7 accessible experiences Riikka recommends in Helsinki
Sparkling wine served at your table in an art museum, a cinema whose best seat is wheelchair-accessible, and a birdwatching deck reached by a ramp instead of stairs. Accessibility in Helsinki means things that make life easier for absolutely everyone.
Follow Riikka Leinonen and Sanni Myllyaho as they explore seven of their favourite accessible experiences in the city — from culture and nightlife to nature and everyday ease.
Helsinki is not entirely accessible. On the way, you still encounter stairs, doors that are too narrow and icy hills. Some services still work only for people who can see, use both hands and keep their balance.
Even so, Helsinki is becoming more accessible all the time. Accessible solutions make it possible to move smoothly with a wheelchair, pram or rollator. Accessibility means that everyone can take part in the events and activities they want.
“In Helsinki, how well accessibility is realised depends very much on the district. Kallio is difficult, the city centre already quite smooth,” says Riikka Leinonen.
Leinonen, 35, is a writer and former landscape architect who has also designed sites in Helsinki. She is now arguably the most sought-after disability specialist in the country. Together with journalist Sofia Tawast, she wrote the non-fiction book Suuri valhe vammaisuudesta (“The Great Lie About Disability”, Tammi). The book is a forthright argument for the right of different kinds of people to exist in the world and in communities. The authors won the 2024 Tieto-Finlandia literary award for non-fiction with the work, after which Leinonen has had a steady stream of consulting jobs and speaking engagements. For this interview Leinonen invited writer and trainer Sanni Myllyaho, 34, to join her.
The pair meet in central Helsinki at the Ateneum Art Museum and head by lift to Café Höijer on the third floor. The museum’s accessibility is essential because Myllyaho uses a wheelchair, and Leinonen has balance limitations and reduced function in one hand due to cerebral palsy.
The women order cava to the table and prepare to share the places they themselves enjoy in Helsinki. Some of them are fully accessible, some not. Which one do you find the most intriguing?
Recommendation #1: Ateneum is wonderful
“When I go to a museum, I want to feel a certain elevation,” Leinonen says.
At Ateneum Art Museum, she feels this is achieved. Even though the accessible entrance is at the back of the building, it is not some “kitchen door” but a general entrance used by other visitors too. Leinonen appreciates that accessibility has been solved elegantly with a lift rather than a long ramp, even though the difference in height is quite small.
Ateneum has incorporated accessibility in many ways. Guided tours are also available in Easy Finnish. Interpreted introductions in sign language are offered, as well as audio-described tours for visually impaired visitors. Visually impaired museum-goers who move with an assistant can also touch certain sculptures – vinyl gloves for this purpose can be borrowed from the information desk.
Four times a year, entry to Ateneum is free.
In the café, Leinonen and Myllyaho note the suitable height of the marble table. A wheelchair fits neatly underneath. The server brings everything directly to the table.
These things influence the experience of a visit.
“This isn’t exactly a cheap place, but it’s an important bit of everyday luxury,” Leinonen says.
Ateneum is currently aiming for certification as an autism-friendly museum. This requires, among other things, clear signage, minimisation of sensory stimuli, and advance instructions on how to avoid crowds and visit without interacting with customer service. The first Finnish museum to be certified was the Amos Rex art museum in 2021.
A neurodivergent person may become overwhelmed by the sensory stimuli in a museum. Leinonen and Myllyaho praise the calm and dimly lit room Ateneum has created next to the gender-neutral toilets. Some mothers use it for breastfeeding. Leinonen usually goes there to rest after a visit to an exhibition.
Recommendation #2: Helsinki’s transport is accessible – and free for wheelchair users!
Sanni Myllyaho does not miss the days when old-fashioned high-floor trams ran on Helsinki’s tracks.
“In my student days I often had to stay at the stop when my friends boarded the tram and I stayed behind waiting for the next one,” Myllyaho recalls.
Those days are fortunately over. Today all trams in Helsinki have either a fully low floor or at least a low-floor middle section. Local trains and buses also have low floors.
