This is a fancy, old, classy, expensive department store in the middle of downtown Helsinki. It's…read morelike "All the roads lead to Stockman". At the grocery department you can find all kinds of goodies, pastry, fresh meat, fish, specialty products, and international foods. You also have several options to have something to eat either at the restaurant located upstairs, or at the many coffee/snack shops. This is like a huge fancy shopping opportunity for demanding shoppers. You can shop for beautiful handbags, high-end clothing and shoes, or if you favor a certain domestic or international cosmetic brand, they have it. Don't forget souvenirs, toys, home goods and Finnish design items. The customer service department will ship things for you to destinations all over the world and help you with duty free shopping. Among many other notable things is a big Alko store. This is the government monopolized liquor store. So, if you find great delicatessen for lunch or dinner, you will also have the opportunity to purchase alcoholic beverages to go along with your meals. Really, if you want to spend time and money here, it is truly worth the trip, and everlasting experience while in Helsinki. The best thing at Stockman building is electronics store called Power that I just discovered last Summer. They sell variety of appliances, phones and so on. Found a table phone for my mom who needed to replace her old one. She uses it for Skype calls from the USA. Customer service at this place is priceless. The young men helping me during my visits were so knowledgeable, patient and friendly. One nice traditional point about Stockman is, that they have a clock on the Alexanterinkatu side of their many entrances. That is famous among all people living in Helsinki. When meeting friends, we used to say: "Meet me under the Stockman's clock." Happy shopping and maybe I will see you there.

What a nice department store. From the moment you walk in it's wonderful! There are fresh…read moreflowers, restaurants galore, coffee places. And then you get to the regular store which has everything you could possibly want and or need. I would equate it to a Nordstroms, or Macys. Nice quality brands and fair pricing. As a fun bonus I definitely recommend going down to bottom floor and you will find a very nice grocery store with all kinds of products. There is also ready to eat goods, hot, cold, fresh breads, pastries. Inside the store is also an outlet section if you're into a bargain! Who doesn't live a clearance section?? It's a fun store to wander around for sure!

Shocking I found another Thrift store in Helsinki…read more They open early at 9am which was great since most everything else in this town seemed to open between 10-1130am. Mostly clothing. If you're in the market used clothes and handbags this shop is for you. I'm more of a 2nd hand housewares and toys hunter. I did score - - a bunch of kids books -- I hope my suitcase isn't over weight - funky retro tourist apron from Mallorca The staff was nice. I truly left my cell phone at the checkouts. Not only was it there when I went back no one even noticed it was there!

A Most Excellent Place to visit in Helsinki! This is a two story resale/used clothing store with…read morelots of great clothes to choose from. The top floor when you enter is the "boutique" items and the lower floor has so much stuff it would almost be impossible not find anything in the women's dept. The men's dept is smaller, but it's there and I posted some pictures. My greatest find was Guess jeans that I almost paid over $100 usd at the Guess store, except they didn't have my size, and I got them here in new condition for less than $20 usd. If you are on a cruise and looking for stops in Helsinki, find this on the map. When we went there was a parade for the Ex-President which pretty much closed down the town. All of the antique/collectible shops were CLOSED. Uff is a chain store and I believe there are more than one locations. Good chance they will be open while you are there. Definitely check them out. There net proceeds go to a good cause. Friendly people work there. Don't miss it

While on vacation my palms were itching, I had not gone junking in 10 days. Thanks to Yelps I…read morefound this 2nd hand store. The street was all torn up. I feared the shop would not be open but they opened promptly at 10AM. They had a great mix of gently used housewares, books, clothes and furniture. If I had a bigger suitcase I'd have got the very mod hanging light fixture but it stayed in Helsinki. The staff was very friendly and let me do my hunting in peace. When it came time to get into the locked cabinets the gal opened each cabinet and let me inspect each item. She patiently waited for me me to decide what I would purchase and what I'd leave behind. At checkouts, each item was carefully wrapped. I scored a wooden figurine of a bunny - the gal went to the back room (better internet service there) and looked up the character and show name for me. That's GREAT SERVICE! Thanks. Word of warning -- always check exchange rate. The dollar was not as strong as I thought it was based on the last time I compared it to the EURO. Sure I got some deals but not as good as I thought they were. Bonus - they accept credit cards!

