After leaving my cruise ship, the Sapphire Princess in Helsinki, Finland I boarded a Stromma Helsinki Hop – On and Hop Off bus to the Market Square. There were a lot of very interesting stalls in the market, so I explored the market and the Old Market Hall. I also had time to check out the Helsinki Cathedral/Uspenski Cathedral, just before joining the cruise around the archipelago. It was such a beautiful building, I was so glad I got the chance to look around it.

The Beautiful Canal Cruise taught me a lot about Finnish culture and the natural environment of the archipelago. I saw many of the sights and sounds of the Helsinki archipelago, during the ninety minutes of the cruise. During the cruise we passed by many of the cities famous sights, such as the historic Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, Helsinki Zoo on Korkeasaari Island, the impressive fleet of icebreakers and the picturesque Degerö Canal. It was a fantastic introduction to the beauty and diversity of this stunning city, from the perspective of a boat

The Hop On – Hop – Off Helsinki sightseeing bus tour, or Ho Ho as we like to shorten them to, was wonderful, it is a flexible and fun way to explore the city. For many visitors, it’s the best way to see Helsinki in the short time they have ashore, whilst still having the freedom to explore at their own pace. Our sightseeing bus took us to many of Helsinki’s most famous attractions, including the Sibelius Monument and the Temppeliaukio Church in the Rock. You can hop on and off the bus, as often as you like. The commentary was also very helpful, using the free ear phones, provided on the bus. It was also very nice to sit on the open top bus and enjoy the breeze, as it was very hot on the day we travelled. We would never have seen so much of the city, without taking the bus and boat tour with Stromma.

There were 19 stops along our 1.5h bus city tour, the bus stops making it very easy to explore Helsinki at our own pace. The bus route gave us the opportunity to see the many interesting sights of Helsinki including the Senate Square, Market Square, Old Market Hall, Temppeliaukio Church (also known as the Church in the Rock), Sibelius Monument, Art Nouveau district Eira, Olympic Stadium & the Stadium tower, the wooden design sauna & the famous restaurant Löyly, Kaivopuisto Park, National Museum, Central Library Oodi, the Music Centre and Finlandia Hall.

My wife and I have always found a boat and bus tour to be a great way of discovering what a city has to offer. It makes it possible for you to become more orientated and see more of the city. When we are on the bus or boat tour, if we see an attraction we like, we make a mental note of it, so that we can go back and visit later, when we have more time to explore further. When we visited Helsinki, we enjoyed an entertaining, educational and fun Strommer Beautiful Canal Tour of the cities historic sites, architecture & beautiful Canals. I would fully recommend.

Why not check them out for yourself at www.stromma.com/en-fi/helsinki/

You will find the boat tour both interesting and entertaining. I would fully recommend a boat tour with Stromma, if you are visiting any of the Scandinavian countries in which they operate.