Shore Excursion: Panoramic Helsinki And Seurasaari Open-Air Museum

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Tour Information

Key Details

  • Mobile Voucher Accepted
  • Duration: 5 Hrs
  • Language:
    English
  • Departure Time :
    It depends on the arrival time of your cruise ship. Exact STARTING TIME will be sent to you via Viator's messaging system. Please be on the look out for that message.
  • Departure Details :
    Port of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
    Traveler pickup is offered
    You will meet your guide and driver BEHIND THE PORT GATES holding our orange SPB-Tours sign. Note that the distance between the s.. read more
  • Return Details :
    Returns to original departure point
  • Cancellation Policy :
    This activity is non-refundable Tours booked using discount coupon codes will be non refundable.

Overview

This 5-hour Helsinki sightseeing tour departing from your cruise port will cover the top attractions in the city, but also includes a visit to the Seurasaari Outdoor Museum, which is a lovely wooded oasis in the middle of the city where you can see examples of early Finnish architecture and learn how the Finnish people used to live. This is a great tour for people interested in learning a bit more in depth about the history of the Finnish people.

Know More about this tour

You will start the tour by heading to the city center for a photo-stop at Central Railway Station, the heart of Helsinki. You will drive down Mannerheim Street, the main boulevard of the city, passing Kiasma museum, designed by American architect Steven Hall, Parliament house, and Finlandia hall, designed by famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Continuing on you will stop at the Olympic stadium, used for the 1952 Olympic games.

You will then head to the Seurasaari open-air museum, located on a beautiful green island just a few kilometers from the heart of Helsinki. The island is a tranquil oasis in the midst of the city. The traditional Finnish way of life is showcased in the cottages, farmsteads and manors of the past four centuries that have been relocated from all around Finland. All the different provinces of Finland are represented in the well preserved old buildings and they give an overall view of Finnish countryside life from the 18th to the 20th century.

Next stop is the Sibelius park for a unique photo opportunity of the monument of 527 steel pipes honoring the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, before continuing on to the famous Rock Church, a one-of-a-kind modern-day structure built entirely into bedrock and quarried stone. You will carry on to Senate square where one can see the elegant Lutheran Church, and the interesting mix of the east, west, and simply Finnish influences pervading the city. The tour concludes with some free time for shopping in The market square, where you can find some Finnish made products. You will have the option to stay in the city for dinner or more shopping, or you can take the transport back to the ship.

Inclusions

Professional English-Speaking guide

Coffee and/or Tea - Coffee or tea at a local caf

Air-conditioned vehicle

Entrance to Seurasaari Open-Air Museum

Snacks - Pastries at a local caf

Entrance to the Rock Church (if open to the public)

Entry/Admission - Seurasaari Island and Open-Air Museum

Entry/Admission - Temppeliaukio Church

Exclusions

Gratuities

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking

Entry to the Rock Church cannot be guaranteed due to occasional religious services and other private events.

If the Market Square is closed due to weather conditions, you will be taken to the Market Hall instead.

The order of the tour may vary depending upon where the vessel will dock and local conditions.

The visit to Seurasaari Island involves approximately one hour of walking. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

A light snack is provided.

Sequence of events may vary depending on traffic or overcrowding.

Not wheelchair accessible

Not recommended for travelers with back problems

No heart problems or other serious medical conditions

Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level

This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If its canceled because the minimum isnt met, youll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund

This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers

Traveler Reviews

  • 09-Sep-2019

    The places we visited were interesting. However, our tour guide, Irina, was cold, at times not knowledgeable and did not speak English that well and therefore, she was difficult, at times, to understand. For example, she spoke very softly and pronounced words with short vowels rather than with long vowels so you had to try to understand what word she was actually saying and somethimes you couldn't. She asked me if I had a problem with the headset, and I told her, "No, just your accent." There was not enough time at the market to see everything and grab a quick bite. She walked very fast and when my husband asked her to please slow down because I had a problem with my leg that just happened before the trip, she said she had to keep on schedule. Well even with having to wait for me to catch up to the group, we still got back on time so I don't know why she couln't have slowed down a drop so I could have walked with the group and heard everything that she was saying.

