most functional city, in part by developing digital services for visitors that will help it stand out from the competition. The\u00a0MyHelsinki.fi<\/a> website that was launched last summer is based entirely on the recommendations of locals. The website serves both locals and visitors in six different languages.<\/p>\n

“Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0stands for the good life.\u00a0Helsinki<\/span>\u00a0wants to be the most functional city in the world, and a place that attracts people and companies that work towards a better world. In order to achieve this goal, we are continuously developing new digital services,” Aalto ended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Helsinki\u00a0is attracting more visitors than ever before. The city challenges the established tourist attractions in\u00a0Europe\u00a0by offering visitors new kinds of experiences. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[1227,1996,1995,110],"class_list":["post-4042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-travel","tag-adventure-travel","tag-finland","tag-helsinki","tag-travel-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4044,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042\/revisions\/4044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}