Three stars?! WHAT!?!? Anyone who three-stars this place doesn't have children. Fida on Iso…read moreRoobertin is my new go-to for baby and infant clothes. I hate to even share this information as based on the huge inventory, it would appear that no one knows they have this stuff. Or maybe Finnish people just don't buy things used. That's fine! More for me. It's a little musty-smelling and the rest of the selection isn't great but it's an awesome place to pick up baby clothes if you don't mind digging a little. I am a firm believer in recycling and common sense dictates that a baby will outgrow clothing in 3 months or less. This is the best find I've found since moving to Helsinki. I won't be shopping there for myself, but I am very happy to have discovered their treasure trove of nice used things for little people. A quick run through the washer and they'll be good as new! PS- I think Fida benefits a religious organization or some other cause, so I feel good giving them the little money it actually costs to leave the store with tons of great things.

Good prices for flights and packages. Got cheaper than online plus more luggage 46kg for free !read more

I didn't use travel agency for private travel for over a decade, as I do all my flights online…read more But, this agency came recommended by fellow traveller and at first glance on their page, prices looked really good. Unfortunately, I made a decision to go ahead and try to book flights with them. I don't even know where to start from - sloppy service, slow in answering, not too interested in customer. But, that's not the worst. After I paid for the price they quoted in full, they ask me to pay more money. When I refused, they refuse to give me my money back. It took me 5 angry emails and week of sleepless nights to get my money back. They still charged me for 50 euros for that service. I take this as a price for my stupidity and I hope they will spend it to buy Oxford dictionary and look up meaning of service (and refund).

Have you ever wondered what riding in a toy boat on the open seas might feel like? What about…read moresitting on a stranger's lap or queuing up for an Irish coffee and a pack of cigarettes even though you're not a smoker just because you think maybe you'd like to take it up before you drown? Well...Linda Line in foul weather is just the mode of transport you've been looking for! Kidding! (kind of). I've taken Linda Line so many times - obviously I like it. In good weather, the speed and price can't be beat. Don't get me wrong, I love a good old rollicking ride on Eckero or Tallink, but with a toddler in tow (Omg! I'm a mom! I have a lump of noise covered in dirt on my hands and his offspring, too!) and a husband I can barely understand half the time, 1.5 hours is about all I can take in a confined space on a large body of water. Take the game "20 questions", multiply it by 11.9 and you have the sum of 1.5 hours of being Me. If you have a kid or a short temper, Go VIP or Comfort Class over Tourist. If you are 18-22 and stay in hostels/ are backpacking around (I don't judge - I've been there and Tourist Class would have seemed like a night at the Ritz) tourist is a good, cheap way to go. Upgrading to Comfort/VIP class is only 15e more expensive per adult and 5e more for kids. If you have Tourist Class tickets but take a massive enough stroller/pram, they will have little choice but to send you to Comfort Class, so it could be ok to chance it in that case and hope for the best. In VIP/Comfort Class, you'll board first and it will happen in an orderly fashion. In Tourist, you will board in a long ass line and you'll wish you'd arrived earlier, so you didn't have to take those seats in between the singletons who don't want to sit next to other singletons but also don't give a shit that there are groups of people/families who may wish to sit together. Just ask those people to move. Don't expect miracles, though - these people don't care about you. Then pray your kid pukes so you can really drive home the point that if daddy had been sitting in that seat, poor Singleton wouldn't be covered head to toe in little Tommy or Janie's breakfast. The Linda Line is clean, Comfort Class or VIP is really spacious and comfortable and the service is table side so you don't even have to get up. There is better food and sometimes it's free. So is alcohol. You're (I'm) going to need that. Even Tourist Class is ok considering the brevity of the trip. The boat really can get knocked around pretty good so take some dramamine before you go. The alcohol shop is well-stocked considering it's the size of a NYC closet and carries chocolates and booze for dirt cheap. The food, drink, and cigarettes are also super crazy inexpensive and not bad at all. Lunch in the upper classes is actually Price:Quality very good. Bottom line: Get to Tallinn fast. Take Linda Line. Don't be cheap: upgrade a bit for a better experience. Or don't and take someone you really like being close to. Just make sure to brush your teeth and take breath mints because you will be REALLY CLOSE. Leaving on a Friday vs. a Saturday = a 30 euro different. So try to leave a day early or travel mid-week. Highly recommended in the areas of cleanliness, service, speed, and comfort. Prices are competitive with Eckero and Tallink, depending on the day. Bon Voyage! PS- they weren't even assholes about my son projectile vomiting all over their (very) clean seats in VIP section recently. They probably talked mad trash about us after we left. But they were very efficient and business-like about the whole situation while it was happening. And happening again. And again. And then during the clean-up phase. Thanks again! See you next week, Linda!

My trips to and from Tallinn were both on time, easy to find in both cities and were comfortable in…read moretourist class.