In summer, rail transport runs quite accessibly in Myllyaho’s experience. In snowy months, not so much.
“The joy of more accessible trains and trams is limited if you can’t board them because winter maintenance is poor.”
Public transport in Helsinki and throughout the HSL area is free for passengers travelling with a wheelchair or pram. If a disabled person has an EU Disability Card or a Companion Card, their personal assistant may travel for free.
Recommendation #3: Partying is important
Riikka Leinonen and Sanni Myllyaho met at the Finnish Parliament, where they both worked in 2022. Leinonen was parliamentary assistant to MP Bella Forsgrén (Greens), Myllyaho a junior specialist.
“Unfortunately, the Parliament House is still not an accessible place,” Leinonen says.
Both interviewees hope that Finland will have more disabled decision-makers at all levels of power.
“The power of example and representation is really important,” Myllyaho says.
Today Myllyaho works in fundraising for an international aid organisation. Leinonen is a consultant and producer for the media platform Vammaisettytöt.fi (“Disabled Girls”).
Myllyaho says their relationship is one of mutual respect.
“I admire you Riikka not only for your expertise, but also because you love a good party. You spread disabled joy around you.”
Myllyaho’s comment makes Leinonen laugh.
“The perception of disabled people’s lives is often so steeped in tragedy that you have to show the other side as well, an enjoyment of life,” Leinonen says.
Now it’s time to talk about Myllyaho’s and Leinonen’s favourite bars:
Harju8, located on Harjutori square in the Kallio district, is one of Leinonen’s favourites, a former neighbourhood bar and an aesthetically pleasing place to be seen. On summer Sundays a jazz band often plays on the terrace.
As an influencer specialised in consulting, Leinonen also has a suggestion for improvement for Harju8.
“The bar’s accessible entrance and ramp should be available at times other than just summer. You shouldn’t remove accessible solutions, because they bring in customers.”
Sanni Myllyaho likes Corona Bar in the Konepaja area of Vallila.
“It has a fresh new ramp, an accessible toilet and good red wine.”
In the same breath Myllyaho says she weighs carefully which place to choose. Her
friendship circle also includes people with low incomes. She herself needs accessible spaces.
“S-Group restaurants aren’t hipster places, but often they’ve genuinely invested in accessibility.”
That’s why you might spot her, for example, at the Oluthuone Konepaja pub.
Recommendation #4: In Helsinki, choose your cinema carefully
Sanni Myllyaho is a cinephile and an expert on Helsinki’s cinemas. The theatres of Finnkino, the largest cinema chain, are accessible, but a wheelchair user is always placed at the side of the auditorium and often also in the front row, which is not the most comfortable viewing position.
Myllyaho’s favourite cinema is the small WHS Teatteri Union in Kruununhaka, next to the Pitkäsilta bridge. Its back row can be moved aside so that a wheelchair user is positioned in an excellent spot in the auditorium. The programme includes not only classic films but also experimental screenings and visual theatre.
For screenings by Finland’s National Audiovisual Institute, Myllyaho heads to the Central Library Oodi and its cinema Regina.
“Oodi’s accessibility is on a whole different level. Everything there is designed with accessibility in mind.”
Myllyaho also likes the Riviera cinema in Punavuori, which shows topical art-house films. In addition to its two screening rooms, the cinema has a cosy rose-coloured bar serving delicious tapas.
“Oodi’s accessibility is on a whole different level. Everything there is designed with accessibility in mind.”
Myllyaho also likes the Riviera cinema in Punavuori, which shows topical art-house films. In addition to its two screening rooms, the cinema has a cosy rose-coloured bar serving delicious tapas.“The Riviera in Kallio is nice too, but in winter the hill leading to its entrance can be icy and slippery.”
The Torikorttelit area between Senate Square and the Market Square is called Helsinki’s Old Town. Its renovation a few years ago still delights Sanni Myllyaho.
“The renovation showed that when restoring old buildings, it is also possible to make solutions that support accessibility.”
