From Pihtipudas to Helsinki

Day 11 – 04-03-2025

Today we left Pihtipudas early heading for Helsinki so that we could have more time in the city. The weather was mostly okay, and the first half of the journey took us through some beautiful snowy roads. For lunch, we stopped at a rest area with a buffet – a really nice place with good food. After that, nothing exciting happened, and we decided to use a highway joker to save an hour of driving around Helsinki.

Red SUV with stickers and spare tires on roof parked on snowy ground outside a two-story hotel.

Snowy frozen lake behind two leafless trees and metal guardrails under a cloudy sky at sunset.

We arrived in Helsinki at 3:00 PM, found a parking spot where our car fitted, and checked in before exploring the city. We saw the Rock Temppeliaukio Church, which is built directly into the rock. We have seen many churches on our travels, but this one was particularly impressive and had a very inviting atmosphere for resting we haven’t met anywhere else.

Church interior with stone walls, large pipe organ, blue pews, and curved ceiling windows.

Metallic basin supported by three large rough stone slabs on a concrete floor.

After that, we visited the cathedral Helsingin Tuomiokirkko, which is highly recommended. We found it very beautiful from the outside, but inside, only the organ was really worth seeing, nothing special otherwise. Unfortunately, we could only see the Finnish Orthodox Church from the outside because it closes at 4 PM. Nevertheless, it was very beautiful to look at.

Brick church with green domes and golden crosses on rocky hill under clear blue sky.

Historic red brick church with green roofs and golden crosses under clear blue sky.

We then leisurely strolled past the parliament buildings and through Helsinki, enjoying the atmosphere and finding a nice restaurant for dinner. While eating, the Danish King Frederik X and Queen Mary drove past the restaurant, much to Pooh’s delight ☺️. Our task for the day was to find a specific statue on the other side of our hotel – about a 45-minute walk from the restaurant. So, we decided to take the tram. We found the statue and walked the last 20 minutes to the hotel.