7 enjoyable reading places in Helsinki
Want to sit down with a good book? Here are some great options for where to read in Helsinki. We know exactly where to do it!
1. IPI Kulmakuppila
Huge windows flooding the space with natural light, a balcony full of leather bat chairs to sink into. Cafe Kulmakuppila IPI is a perfect place for a real page turner right next to Kallio Library. Handy, right? If you really get carried away with your book, no worries, you can get delicious breakfast and lunch salads here. While digesting (both the food and the book) you can watch the local street life of Kallio moving by behind the windows.
Staff is friendly, dogs and cats (!) welcome. Background music: soft jazzy tunes to go with your reading.
2. Rikhardinkatu Library
Obvious, easy and a delightful choice: go where the books are. Designed by architect Theodor Höijer in the Neo-Renaissance style and completed in 1881, Rikhardinkatu Library offers a beautiful and peaceful setting for reading. The lounge chairs on the second floor are perfect for hiding among the shelves in complete anonymity (heaven for the Finns). More chairs and plenty of natural light can be found on the fifth floor.
While reading you can really sense that you’re in the right place: The building was the first in the entire Nordic region to be designed specifically as a public library. Oh, yes. You could almost call this a true book lover’s holy place to read in!
3. The Helsinki University Main Library, Kaisa House
Welcome to the heart of Helsinki student life: Main Library in the Kaisa House, a perfect match of contemporary library aesthetics and lively vibes. You’ll find comfy spots to read on each floor. On the 7th floor you can enjoy one of the best panoramic views of Helsinki Cathedral in the entire city.
The stunning design of the building offers plenty of natural light. Kaisa House was designed by architects Selina Anttinen and Vesa Oiva and completed in 2012.
4. Winter Garden
Tired of wintertime cozyness, candle light and woolly socks? Here is an alternative. At the Winter Garden, on the north side of the Töölönlahti bay you can read in summer – all year round. Outside it’s snowing (or raining cats and dogs), inside you’re enjoying your book beneath the palm trees in a tropical atmosphere.
The glass and steel building dates back to the 1890s, and its central fountain is a great place to relax on one of the benches. Take your own thermos bottle and picnic with you. Hundreds of plants will keep you gentle and silent company. Free entrance!
5. Johan & Nyström
If your love for coffee is as strong as your love for reading, head here. Cafe Johan & Nyström serves some of the best coffee in town and yes, some delicious raw cake with it! Reading-friendly lounge chairs can be found both upstairs and down. Music plays in the background and if you’re fine with that you’ll be up for some quality reading (and coffee) time.
Reading tip: Tove Jansson’s novels. The creator of the Moomins spent her childhood here, in the Katajanokka district. It’s not quite the Moominvalley but between pages, you can have a walk and spot some very familiar looking shapes in the architecture.
6. Vallila: Kahvila Päijänne and Pikku-Vallila
Grandma -style sofas and possibly the best vegan cinnamon buns in Helsinki. Plenty of other vegan delicacies too. Friendly, humble, peaceful, no fuss, no hurry. Kahvila Päijänne is a truly local neighbourhood cafe hiding in the district of Vallila. A place made for slow mornings – or the whole day – of reading.
While in Vallila, it’s also worth visiting the atmospheric heart of Wooden Vallila, the corner bar-restaurant Pikku-Vallila. In its more bohemian past it was the local for various artists, including the awarded Finnish poet Arto Melleri (1956-2005). Reading tip: Unspoken Words: Selected Poems of Arto Melleri.
7. Nature!
Sounds a bit vast? Well, in Helsinki it is – and full of places to read! Just decide whether you want to listen to the wind, the waves, the birds (the small ones or the seagulls?), the trees or the bees as a soundtrack to suit your book. Then, just pack your reading bag. A hammock and / or a blanket, a thermos, some water and snacks, a towel, a swimming suit …and obviously your book, or two. Now there is a good basis for a long day out.
And off you go! To the sunny rocks by the sea in Kaivopuisto Park or Suomenlinna Sea Fortress or Kuusiluoto (an island in the midst of the Viikki nature reserve). The beaches of Mustikkamaa or Munkkiniemi or Hietaranta. The lush gardens of Annala or Kumpula Botanic Garden or Tullisaari Manor Park. The terrace of Blue Villa’s Cafe by Töölönlahti bay right next to the Writers’ House Villa Kivi.
The most Helsinkian way to read in nature? Before or after sauna – naturally. Try Furuvik Beach sauna, a bit further out in eastern Helsinki with a beautiful view, or the oldest public sauna in town, The Lähde Sauna, situated right by the seafront, surrounded by a beautiful park and old hospital milieu.
After the löyly you can be sure of one thing: Nothing caters to the soul like nature, sauna and literature combined.
