Winter Day in Suomenlinna Sea Fortress Suomenlinna Review

I visited Suomenlinna sea fortress after a long time so I also wanted to share my experience here. I live in Finland but Suomenlinna is one of those destinations that make even me feel like tourist. If you even end up visiting Helsinki, Suomenlinna sea fortress is one of the must things to do. Ferry from Helsinki’s Market Square costs as much as normal transportation in Helsinki and if you got day ticket for trams and busses like I did you can use Suomenlinna Ferry freely.

This year was my first time visiting Suomenlinna at winter time. In fact, I believed there wouldn’t be other people but that small island was full of tourists. We locals usually visit only at summer when it is warm and green. Those tourists and my non-Finnish friend seemed to enjoy this cold and raw Suomenlinna experience. I still prefer it at Summer because wind and snow make it hard to walk around without freezing to death. That doesn’t mean winter wouldn’t be good time to visit. Just remember to dress warmly and you can enjoy beautiful sea views and the warm museums.

Before going remember to check from Suomenlinna’s official site what is currently happening in this popular Helsinki’s tourist attraction. When we visited there was this castle elf thing for children and if I what I have heard from my friends there is different tours and events often.

I love Suomenlinna sea fortress because of its colorful town with idyllic buildings and perfect picnic spots. There is also interesting museums but you won’t probably get a lot of out of them if you don’t know something about Finnish history beforehand. One museums I recommend for everyone is Suomenlinna’s Toy museum. Even if history isn’t your thing you will probably enjoy this.

The biggest and most important thing in this sea fortress island is of course the castle. (Suomenlinna literally means Finland’s castle). It is also UNESCO world heritage destination and every Finn is quite proud of that. We followed “blue line” that we found from Suomenlinna’s official website. It passes all the most important sights of Suomenlinna sea fortress. There is canons, walls and other castle like features. Suomenlinna’s King’s Gate is the main castle part and also my favorite photography spot. You can walk through it like ancient king (or queen).

Because I visited at winter time I totally started to miss my visits there at summers with my family. I remember how we used to have picnics and enjoy Finnish tasty sweets sitting under tree’s shadow. If you are in Helsinki from June to August, do just that. Buy some Fazer chocolate (that’s the most possible Finnish sweet to eat) and other local foods before taking the ferry to Suomenlinna. Then just find spot with beautiful view and enjoy your Finnish afternoon. Helsinki doesn’t have that many attractions for tourists so I definitely recommend this one…