7 ways to embrace the darkness in Helsinki
Autumn in Helsinki begins with golden parks and a crisp sea breeze, but soon the days grow shorter and the light fades fast. In early November, the city gets about 8.5 hours of daylight. By the winter solstice in late December, that number drops to just under six hours — with the sun rising around 9:25 a.m. and setting before 3:15 p.m.
The shift can feel sudden and strange, but darkness here isn’t just something to endure. It’s part of the rhythm of life, a time to slow down, seek warmth, and find beauty in quieter ways.
This guide explores seven ways to do just that: to move with the season, to notice its gifts, and to discover how Helsinki truly shines in the dark.
Darkness
1. Slow down and let go of perfection
Many Finns claim they actually get power from the darkest winter months. Even in cities like Helsinki, where snow isn’t guaranteed, there’s comfort in the dark.
As the light fades, something in us softens too. In the darkness, there’s permission to rest, to slow down, and to stop chasing perfection. Darkness-lovers say that this is the key to their winter-time happiness: human faults seem less obvious in the darkness. There’s softness in darkness, and grace.
For me, the end of the year is the safest season. The dark time of the year also offers an opportunity to be more permissive. A good mindset for the end of the year is not to try to be perfectionists but rather ‘imperfectionists’! One should not run from the darkness but instead embrace it.
-Katriina
Local Helsinkian
Ways to enjoy the darkness in Helsinki
Take a morning walk
Take morning walks or gentle runs around Töölönlahti, Kaivopuisto, or along the Baana path — the quiet pace and soft light make movement meditative.
Running in Helsinki: Trails and seasonal tips Visit a cozy cafe
Visit a cosy café like Café Regatta or Andante, and enjoy the slower rhythm.
Quirky cafés in Helsinki that the locals love Find a new hobby
Try a relaxing indoor hobby: knitting, baking, or watercolour painting — activities that suit the slower pace of winter.
Knitting Helsinki Happiness Get cozy at home
Light candles at home, make glögi (Finnish mulled wine), and let the calm settle in.
2. Seek real darkness and give your senses a rest
Darkness is easily misunderstood. It’s often seen as something to fear, yet it’s essential — for you, for animals, for the planet. True darkness helps maintain your natural circadian rhythm, reminding your body when it’s time to rest and when it’s time to wake.
There is quite a lot of bad lighting that is neither properly light nor properly dark. And in cities darkness is a dwindling resource. As the amount of artificial light increases, total darkness threatens to disappear from the world.
-Jari
Finnish Environment Institute
So protect the darkness, and let it protect you. Seek out the quiet, shadowed corners of the city — in Helsinki, you can still find them. Let the dark embrace you without fear, like returning to a safe, soft place where everything slows down and you can breathe again.
One of the best places near the city centre to experience true calm is Hietaniemi Cemetery, whose peaceful paths are at their most beautiful during the long winter months.
How to reconnect with real darkness
Take an evening walk
Go for an evening walk without headphones — let the sounds of snow, footsteps, and distant sea wind replace the city noise.
Set the mood – lighting
Dim harsh indoor lights and use warm lamps or candles in the evenings to help your body slow down.
Explore new areas
Visit Hietaniemi Cemetery in winter to see how candlelight transforms the darkness into peace.
3. Rest, reflect, and move with nature’s rhythm
You may notice that in darkness your other senses awaken — sounds become sharper, moments feel closer. In the stillness of winter, it’s also easier to hear yourself.
Listen to the quiet signals of your body: do you need rest, movement, or a spark of something new? Attune to yourself, to the Earth, and to the natural rhythm of rest and renewal.
Most people need between 6 and 9 hours of sleep each night, and true darkness helps you reach it. Quality sleep steadies your blood pressure, lifts your mood, and clears your mind.
So embrace this perfect time to pause. Picture tulip bulbs underground — still, silent, and gathering strength for spring. Hibernate a little. Perhaps not all the way to April, like the Moomins, but enough to wake refreshed when the light returns.
And to stay in tune with nature’s cycles, mark the turning points of the year: the Autumn Equinox, the Winter Solstice, and the Spring Equinox. Embrace the darkness — and salute the sun when it returns.
In the dark, one must also think about coping with everyday life. Winter is a time when we work actively, although we should rather slow down when the darkness arrives. We should slacken the pace and think about whether we could do less.
–Salla
Sociologist
How to follow nature’s rhythm:
Did we mention you should go for a walk?
Take a “darkness walk” in Seurasaari, Uutela, or Lammassaari, where you can still find near-total quiet.
Express yourself
Keep a winter journal to note moods, dreams, and changes in light — it helps you see your own seasonal rhythm.
Move your body
Try movement that fits the pace of winter: ice swimming, stretching, yoga, skiing, skating, biking
Decrease your brightness
Practise digital darkness — dim screens or take phone-free evenings to help your body unwind.
Savour every moment of light
Celebrate small moments of light: the first sunrise after a cloudy week, or a candle’s glow at breakfast.
4. Warm up with sauna, cold water, and winter light
Really? Yes, really.
