Helsinki Tour: Explore with a Knowledgeable PhD Student

Join a PhD-led Helsinki walking tour. Discover hidden gems and popular spots, and delve into the city’s rich cultural and historical tapestry.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Senate Square - Senate Square is the primary tourist attraction in the town, marking the beginning of modern Helsinki’s history. Discover the three stunning buildings surrounding this area!
  • Helsinki Cathedral - As the town’s most iconic landmark, Helsinki Cathedral invites visitors to explore and gain insight into the country’s religious…
What's Included
  • Local guide
What's Not Included
  • Food and Drink
  • Private transportation
  • Tip or gratuity
Additional Information

Taking a tour with a resident is an excellent way to become familiar with a new location. In Helsinki, you can join a guided tour led by a PhD student who has much knowledge about the city. Explore both popular and hidden attractions while gaining insights into their cultural and historical significance. With this experience, you’ll have the opportunity…

Location
Kluuvikatu
The meeting point is in front of Fazer Cafe Kluuvikatu. The guide will be waiting for you at this point.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(21 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Melissa_l
Sep 19, 2025
A Great Tour - This tour is a great way to start your visit to Helsinki. The walking tour takes you through central Helsinki with stops at major sites and buildings. Our guide Zana, what can I say? He was very knowledgeable of the history, culture and architecture of Helsinki and Finland. He was very in tune to our individual interests and questions. I think he gave great insight into the people and structures of Helsinki. I will remember this tour as one of the highlights of my visit to this wonderful city!
Review provided by Viator
Rosemary_s
Sep 6, 2025
Our guide was very... - Our guide was very knowledgeable and pointed out many interesting things not only about the architecture, but also the history of Helsinki. We would recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Ray_b
Aug 26, 2025
Great Architectural Walking Tour of Helsinki - Excellent Walking Tour with our knowledge Guide Zara. We learned soo much about the architecture in central Helsinki if you are interested in old and new buildings this is the tour for you.
Review provided by Viator
Topolobopo
Aug 22, 2025
Wonderful introduction to Helsinki! - Zana was a wonderful tour guide. We were lucky to have a private tour as no one else had reserved the same day/time. Zana was flexible and tailored his tour to our architectural interests. His knowledge of the history in relation to the city planning brought everything to life for us. We chose to take the tour on our first day in Helsinki so we could get the highlights and understand the city plan. Thanks to Zana we felt like locals by the time the tour ended. We returned to spend more time at some of our favorite locations and we were able to navigate the city easily! We highly recommend this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mary_d
Aug 15, 2025
Lots of culture with the... - Lots of culture with the architecture. Our guide was knowledgeable about both the past and the present.
Review provided by Viator
Hans_e
Aug 11, 2025
Excellent - Lots of walking. Had a great time. Very informative and interesting. Visited some interesting and significant edifices. Inside and out.
Review provided by Viator
Michaelwp7316tz
Jul 31, 2025
A great point of entry into the history and people of Finland - This tour and the guide really helped unlock Helsinki for me. I especially appreciated the focus on the Finnish version of Art Nouveau, of which I was completely unaware before this tour. I retraced my steps after the tour and revisited several of our stops. I also followed a restaurant suggestion made by the guide, and that proved exceptional. I appreciated the guide’s insights into the Finnish character as revealed by their architecture. I also appreciated the other people on the tour, who added significantly to the experience. I highly recommend the tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
X1021vpphilips
Aug 6, 2025
Good general historical overview - Enjoyed tour. Guide was friendly and responsive. Good general historical information about Helsinki but would have liked a bit more architectural information. Really enjoyed Oobi Library.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Goodtravel
Oct 15, 2025
Absolutely the worst tour I ever taken - Zana is a nice guy who didn't know much about architecture or Finnish culture or Finnish education. He would take you to a building and point out artificial flowers as important architectural features, confuse architectural styles, not know many architects beyond Engel and Aalto. He kept repeating the same meager facts - "eat salmon soup" was repeated 6 times even though we said we did. Zana kept asking if we had any questions but couldn't answer them when we did or made up the answer incorrectly. Absolutely the worst tour I ever taken Now Zana is trying to cancel my review claiming that there were no tour on that day. We can show the invoice and credit card charge to prove that the tour happened. Zana also did ask us to change the review and even offered to refund the the tour fee.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Johanar1574xe
Aug 8, 2025
Low-quality tour with major flaws - Unfortunately, this tour did not meet expectations. The historical information shared was at times incorrect — for instance, claiming Finland was never occupied by Russia. Though advertised as architecture-focused, the guide provided only superficial commentary and was unable to answer follow-up questions. There was no effort to adapt to the group's interests or to look up missing information. Despite a premium price, the experience lacked depth, flexibility, and accuracy. Moreover, the guide’s limited English skills significantly hindered communication and understanding throughout the tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor