Finland is known for it’s nature, the forests and the lakes, and if you’re coming to Helsinki on a cruise, you’ll see our quite unique coast full of small islands from the ship.
What’s special about Helsinki compared to other ports are the possibilities to experience real nature on your shore excursion, and I’m not just talking about some parks in a city. I’ve backpacked through Lapland’s wilderness’, and I still think there’s amazing nature around Helsinki to experience on a day trip.
You’re not limited to the endless concrete and tourist shops of city centers. Here’s your chance to do something different on your cruise.
These are my tips for shore excursions to Finnish nature from Helsinki port.
What Kind of Nature to Experience
Let’s be real here. You’ve probably only got some hours to be on the shore for excursion, so you can’t see everything, or if you try to, it’ll just be running from one place to another.
What I recommend you do is to relax and enjoy one place. After all, being in nature in Finland is about peace and quiet. It’ll be something different to your other visits to cities around the Baltic Sea.
There are basically two kinds of nature around Helsinki: inland forest and lakes, and the archipelago on the coast.
Forest and Lakes in Nuuksio National Park
This is the big one, where most of the people living in and around Helsinki go to enjoy nature. There are other forests and even another national park here, but the thing that pulls people here are all the lakes.
The other national park close to Helsinki is Sipoonkorpi National Park, which has nice forest, but it doesn’t have lakes and remote quiet area like Nuuksio does.
In the summer months of June, July, August and some way into September you can go pick berries and mushrooms, and swim in the clear lakes, among other things.
May is the best month to experience spring in the forest, and October is the best month to see what the fall is like, with all it’s colors and usually the most mushrooms in the whole year.
Public transport takes about twice as long to the national park compared to a car, by which you can get there in about 35 minutes.
I recommend to have 3 hours or more in the national park on top of the transport times to better enjoy it and to be fully immersed in nature.
See my private tour to Nuuksio National Park with everything you need for an excursion from your cruise ship, like customizable schedule, transport, any outdoor gear or clothing you might be missing, hiking and guiding in my favorite places of the national park, lunch on campfire, and peace and quiet.
Walking on Rock Beaches in Helsinki Archipelago
You’ve seen the coast from the ship and now you want to walk on that lovely smooth rock, among the wildflowers, under the pine trees.
You could just go to some beach in Helsinki, like in Suomenlinna or Lauttasaari, but again for the peace and quiet, and more natural surroundings, the best experience of nature can be had by going a bit further.
My favorite places are around 45 minute drive away from the center of Helsinki. Public transport to many of these places outside of Helsinki Metropolitan Area is poor or nonexistent.
See my private tour to Helsinki Archipelago which includes everything from pickup at your ship onwards.
Drive to the archipelago destinations is a bit longer than to Nuuksio National Park, so if you want to maximize your time in nature then the forest and lakes are the better choice, and it’s something different to what you can experience from the cruise ship.
Ask About Helsinki Shore Excursion