In Helsinki, warmth feels best when it contrasts with the dark and cold. Few things define Finnish winter like sauna and an avanto (ice hole). The glow of the stove, the hiss of löyly, and the plunge into cold water are not just traditions — they’re rituals of balance and renewal.
Sauna feels especially restorative during the dark months. Try seaside spots like Löyly, Kulttuurisauna, or Sompasauna — the warmth, the sound of waves, and the firelight remind you that comfort exists even in midwinter.
Then there’s avanto, the small hole cut in ice for winter swimming. The first dip may take courage, but the calm that follows is unforgettable. Cold water releases endorphins, sharpens focus, and helps many Finns find peace in the middle of winter’s stillness.
But darkness brings other gifts, too. Daylight, though fleeting, becomes precious. When it appears, let it fill you — step outside for a walk, a ski, or a quiet coffee by the sea. Snow transforms everything: it softens sound, brightens nights, and turns the whole city luminous.
I no longer complain about the darkness, I embrace it
-Linda
American artist
Winter swimming spots in Helsinki
5. Feed your curiosity and creativity indoors
When nature slows down, your own creativity often stirs. The quiet of winter can open space for new ideas, learning, and small personal projects — a chance to grow while everything outside rests.
Whether you want to learn Finnish, paint, dance, or finally finish that novel, the city offers countless cosy spaces to escape the cold and let inspiration take over.
I always come up with an autumn project for myself. It could be anything: a language course, a tango course, a small renovation – something measurable and concrete. In this way, I can learn something new every winter.
-Lorenzo
Italian-American catering entrepreneur
When nature is resting – with a colour palette of shifting greys, blues, blacks, browns, whites and pale pinks – at some point, you may find yourself restless, hungry for life and colours and sounds, or perhaps an urge to create something new yourself.
So, listen to yourself – it’s easy in the dark, remember! – what do you crave for? Surprisingly, darkness may encourage you to try something utterly new, and explore places in Helsinki you’ve never been to before.
Each year I buy a museum card, which provides affordable access to museums. It feels good to visit a big, beautiful space, like at the Ateneum, and admire the art. I also love stand-up gigs. They do good, especially in winter.
-Jamie
Canadian stand-up comedian
Tips to feed your curiosity
Visit the Winter Garden
Explore the Botanical Garden in Kaisaniemi or the Winter Garden (Talvipuutarha) — both offer lush, green calm when the city is grey.
Spend an afternoon at a museum
Pick up a Museum Card and spend a dark afternoon at Ateneum, Amos Rex, or HAM — or seek smaller gems like Didrichsen Art Museum or Myymälä2.
Pick up another hobby
Take a Finnish language, ceramics, or tango class at Työväenopisto or a local cultural centre.
Make something with your own hands
Try hands-on winter hobbies: knitting, woodcarving, baking sourdough, or calligraphy — all quiet ways to stay creative indoors.
See a show
For a dose of laughter and light, head to a stand-up night, a small theatre, or a live-music bar in Kallio or Kamppi.
6. Create warmth and light with others
When the world outside is dark, even the smallest light feels profound. Across Helsinki, candles flicker on windowsills, lanterns glow in courtyards, and whole cemeteries shimmer with thousands of tiny flames on All Saints’ Day and Christmas Eve. In these quiet lights, darkness becomes a backdrop for togetherness.
Invite friends for a candlelit dinner or a simple glögi night — mulled wine, cinnamon buns, and easy laughter can turn any evening into warmth. Many Helsinkians also find comfort in community hobbies during the long winter: knitting groups, choirs, or neighbourhood book clubs that meet just to share stories and company.
Outside, the city glows too. LUX Helsinki, the annual light festival in early January, transforms familiar streets into open-air galleries of colour and motion. Even a short walk through its installations can lift spirits and remind you that light always returns.
And at home, one small candle can be enough. In Finnish homes, lighting a candle each evening is more than a decoration — it’s a gesture of care, a way to mark the end of the day and invite calm. Darkness doesn’t isolate Helsinki; it gathers people closer, one warm light at a time.
7. Watch the stars and remember what endures
When night settles fully over Helsinki, lift your eyes — this is when the city reveals one of its quietest luxuries: a sky full of stars. On clear evenings, you can see constellations even from the edges of the city; Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper, Venus, sometimes even a flicker of the Northern Lights if the solar wind is kind.
Darkness is a gentle reminder of the end of a period in time
-Syksy
Cosmologist
Take a ferry to Suomenlinna, climb Taivaskallio in Käpylä, or walk along the shores of Lauttasaari or Kaivopuisto. Wrap yourself in a blanket, bring a thermos of hot chocolate, and let the cold air sharpen the stars. Some locals make this a quiet ritual — a weekly walk after dinner, just to breathe and look up.
Don’t just cope, embrace the darkness in Helsinki
Instead of merely coping with the darkness, learn to embrace it. When you stop resisting and start noticing, the season reveals its quiet beauty — the warmth of sauna steam, the glow of candles, the stillness of snowy nights. So, before you slip into Moomin-style hibernation, think again. Let the darkness be your companion, and a different side of Helsinki will open to you.
