We had the pleasure of spending the day with Liisa, aka your Helsinki local, for the Midsummer eve…read morefestivities yesterday in town. She met us in our hotel lobby with a big smile and immediately gifted us with these very thoughtful travel bracelets, we already felt like fast friends. She explained what we would be doing for the day and no detail was spared, I appreciated how she always asked us if walking x distance was ok and offered use of her wifi hotspot. (I'm a writer so this was brilliant). The day was simply fantastic, we got to see the traditional bonfire on an island off Helsinki where we also had dinner (a beautiful grilled salmon with new potatoes) and Liisa was quick to provide valuable info on the history of this famous festival and points on Helsinki and the islands. She is such a wonderful person to be around, her energy is contagious. I definitely don't think we would have gotten the same experience out of our day in Helsinki without her, she was able to navigate the transportion/reservations with ease and gave us all sort of valuable insight on local culture. I've been on many guided tours but this was more like being with a good friend, who wants to show you what they live about the city where they live. We stayed with her until the wee hours and she even took the time to show us an incredible sunset at 2:30 am on a hidden area of Helsinki bay by the train station which was magical. She followed up with tips and a website she mentioned she would let us know about. I would be happy to recommend her to anyone and everyone, she made our midsummer or 'juhunnus' experience once in a lifetime!

From the owner: Day With A Local Helsinki provides personalized tours and local experiences in Helsinki area from a…read morelocal's point of view. The price is based on the length of your day, not on the size of your group (1-8 persons). Tell us about your wishes, and we will do our best that you will experience an amazing day with us! What would you like to do with a Local?

I don't recall where I found Happy Guide but it was a good find for sure. Despite their lack of…read moreYelp reviews, I decided to give them a shot with my four friends as we were all meeting up in Helsinki for the weekend. A bit of negotiating on the start time as one friend was getting in the morning of the tour and we wanted some buffer in case of delay and we set up a time. I paid in advance with Paypal, a very fair rate with a base price for the tour and an additional cost for each participant. The individual price worked out quite well. We met up with the tour guide right on time at the agreed upon spot and proceeded to walk and eat our way through Helsinki. The Old Market Hall where we had cheese and smoked fish and reindeer, a market stand in the harbor where we tasted fresh cranberries and cloudberries, a bakery, a licorice shop and a brewery. There might have been more along the way that I can't recall. Our tour guide spoke very good English and took care of all the arrangements. Other than a tip we gave him at the end, everything was included. Everyone enjoyed the tour very much and we loved getting this experience to taste and drink our way around Helsinki. Lots of fun and I am definitely a fan! [Review 10077 overall, 1662 of 2018.]

Heather's tour was a combination of food, geography, culture, history and politics (discussed in a…read moremost enlightened and educational manner). I don't think I could have learned more about Finland and its people in any other way. Top ratings!

I can highly recommend this tour. I only had a day in Helskinki on a cruise and this was the…read moreperfect way to get a feel for the city, learn about its history and find out so much about the food scene and the culture. The food stops were well thought out and the food delicious. Thank you Heather!

The m/s J.L.Runeberg offers visitors and residents a pleasant 3.5 hour (each way) boat trip to the…read moreold Finnish city Porvoo on a restored old metal ship. Time in Porvoo is limited to about 2.5 hours. Adult fare is 39 euros with a BOGO on Mondays. The good: pay as you go food & drink service aboard (booze too), beautiful scenery, free blankets, free relatively fast Wifi. Dogs and bikes welcome. The not so good: In my opinion, they oversell and the boat could be packed with limited comfortable seating. No safety briefing nor mention of the location of life preservers ( I once spent 7 hours clinging to a cooler after my boat overturned in Florida), limited toilets, so go easy on the booze or coffee. It can get chilly while underway, even in July or August, so bring a jacket. Not much ambiance, so bring your headset/earbuds. All in all, if you have about 10 hours to burn in Helsinki and want to go on a decent boat ride with beautiful scenery, I recommend a ride on the Runeberg.

Hop on- Hop off is fun only once in each new city. I use it as transportation from landmark to…read morelandmark. But, sometimes it's fun to climb aboard, grab a seat on the topless upper deck & take a ride around the entire loop. Helsinki is a small city & has a great public street car service. So, I prefer the streetcar while visiting Helsinki. Plus, one particular streetcar has a full bar inside. Hop on- Hop off has no bar in any of its buses. It would be a lot cooler if they did! I found the buses to be clean & the staff friendly. Check online for discount offers.

Agree with the other postings; in concept this should be a good service. Two competing companies…read moreusing the same name is ridiculous. Have read that the street cars are a better option- next time!

Good deal, but offering less…read more We picked this cruise because it was heading out sooner and cost less. Unfortunately though, the "guiding" was super limited - the tour guide gave very little information at all. Additionally, though we didn't realize this, the other boats offered internet, which would have allowed us to supplement the gap in guiding.