10 Best Outdoor Adventures in Helsinki

Adventure Park Korkee, a rope adventure park at Mustikkamaa Island, next to the Korkeasaari parking space, is meant for all ages. Upon arrival, you’ll receive a short training session. After it, just head to the tracks of the park – there are 100 tasks for the whole family to complete. Three tracks are meant for kids, ten for adults. The tracks come in two types: tree stump tracks, at the height of one meter, and treetop tracks at 3–12 meters. You get to wear world-class safety equipment, so there’s absolutely no danger involved. Some of the tracks also include exhilarating cable sliding. The longer you make it on the tracks, the harder it is to get further: the first ropes can be navigated by anyone, the last ones by only the most nimble. In addition to tracks, the park contains a small café. Unless you run out of courage or strength, you can easily spend as long as three hours here.

Sup Regatta offers a comprehensive selection of water sports equipment – a SUP board, a canoe, or maybe a rowboat. The rental shop is located on the shores of Taivallahti Bay. From there, you can get via water to the nearby Seurasaari, or perhaps to the beaches of Hietaniemi. The rental shop also offers help in using the equipment, as well as guided rowing tours. There are activities from spring to autumn. As Taivallahti Bay, right next to the rental shop, is well-sheltered, a little windiness won’t stand in the way of SUP boarding. For longer trips, the shop's canoes and rowboats provide the easiest options. There are no great differences in the rental prices for the various types of equipment – but if you want to rent them for more than hour, the second hour is always considerably less expensive than the first. From the center of Helsinki, the easiest way to access Sup Regatta is by city bike or Bus 24, traveling down nearby Mechelininkatu Street.

The nature path at Pornainen is a great alternate for those seeking a short sojourn in nature. It’s located at Viikki – you can get there easily from the city centre on Bus 71. The nature path is bit more than a kilometer long. En route, you’ll get a chance to see wetlands, alder groves and extensive fauna, such as many sorts of woodpeckers. The nature path’s route is accessible to all. If you have enough time, you can walk to the end of Lammassaari on duckboards. There you’ll find, among other things, a historic summer camp, Pohjolan Pirtti, built in 1905. While you’re in the area, it’s worth visiting the Iittala & Arabia Design Center to the south. If you take the bus to Pornaistenniemi Nature Path, just get off at the Annalantie stop and walk to the beginning of the nature path via Matinkaari Bridge.

It’s very easy to get to know Helsinki on a bike. If all you need is a basic no-frills city bike, you can sign up at the HSL site or the related app for a free bike to use everywhere in the city – though it’s only free for the first 30 minutes, and then there’s a small fee. Additionally, city bikes are not in use during winter. If city bikes are, for whatever reason, not your thing, there are also several rental shops offering terrain bikes and racing bikes instead, for instance. Once you’re on a bike, you can access all parts of central Helsinki in no time. If you’re trying to get further afield, you can also transportation your bike on a local train, if there’s enough space for it. From the center of Helsinki, the easiest day trips are to Lauttasaari, Seurasaari or Korkeasaari. There are also approximately a thousand other destinations – you can cycle wherever you desire in Helsinki.

Helsinki Central Park is a vast entity – there’s everything from hiking paths and services to unique natural landscapes. The park reaches from the northern edge of the city southwards to Töölönlahti Bay. If you wish to see a bit of real forest, you won’t need to go further than the Laakso area a kilometer northwards from the shores of the bay. This is also a nesting area for flying squirrels. Going further northwards, the middle section of the park contains the popular Pirkkola sport park, with facilities for countless summer and winter sports, as well as the protected Maunula hazel grove. The most beautiful natural zone inside the park is, however, the northernmost section of the park. There you will find several natural protection zones, like the magnificent primeval forest of Haltiala, the Niskala arboretum and the hillside grove of Pitkäkoski. The easiest way to get acquainted with all the neighborhoods of the park is on a bike. There are also many buses and streetcars going by the southern and middle parts of the park; you can get to the northern parts with Buses 43, 67 and 560, among others.

The magnificent Viikki Arboretum is the arboretum of the Helsinki University. An enormous variety of trees from every part of the globe grows there. While walking the paths going through the park, you can admire, among others, great white oaks, populi rasumowskiana and ash trees. This 20-hectare park is divided into geobotanical neighborhoods, which also have their own presentations. The area was established in 1969. Since then, thanks to extensive tree planting it’s believed that the arboretum now hosts the most comprehensive selection of trees and shrubs in the whole country. And unlike in the parks at the city centre, these trees are not managed, as such -- the species grow wild. From the center of Helsinki, the easiest way to Viikki Arboretum is by city bike or Buses 57, 78, 506 and 701 that travel along nearby Viikki Road.

During the warmer seasons, Helsinki’s beautiful islands are truly a must-see experience. The easiest way to see them is by buying a ticket to a ship from Market Square or Hakaniemi, or catching a ferry or a water bus. During the summer vacations, there’s transportation to islands and nearby coastal towns, as well as cruises of all sorts. The cruises are particularly worth considering for seeing many attractions at once, including islands not reached by back-and-forth transit. The absolutely most popular destination among these routes is the Suomenlinna Fortress, which is also open in winter. As for the more remote islands, at least Isosaari and Kaunissaari are very much worth considering. Pihlajasaari Island, right before Hernesaari, is perfect for sunbathing and other sorts of bathing. You can reach it from the Kaivopuisto Park harbor via waterbus.

The best way to see all of Helsinki at once? A helicopter ride. There are multiple helicopter companies servicing the Helsinki region, generally offering rides for 1–5 people at a time. Most of these companies operate out of the Helsinki-Malmi airport. At the cheapest, the prices might be a few hundred euros per person. Practically all companies offer both readymade and tailored landscape tours, as well as longer flights to Hanko and Mariehamn, for instance. Helicopter rides are particularly suitable for those wishing to admire the islands – there are things on the islands you simply can’t see any other way. More info on the companies, their helicopters and the flights they offer, is easily found online.

The adventure track Zippy, in the forests of Munkkivuori, offers a great selection of adventure tracks for all ages. The park contains separate zones for small children and youth/adults. Every customer is guided carefully in the use of the tracks and the park. The difficulties of the climbing and adventure tracks have been marked using the color codes known from downhill skiing tracks. Green means easy, blue means mid-level, and red and black are the most difficult. And the smallest children can enjoy the park’s trampolines, a pirate ship and a bouncy castle. Highlights for the older children might include the Tarzan and Base Jump tracks, full of exhilarating jumps and drops. The Adventure Park Zippy is located right next to Talihalli. It’s approximately 6 km from the center of Helsinki. The best way to get there by public transportation is by taking a bus that stops at the Kultareuna stop (such as Bus 14, 31 or 39).

If disc golf is your thing, the easiest place to play it in central Helsinki is Meilahti. This district hosts the oldest disc golf course in Finland, with a total of sixteen courses, 50–82 meters in length, guaranteed to offer a challenge. The course begins behind the Meilahti Sports Center and ends on its southwestern side. There are a lot of ups and downs on the hilly track, so making your way through is also a great form of exercise. Most of the throwing locations are painted on rock. Due to the landscape, it’s recommended to use discs that are as visible as possible – other discs might be difficult to find after you throw them. The easiest way to get from the center of Helsinki to the Meilahti disc golf course is by Streetcar 4. Due to the excellent location of the track, you might encounter large crowds of people during good weather, in particular, which should be taken into account when scheduling.