Eat
Savoy
If you’re after a special dining experience, you can’t do much better than the Savoy. The Helsinki restaurant boasts a beautiful plant-filled, wood-lined space designed in 1937 by Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto – and updated by Ilse Crawford and Studioilse in 2020. Fun fact: Aalto’s iconic wave-inspired glass vases – that Iittala still sells today – were originally created for the Savoy.
Eteläesplanadi 14, 00130 Helsinki
Finlandia Café & Wine
While Finlandia Hall is closed for renovations until 2024, its resident café has temporarily moved to Pikku-Finlandia (‘Little Finlandia) on the shores of Töölönlahti Bay: a spot so idyllic, it’s hard to believe you’re still in central Helsinki. Housed in a wooden pavilion built by architect Jaakko Torvinen using 95 trees – branches and all – as pillars, the café’s menu is a journey around Finland’s regional dishes and locally-sourced ingredients.
Karamzininranta 4, 00100 Helsinki
Café Antique
This family-run café in Fiskars’ Clock Tower building offers drinks, cakes and light lunches made using local produce – even their famous cinnamon rolls are baked with flour from a nearby wheat field. Dishes are served alongside a striking selection of antique handmade glassware and ceramics.
Clock Tower building, Fiskarsintie 22, 10470 Fiskars
Myllyjärvi Tipi
If you prefer self-catering, you can’t do better than this tipi. Nestled in the forests by the Myllyjärvi lake, two kilometres from Fiskars Village, the tipi is in fact a wooden structure designed for cooking over an open fire – there’s an additional fire pit outside, and a rustic 50-seat dining hut nearby.
Lake Myllyjärvi, Fiskars