As a result of the renovation, Torikorttelit and the Kino Engel cinema on Sofiankatu opened up to many people who previously couldn’t access them. Today Kino Engel is among Myllyaho’s favourites. The auditoriums located below street level are reachable by lift. To reach the first auditorium, however, a wheelchair user must ask the staff to open a route through the back. In summer, outdoor films are shown in the cinema’s courtyard.
“And the Neapolitan pizzeria Via Tribunali next door to Kino Engel is always worth a visit,” Leinonen adds.
Recommendation #5: Kluuvi and Kämp Galleria are small and pleasant
Street-level shops in the inner city are not always accessible.
“A slightly boring truth is that the most accessible spaces are usually shopping centres,” says Riikka Leinonen.
She gets tired from noise and therefore prefers smaller places. One of Leinonen’s favourites is the compact Kluuvi shopping centre next to the University of Helsinki. There she especially enjoys dining at Vibami, which serves vegan Vietnamese food.
Kämp Galleria, on the other side of Aleksanterinkatu, also pleases Leinonen. She loves wandering particularly in the spacious top-floor areas, browsing beautiful objects and clothes.
Whatever the weather, Aleksanterinkatu stays ice-free in winter thanks to heating. Its stone surfaces receive praise from both interviewees.
Recommendation #6: In Helsinki you can enjoy nature accessibly
Helsinki has many kinds of nature. Leinonen and Myllyaho love the accessible nature trail from Pornaistenniemi to Lammassaari, just off Arabianranta. Wheelchairs and prams roll lightly and safely along the wide, plank-built trail of just over a kilometre. The surrounding wetland is especially popular among migratory birds. In the evenings you can hear owls hooting; during the day you may spot eagles and the grey herons that have recently settled in Finland. At night the nightingales begin their concert.
Myllyaho and Leinonen appreciate the birdwatching deck, which is reached by a ramp instead of steps. From there the landscape opens up to everyone, no matter from what height one looks, as the wall is made of transparent plexiglass.
Helsinki’s early-summer hotspot is the Haaga Rhododendron Park, which blooms in every shade of magenta and lilac. It is accessible by wheelchair from Huopalahti train station.
In Myllyaho’s view, the park has a certain “good and crazy scientist energy”, as its shrubs include the results of many plant crossbreeds.
“Under the pine canopies the blooms seem incredibly bright. During the flowering season you won’t find another place like it in Helsinki.”
The park has wide and even gravel paths. Some of the plank walkways between the rhododendrons are also wide enough for comfortable wheelchair access.
Riikka Leinonen enjoys small adventures in Helsinki’s allotment gardens. There is a lot to see and smell even within a short distance, the terrain is flat, and in summer there are often café services. Her own favourite garden is in Herttoniemi.
If the weather doesn’t entice you outdoors, Leinonen and Myllyaho recommend the Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden. Its indoor spaces offer plants from savannas, rainforests and tropical sandy beaches.
Recommendation #7: Hobo Hotel works at any time of day
When Leinonen and her colleague planned the launch party for their award-winning non-fiction book, the most important things were both accessibility and pleasant surroundings.
“On the day of the launch I stayed at the Hobo Hotel. When I checked in, I breathed in the lobby and thought: this is where we’ll come for the afterparty.”
The bright-coloured lobby bar of the Hobo Hotel, located near Kluuvi and Kämp Galleria, is still, in Leinonen’s view, exactly the kind of celebration venue that suits her.
After many years living in Helsinki, Leinonen now lives in Jyväskylä. When visiting Helsinki she often stays at Hobo, as she does on this work trip. That’s where her friends are heading now too, after leaving the art museum.
At Café Höijer on Ateneum’s third floor, there is table service. Leinonen and Myllyaho appreciate not having to ask separately for help carrying their dishes.
“A city needs quiet and dim spaces,” says Riikka Leinonen in Ateneum’s resting room.
Ateneum’s accessible entrance is on the heated Ateneuminkuja, a pedestrian alley behind the museum.
Riikka Leinonen enjoys spending time at Hobo Hotel, both before and after events.
