A journey through Helsinki’s architecture starting with the neo-classical designs of Carl Ludvig Engel of the early 19th century as Helsinki was being transformed from a wooden fishing village, into the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Then we move on to the Art Nouveau and Jugendstil influences of the late 19th century followed by flashes of neo-classical revival and National Romantic Architecture.

We then move into 20th century architecture with Funtionalism, the style with defined Alvar Aalto and Finnish architecture for much of the 20th century. Finally, the tour ends in Oodi with the revival of wood as the main building material and the focus on sustainability and wellbeing.

Helsinki has quite a compact city centre and there is considerable overlap between the styles and it is not uncommon to see different styles of different periods side-by-side. This tour will help you understand Helsinki’s evolution as a city and help you understand Helsinki’s architecture at another level.

This tour takes about 2.5-3 hours and is about 3km long. The terrain is mostly flat with a couple of minor hills to climb, and the tour is suitable for all ages.

There is a 1 person minimum for this tour, maximum 10 people per group. Larger groups please contact info@edhelsinki.com to arrange a private group tour. Free cancellation and refund up to 24 hours before the tour start.