Museums · Helsinki · Finland
4 best museums in Helsinki
The collections worth your time, how long each takes and how to fit them together.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Vadelmavene, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
Start with Ateneum Art Museum, Amos Rex and Seurasaari Open-Air Museum. Together the 4 picks below take roughly 8–10 hours across 4 areas; all charge for entry.
Key facts
- Places in this guide
- 4
- Free entry
- 0
- Time to see them all
- 8–10 hours
- Areas
- Kluuvi, Kamppi and Seurasaari
Museums in Helsinki
Gallery · Kluuvi
1.Ateneum Art Museum
Opposite the Central Station, the Ateneum holds Finland's national collection of art from the 1750s to the 1950s, including the Golden Age paintings of Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Albert Edelfelt, portraits by Helene Schjerfbeck and Hugo Simberg's The Wounded Angel.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- History
Gallery · Kamppi
2.Amos Rex
This art museum opened in 2018 in galleries dug beneath Lasipalatsi square, a 1930s functionalist building.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Museum · Seurasaari
3.Seurasaari Open-Air Museum
A footbridge leads to Seurasaari island, where farmsteads, manor houses and a 17th-century wooden church have been moved from around Finland.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Nature
Museum · Vantaa
4.Heureka science centre
Finland's science centre, next to Tikkurila station in Vantaa, has hands-on halls on physics, the human body and nature, a planetarium dome and outdoor science exhibits.
- Time needed
- 3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Grouped by area
| Area | Places | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Kluuvi | Ateneum Art Museum | 2 hours |
| Kamppi | Amos Rex | 1–1.5 hours |
| Seurasaari | Seurasaari Open-Air Museum | 2–3 hours |
| Vantaa | Heureka science centre | 3 hours |
Booking and timing
Of these 4, 1 low cost, 3 mid-priced. None needs booking far in advance. The longest visit is Seurasaari Open-Air Museum; group the rest by area to save travel time.
How to fit them into 3 half-days
Grouped by area and kept to about four hours each, so you walk more than you ride.
- Half-day 1 (Kluuvi and Kamppi): Ateneum Art Museum → Amos Rex, at least 3 hours.
- Half-day 2 (Seurasaari): Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, at least 2 hours.
- Half-day 3 (Vantaa): Heureka science centre, at least 3 hours.
The quietest months for queues
- February: highs of -2°C (28°F), about 9 rainy days, very quiet crowds. Often the coldest month, sometimes with frozen sea around the islands; bright, crisp days on the snow.
- January: highs of -1°C (30°F), about 11 rainy days, very quiet crowds. Cold and dark, with around six hours of daylight; snow and sea ice are common, and saunas with an ice-hole dip are at their best.
- April: highs of 8°C (46°F), about 7 rainy days, quiet crowds. Thaw and the first terrace days; the city builds up to May Day Eve at the end of the month.
The neighbourhoods they are in
- Kamppi — Transport hub with the shopping centre, bus station and the Chapel of Silence
More of Helsinki
Questions travellers ask
+Where should I start in Helsinki?
Ateneum Art Museum. Opposite the Central Station, the Ateneum holds Finland's national collection of art from the 1750s to the 1950s, including the Golden Age paintings of Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Albert Edelfelt, portraits by Helene Schjerfbeck and Hugo Simberg's The Wounded Angel.