This Helsinki shore excursion gives you a full overview of the city in a single morning or afternoon, combining a driving tour of the historic center with two of Helsinki's most visited landmarks.
After meeting your licensed guide, you begin driving through Helsinki, a city that looks remarkably unified and Neoclassical today because so much of it had to be rebuilt from scratch. A fire in 1808 destroyed much of the old town, and when Helsinki was named capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, German architect Carl Ludvig Engel was brought in to design a new city center in Empire style Neoclassicism. Helsinki also sets aside a striking amount of green space for a capital city, with parks and open areas covering close to a third of it.
Driving along the sea front you pass the famous Market Square, where vendors sell fresh fish, flowers, and vegetables at the water's edge.
In the heart of the city you stop for photos at Senate Square, ringed by Engel's Neoclassical buildings including the Presidential Palace, Helsinki University, and Helsinki Cathedral. At the center of the square stands a bronze statue of Alexander II, Czar of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland, erected in 1894.
On Mannerheim Street, Helsinki's main avenue, you see the National Museum, Finlandia Hall designed by architect Alvar Aalto, and the Opera House. Nearby, the Parliament building's facade is lined with 14 Corinthian columns.
Next you visit Temppeliaukio Rock Church, one of Helsinki's most distinctive sites. Designed by brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, who won the commission in an architectural competition in 1961, the church was excavated and built directly into solid granite bedrock between 1968 and 1969. Natural light pours in through the skylight ringing its copper dome, and the space is prized for its acoustics as much as its design.
Before your tour ends, you also stop at the Sibelius Monument in Sibelius Park. Sculptor Eila Hiltunen unveiled the piece in 1967: a wave of more than 600 welded steel pipes that evokes the feeling of music rather than depicting an instrument literally, honoring Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
Review Location- Helsinki 
