Architecture & Art

Travel program

Day 1 | Arrival in Helsinki (D)

Flight/cruise on own arrangements. Welcome to Helsinki – the capital of Finland! Private transfer to the city centre and to your accommodation. The welcome dinner and overnight at hotel.

Day 2 | Helsinki Architecture (B/L)

Guided architecture tour by foot and bus 3h.
Learn about the legacy from the Swedish and Russian periods of rule and marvel at the eclectic mix of architecture in a city dotted at every turn with beautiful parks and stunning Baltic Sea shoreline. Main attractions: Historical Senate Square, – Helsinki Lutheran (external visit) and Uspensky Orthodox Cathedrals Market Square, Esplanade Park, Central Railway Station, designed by Architect Eliel Saarinen, the unique Rock Church embedded inside a granite rock (subject to availability) Oodi Public Library, Finlandia Hall designed by Alvar Aalto and Sibelius Park and Monument. Lunch break at the local restaurant.
Guided tour to the Desing and Finnish Architecture Museum. The architecture themes include reconstruction, the history of school construction and landscape architecture. Also, Art Deco stairwells, community houses or water towers in Töölö. The Museum of Finnish Architecture presents many Finnish architects, mainly active in the 1900s, whose drawings are in the museum’s archives. The most famous might be Alvar Aalto. Design Museum offers a unique learning environment for people of all ages who are interested in design. We want to present design in broad perspective to different audiences and to tell of its importance as part of our environment. Overnight at hotel. Dinner with your own arrangements.

Day 3 | Järvenpää – Art Community (B/L)

Half day tour to Järvenpää, where an unusually large number of artists’ homes were formed ont the shore of Lake Tuusula in the early 1900s. Here the masters of the golden age of Finnish art and their families wrote, painted and celebrated together. We get to know better writer Juhani Aho’s Ahola, painter Eero Järnefelt’s Suviranta, painter Pekka Halonen’s Halosenniemi, poet J.H. Erkko’s Erkkola and of course, master composer Jean and his wife Aino Sibelius Ainola. You will learn how all these remarkable people have influenced Finnish culture with their art. Lunch at the local restaurant. Transfer back to hotel and dinner arrangement on your own.

Day 4 | Helsinki: Tips for the Art Lovers (B)

The day could be spent on your own arrangements but here comes a few tips. Or we could arrange guided tours.

The Ateneum Art Museum boast Finland’s oldest and largest collection of art. It not only tells the story of Finnish art, but also shows the formation of Finnish art and its institutions. Museum has the largest collection of paintings (more than 4300) and sculptures (more than 750) in Finland. The collection presents the development of Finnish art from 18th-centure Rococo portraiture to 20th-century experimental movements. The earliest paintings include portraits from the Romantic era and landscapes of the Düsseldorf School. The collection also features Parisian influences from the end of the 19th century, the beginning of realism, symbolism, and the fines paintings of the golden age of Finnish art. These trends usher us into the beginning of the 20th century, when the expressive scope of Finnish art expanded. Finnish expressionism, impressionism, cubism and surrealism reflect international influences.

The Amos Rex is temporary exhibition show room in Lasipalatsi building, in the heart of the city center. If you wish, you could visit Amos Rex and enjoy the exhibition on offer.

Musiikkitalo is a concert and event venue in the centre of Helsinki. Request the tickets for the evening concert or we could arrange “behind the scenes” tours as well. The building was designed by architects Marko Kivistö, Ola Laiho and Mikko Pulkkinen. The acoustics design consultant was Yasuhisa Toyota’s office which designed the acoustics the main hall. It’s the home for The Helsinki City Orchestra and Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Finnish National Opera and Ballet -house is also worth to visit on the event or “behind the scenes” tour. Opera house employes more than 500 people from singers to dancers, from orchestra musicians to very highly skilled artisan professionals from cobblers to metal workers. It’s very interesting place to visit how international staff work together. Each year opera has four premieres and three ballet premieres in the repertoire.

Day 4 | Departure (B)

Breakfast at hotel and check-out. Private transfer to the Helsinki airport.

Note: program indicative, activity days may vary. 

B=Breakfast | L=Lunch | D=Dinner