  • 10-Aug-2019

    After SPB rejected my inquiries in booking a St Petersburg with them and told me to look elsewhere for the entire Baltic trip, I came to TripAdvisor to find a guided tour for our first stop Helsinki. After booking was confirmed, somehow SPB was the operator of the tour. Our tour guide was Alberto and this was a small group of 8 traveling in a mini van comparing to other SPB tours on the same day I saw traveling in big buses. We toured the city on the bus, walked around the open air museum first, visited Sibelius Park and had a coffee break with yummy cinnamon buns. Then we visited the Rock church and shopped at downtown senate square. The open air museum was big but we covered a few buildings and that was enough for us to learn how the Finnish live in the old times. Alberto being an Italian and moved to the city for a while was awesome in giving his take about Finland and Helsinki. If Alberto didn’t point out the small plaque on the outside of Rock church, I probably wouldn’t notice the original design was so different from how it is today. He’s also very attentive to our needs (bath room breaks, questions, experience sharing and recommendations for our free time at Senate Square). The only recommendation I would have is to the back office to give more information about meet up point/process and time. The booking said 9:30 am start but I got a message right after booking that the start of the tour is 10:15 am. I didn’t know this was because the group consist of 3 families from 3 cruise ships and one of the ships parked in center of Helsinki so the guide would come to our cruise port later. (Smaller vessels get to park close to city center while bigger ships are farther out in another cruise port).) So we had problems finding our guide initially when we got off the ship at 9:20 and had to ask one of the SPB bus drivers to call the office. We walked around the port gate for good 20 mins before finding our guide Alberto.

  • 03-Jul-2019

    This shore excursion was okay. If I had to do it again I would just get the hop on and off bus with commentary. Not much to see or do like in Germany or Russia where I think it is so worth it to get shore excursions. The open air museum is quaint It is an early settlement on an island with small homes and a church. We went on a windy and cold day and the rest of the ports were nice and sunny so be prepared for anything. Save your money for Berlin and St. Petersburg shore excursions. Trust me.

  • 16-Jun-2019

    This shore excursion was okay. If I had to do it again I would just get the hop on and off bus with commentary. Not much to see or do like in Germany or Russia where I think it is so worth it to get shore excursions. The open air museum is quaint It is an early settlement on an island with small homes and a church. We went on a windy and cold day and the rest of the ports were nice and sunny so be prepared for anything. Save your money for Berlin and St. Petersburg shore excursions. Trust me.

  • 16-Oct-2018

    We wanted to embrace every bit of our Scandinavian experience in Helsinki. Along with the hop off and on bus tour we took the shore excursion which gives a totally different perspective. A must do while in Helsinki. Be sure to take advantage of the street market place (right next to the docks where you will board your boat)

  • 27-Aug-2018

    Really enjoyed this excursion. Very informative though fast paced...always wish for more photo time. The outdoor museum was fascinating and it was a gorgeous day for exploring outside the city. Highly recommend!

  • 27-Aug-2018

    Really enjoyed this excursion. Very informative though fast paced...always wish for more photo time. The outdoor museum was fascinating and it was a gorgeous day for exploring outside the city. Highly recommend!

  • 04-Aug-2018

    This was a good tour. It would have been better to spend more time in the city seeing it versus spending half the tour walking through an old settlement where many of the buildings you could not enter. The city and waterfront area would be a much better place to spend your time.

  • 03-Aug-2018

    This was a good tour. It would have been better to spend more time in the city seeing it versus spending half the tour walking through an old settlement where many of the buildings you could not enter. The city and waterfront area would be a much better place to spend your time.

  • 25-Jun-2018

    I was happy to visit Helsinki as I'd never been there before. The Panoramic excursion gave a nice overview of the city and the guide was very informative of its history, culture, and politics. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have spend a whole day on the tour as we only had a short window of time and spent little of it at the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum. But as a taste, and for the value, it was a fine experience. It would be a great tour for people with walking issues as you spend most of the time in the bus.