Visit East Helsinki: The cosmopolitan melting
pot
“Growing up in East Helsinki, I’ve always appreciated how you can step out your front door and be surrounded by peaceful nature in no time, or easily hop on the metro, bus, or soon the light rail to get anywhere in the city. The charm of this area lies in its diverse neighbourhoods, each with its own unique character. But the natural spaces and outdoor opportunities in East Helsinki are in a league of their own. There are nature reserves, island-hopping spots, marinas, saunas, and cosy little cafés and restaurants. For instance, the Helsinki Workers’ Association’s restaurant in Pyysaari offers a beautiful summer setting, while Kahvila Kampela, next to Uutela outdoor recreation area, is open year-round. When heading out, it’s always worth bringing a thermos of coffee with you, but there’s no shortage of places to sit down and relax.”
Elina
Local Helsinkian
Time to visit East Helsinki: the vibrant foodie paradise
East Helsinki offers a break away from the city, while in the city, exhilarating experiences and deep relaxation by nature ensure you get to experience the capital from a whole other point of view and return to downtown as a newborn. Especially food-wise, East Helsinki is second to none. Here, you get to forget the plain Finnish ‘pöperö’ (or ‘grub’ in the London language) but a plethora of flavours and dishes that take you on a culinary journey around the world.
Herttoniemi is a great stepping stone to the restaurant scene of East Helsinki. Bella Marina’s delicious Mediterranean food is enjoyed in a cosy environment with a tasty seaview on the side. Another excellent choice is Treffi Pub, a local legend with burgers to die for (metaphorically, of course – you’ll want to have them again) and a wide menu with exotic flavours from every corner of the world.
Ready to do a full flavour dive? Puhos is the place to be! This atmospheric shopping centre in Puotinharju attracts travellers from around Finland. Filled with ethnic stores and restaurants, Puhos invites you to explore and experience the mouth-watering dishes all the way from Africa and the Middle East. Try Kurdistan skewers, or as the locals call them, ‘shishe’, at restaurants Arbailo and Kirkuk, or go to Diwan Bagdad for some of their legendary baklava – some say it’s the best in Finland! Outside Puhos, you can vibe with the delicious Turkish flavours in Kontula’s Restaurant Antalya, or try some equally excellent Nepalese food at Villa Nepal, located in the mall Easton Helsinki.
Finally, when you inevitably wish to take some of the treats and flavours home with you (we might be biased, but the East Helsinki food scene truly is that good), head to the shopping centre Itis and check out the city’s newest and largest market hall. Small restaurants, stalls, and tables are piled with local and international delicacies, excellent for sweet and savoury souvenirs. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to check out the TikTok-famous Alanya Market – the largest ethnic market in the country!
Leisurely life in the lap of nature
While East Helsinki is filled with life and people, it has an abundance of nature locations and places to go and listen to the sweet, Finnish quiet. Stunning forests, parks, and recreation areas offer refreshing outdoor opportunities for year round enjoyment, as do the many beaches and seaside trails. Did you know over half of maritime Helsinki’s shoreline is in the east? That’s more than 65 kilometres (many, many, many miles)! So put your boots on and get exploring – East Helsinki is sure to hold your new personal haven of peace.
In late April and early May, Roihuvuori Cherry Park comes into full bloom and turns into a number one location for some cutesy spring pictures lined with a flurry of pink petals. Roihuvuori Hanami Festival held in May celebrates the bloom, imitating Japan’s annual cherry blossom celebration with all kinds of Japanese arts, performances, and treats. Next to the park, you can also find the city’s only Japanese-style garden, accessible fora tranquil walk all year around.
Herttoniemi jogging trails are a great place to enjoy some urban scenery and historical sights – in the area lays an ancient Bronze Age graveyard. Another ancient history find is in the Meri-Rastila recreation area, the ancient rocky shore leaving a lasting impression! For a more tangible shore experience, check out Rastila Beach, one of the popular East Helsinki swimming spots. Other breezy beaches like Kivinokka, Aurinkolahti, and Marjaniemi are scattered all over the area for relaxing outdoor activities outside summer as well. Marjaniemi Beach even offers a chance to try out winter swimming! Try it out and get a sure icebreaker for all future conversations (as soon as you stop shivering every time you think about it).
Bleisure
Leisure
Local Lapland and cave-hunting
In Jakomäki, you’ll find our very own mini-Lapland, Slåttmossen. This raised bog is the only one in Helsinki, located at the heart of a conservation area where you can observe the bog from the duckboards. The rugged terrain is in fact so like the forests of northern Finland that they’ve been used to portray actual Lapland in a Finnish movie from 1951! Another conservation area worth checking out is the Mustavuori conservation area. Here you can spend an entire day by climbing the hill for some stunning views all the way to Vuosaari and by exploring the old trenches, gorges, and impressive mined caves. And if you’re left wanting more of that cave-dweller life and fortress spotting, the Kivikko rec –or Kivikko forest, is a great place to explore. And don’t forget to take a torch with you to your outdoor adventures, as it can get quite dark, especially in the late fall and winter!
