Somewhere for the weekend... Helsinki

WHY GO NOW?

WHY GO NOW?

The city's mixture of bold modernist buildings and ancient spires looks very pretty when it's all wrapped up in snow, but this is also the darkest time of year in the frosty Finnish capital, with short days and what can seem like endlessly long nights. However, the cold winter gloom is dramatically lifted during Valon Voimat, the annual Forces of Light Festival, when brightly lit installations appear across the city, showering everything from bus stops to bridges in a soft, electric glow. The attractions are often accompanied by human displays, too, in the shape of fire eaters and flame throwers. The festival, which began on 16 November, runs until 2 December and it's all free. For more information, call 00 358 9 686 6810 or e-mail valonvoimat@valonvoimat.org.

DOWN PAYMENT

British Airways (0870 850 9 850; www.ba.com) flies to Helsinki's Vantaa airport from London Heathrow while Finnair (0870 241 4411; www.finnair.com) flies there from Manchester and Heathrow. This weekend, leaving on Friday and returning on Sunday, British Airways has fares of £138. With Finnair, prices for those dates start at £108.40 from London Heathrow and £107.20 from Manchester, although you have to book through the website's special birthday offer screen to get those prices, rather than the standard booking screen. From London Stansted, the low-cost airline Flying Finn (0870 744 7315; www.flyfi.net) offers return fares from €138 (£96).

From the airport to the city centre it's around a half-hour drive. Fast and efficient Finnair buses cost €4.90 (£3.40) per person, each way (00 358 981 8503, www.finnair.com) while Yellow Line shared taxis cost €18 (£12.50) per person (www.airporttaxi.fi).

INSTANT BRIEFING

Helsinki city centre is small, compact and very pretty. At its heart the old market square (kauppatori) and main harbour are sheltered by some elegant 19th-century buildings and, from there, the city spreads west along the parallel shopping streets of Pohjoisesplanadi and Etelaesplanadi. To the north is the main cultural area, with the Opera House, Finlandia Hall, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and several other museums.

To the east is the Katajanokka district, with the grand Upenski cathedral, and, to the south, the sophisticated suburb of Kaivopuisto. For maps, more information or a Helsinki Card (with which you get free public transport, entry to more than 50 museums and lots of other discounts; from €24/£17 for 24 hours to €42/£29 for 72 hours), visit the friendly main tourist office at 19 Pohjoisesplanadi (00 358 9169 3757; www.hel.fi/tourism).

It's currently open from 9am-6pm Monday to Friday and from 10am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

REST ASSURED

The Hotel Kämp is easily the most luxurious place to stay in Helsinki. Built in 1887, it reopened as a hotel after a thorough restoration in 1999 and has opulent, if a bit over-the-top, double rooms from €345/£240 (29 Pohjoisesplanadi, 00 358 9576 111, www.hotelkamp.fi). If that's beyond your budget, the Scandic Hotel Simonkentta at 9 Simonkatu (00 358 968 380, www.scandic-hotels.com) is modern, welcoming and close to both the bus and train stations, with comfortable doubles currently starting from €120 (£84). Otherwise, book a double (€58/£40) or a bunk (€22/£15) at the excellent Erottajanpuisto hostel (9 Uudenmaankatu, 00 358 9642 169; www.erottajanpuisto.com) or, for more ideas, call or e-mail the hotel booking centre at the train station (00 358 922 88 1400, hotel@helsinkiexpert.fi).

MUST SEE

Helsinki isn't a place with big, bold attractions. Instead it's somewhere to have a stroll and enjoy the quirky Russian-Scandinavian surroundings - especially since the city is home to some of the country's best-known, and best-loved, buildings.

To get an overview of the architectural mix, start off at Senate Square where, in the 19th century, a new town was established after Finland had been annexed to Russia. Out went the old merchants' houses and in came grand Neoclassical government, municipal, church and academic buildings, all around the magnificent bulk of St Nicholas's Church.

Next, head out from here on the no. 4 tram to the suburb of Munkkiniemi, to see where 20th-century design supreme Alvar Aalto once lived (20 Riihitie, 00 358 948 0123; open 2-6pm daily except Mondays; entrance €10/£7). Aalto is famous in Britain for his swirly Savoy vase and bendy-armed chairs, but Aalto's bigger projects back home include the gleaming white marble Finlandia Hall, a concert space that you pass on the tram to his house (13e Mannerheimintie, 00 358 940 241; www.finlandia.hel.fi).

Finally, soothe your sightseeing muscles with a visit to one of the country's most prized architectural constructions; a traditional Finnish sauna.

The elegant Yrjonkatu Swimming Hall houses one of the most central saunas, at 21b Yrjonkatu. Entrance here costs €4.50/ £3 (00 358 9310 87401). For a more full-on experience, head out to the HQ of the Finnish Sauna Society at Lauttasaari, an island about half an hour outside Helsinki (but still accessible in winter) and choose from five firewood saunas and five traditional smoke saunas.

It's closed on Sundays and only open to men on Saturdays (12 noon to 7pm). If you're there beyond the weekend, though, women can use it on Thursdays and every other Monday and men on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays (both from 2- 9pm). Entrance costs €12, or £8, per person (00 358 9686 0560, www.sauna.fi).

MUST BUY

Shops along the Esplanadi include Jackie O's favourite clothing and accessories store, Marimekko, which offers its signature flower print on everything from phone covers to oven gloves (2 Pohjoisesplanadi, 00 358 962 22317; www.marimekko.com). Then there's kitchenware store Designor, which stocks the three big Finnish names - Iittala, Hackman and Arabia - (25 Pohjoisesplanadi, 00 358 2043 93501) and funky furniture store Artek (18 Etelaesplanadi, 00 358 961 325 277; www.artek.fi). For clothes, the Finnish designer of the moment is Ivana Helsinki, who has a shop at 15 Uudenmaankatu (00 358 9622 4422; www.ivanahelsinki.com) or stop off at the tardis-like Stockmann department store for everything from reindeer-patterned jumpers to tins of reindeer soup (52 Aleksanterinkatu, 00 358 91211; www.stockmann.fi). If it's Christmas gifts you're after, the Kieseleff Bazaar in Senate Square offers all manner of traditional Finnish decorations, food and craft stalls in the run-up to Christmas.

MUST EAT

At this time of year, nothing beats a warm glass of glögg, or mulled wine, with a gingerbread biscuit or two (the tourist information office even has tins of the latter spread out on its counter for hungry visitors to help themselves).

If you want something more substantial, try the Alvar Aalto-designed Sea Horse restaurant (11 Kapteenikatu, 00 358 9628 169), where €11.50 (£8) will buy you a huge plate of herring. Or, for more sophisticated surroundings and a more global menu, book in at upmarket Teatteri (2 Pohjoisesplanadi, 00 358 9616 211).

INTO THE NIGHT

Uudenmaankatu, the city's answer to Shoreditch, is the place to head for if you want a big night out, with bars such as trendy Demo (11 Uudenmaankatu, 00 358 9278 5903) and Bar 9 (9 Uudenmaankatu, 00 358 962 14055) leading the way.

But things don't get going in Helsinki until late. If you're just starting out for the evening, head to the bar at the top of the Hotel Torni, instead. Built in 1931, this remains the tallest building in the city and the bar is a great place to toast a weekend away - and to look down as the Forces of Light shine out across the city (26 Yrjonkatu, 00 358 9433 60).

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