Always something to do in East Helsinki
East Helsinki truly has it all for visiting as well as for day-to-day life, with neighbourhoods bustling with activities to all tastes and seasons. Get your body moving at Kivikko sports park and Vuosaari Links golfing greens, or visit the swimming hall of Itäkeskus, affectionately titled ‘the tropic of the east’ among the locals. If you prefer shopping runs to marathons, the area has three big shopping centres to explore. Itis, already mentioned before for its excellent market hall, and Easton are very conveniently right next to each other for a good old double shopping spree! In the latter, you can find Touch d’André, a TikTok famous and denim-focused fashion store with almost a cult-like following in Helsinki – does its style cater to everyone, though? Debatable, but keep an open mind!
Hertsi shopping centre with another great selection of stores to explore is in Herttoniemi, just a short walk away from Herttoniemi industrial park designed by a famous Finnish architect, Erkki Kairamo. The crown jewel in the park is a must-visit for all the fans of Finnish design, and that is, of course, Marimekko Outlet. If it’s not your thing, we completely understand – or at least we try very hard to; we do love our Marimekko.
More of an events and culture kind of person? From early October until November, Puotila Manor’s annual Halloweeks gather Helsinkians and visitors to enjoy a spooky but family-friendly Halloween park. The park has a bunch of spooky season specials to see, over a thousand jack-o-lanterns, and all around a magical atmosphere to enjoy. Puotila Manor also has a famous Christmas market in mid-December, so if the most wonderful time of the year is your thing, this is your place to be!
For more year-round experiences, the culture centre Vuotalo offers all sorts of things to do, things like art workshops to movies and theatre shows sure to keep you entertained for days on end. And when you feel like changing it up a bit with circus and dance performances, the culture centre Stoa is totally your jam. Stoa also hosts a popular, annual Idän Kyläjuhla festival in May – a spring event with music, street performances, mini workshops, and more. When you want to see what being East Helsinkian is all about, this is the event for you!
Growth growth growth.
Out of all Helsinki’s neighbourhoods and areas, East Helsinki and its neighbourhoods are some of the fastest-growing parts of the city. The sheer number of residents in the neighbourhoods makes them like tiny towns! And if you count all East Helsinki’s residents, did you know it would be enough to raise East Helsinki into the top 10 biggest cities in Finland? Yes, this area really is that huge and still growing, with more and more people constantly moving and neighbourhoods’ infrastructure growing and changing steadily to support the increasing, diverse population and to connect the neighbourhoods even better to the central city.
East Helsinki is also one of the areas with the most young residents in Helsinki. The needs of the youth have been very carefully considered in the area planning, and we’ve ensured that the area keeps up with its growing young resident numbers with both things to do as well as with their education. Kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools, upper secondary and vocational schools, and Metropolia UAS campuses make the area a great place for people of all ages and families of all sizes.
Cultural diversity is a massive perk and a source of strength in the schools of the neighbourhoods. The area also has Helsinki’s only upper secondary school with a bilingual Finnish-English program as well as a track with an emphasis on languages and internationality, catering also to the needs of bilingual kids and people who don’t speak Finnish as their first language.
For businesses, East Helsinki is a fantastic hub of opportunities. The internationality of the area makes it one of Helsinki’s most unique grounds for a business to flourish and has a great network of businesses from all kinds of fields. East Helsinkian entrepreneurs find support from Helsingin Yrittäjät suborganisation Itä-Helsingin Yrittäjät, which hosts events, trainings, and networking as well as works as an advocate for their members and Helsinkian businesses.
The area is affordable without compromising on modern and well-equipped spaces and offers not only offices but also many newer coworking places (like Mesta Coworking and Regus Itis) as well as working spaces to drop by on the go (like Coworking Hertsi and Spacehub at Hertsi shopping centre) for all kinds of remote working and digital nomad needs.
To Wonder
Space
Last, but definitely not least, East Helsinki is also incredibly well connected! Vuosaari Harbour is Helsinki’s biggest and busiest logistics area, as well as the most important route for Finnish foreign trade. For less watery passages, East Helsinki is located within a 20-minute ride from both the airport and the city centre – a metro connects it directly to Helsinki Central Station, running through the city centre all the way to western Helsinki to the southern parts of the neighbouring city, Espoo. A recently built light rail also connects Itäkeskus to the middle parts of Helsinki, passing many of the local commuter train stations and finishing in eastern Espoo. Wherever you want to go, you can get there!
Final thoughts: are you ready to experience the East?
East Helsinki may not be the first spot on your radar when visiting, but it stands out as the city’s most diverse and unique area. Like its own mini city within the city, East Helsinki neighbourhoods offer a getaway like no other with worldly flavours, vibrant suburbs, and peaceful nature. So, brave breaking the status quo, get exploring, and experience things to do and places to visit unlike anywhere else in the capital area. East Helsinki has all the makings of being the favourite you didn’t quite expect.
