3.75/5
737 reviews
Photo by Tapio Haaja via Unsplash

Helsinki

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great

cold

winter

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summer

noli

friendly

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nice

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Helsinki is a very safe and clean city with a reliable public transportation system and a walkable city center. It's known for being pedestrian-friendly and easy to navigate, even for solo travelers. English is commonly spoken in central areas, making it accessible for international visitors. People are generally friendly and welcoming, despite stereotypes that suggest otherwise. The cafe culture and availability of vegan food are standout features, especially when compared to other Scandinavian cities. Internet connectivity is strong, which, along with remote-working accommodations like Noli Studios, makes it practical for digital nomads. Nature is also close by, offering opportunities for activities like ferry trips and water-based excursions.

On the downside, Helsinki is notably expensive, particularly for eating out and alcohol. Public transport fares and general costs can also add up quickly. The weather, even in summer, can be chilly and consistently overcast, which may disappoint sun-seekers. Additionally, some visitors noted a lack of major attractions and found that there's not a wide range of things to do, which might make it less appealing for longer stays. Overall, Helsinki is worth a visit for a week or a short trip, especially for those who value safety, orderliness, and access to nature.

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

Not much to do. The weather was quite bad wyen I was there. I kitteraly didn't see a piece of blue innthe sky for a whole week, amd that was in summer. Quite cold weather.
It's quite expensive (3.2 euros a bus ticket!)
City is clean, people nice.
If you like water activities that may be for you (boat excursions, fishing, ect..)

1 year ago

I've been here just under a week so it might be too early to comment on Helsinki, but so far I like it. I'd like to second what the review from 9 mths ago said: I can recommend Noli Studios, specifically the Herttoniemi one. I'll tell you more about Finland once I've been here longer.

3 years ago

Helsinki, FInland, for one week in late July 2023. Short story: I would go there again in a heartbeat. Its safe, fun, trendy. It has great public transit in the core and to the airport, and is REALLY pedestrian friendly. English is readily spoken in the downtown core. Food from local and worldwide tastes is available and I did not have a single bad meal there. Check the opening/closing times for restaurants and bars- they vary wildly (Google maps is good for this, but not infallible). Internet was fast at my Hotel (Hotel Anna). I did not use co-working spaces. Nature is close by with a ferry cruise to local islands, and Estonia is a fast 3 hour boat ride away. Everyone was friendly to me, even though I knew none of the local official languages (Finnish and Swedish). Of course, YMMV but I had a great time as a solo traveller. Check the weather chart for your time of travel.

3 years ago

I've been in Helsinki on New Year's Eve and it's been okay. There isn't lots of fireworks but in front of the main cathedral you'll find some. Cafe-scene is great and you also find lots of places to work from. The city is walkable, although I wouldn't recommend doing that in winter as it'll be freaking cold.

Surprisingly you can find lots of vegan options. No matter if you're in a super-market (I can tell you, I've never seen so many different replacement products) or in a cafe. It's way better than other Scandinavian cities such aus Lund, Copenhagen and so on.

All in all I think it's worth a visit but wouldn't stay here for longer or come back, too often.
Pros:
- great public transport
- lots of vegan options
- great cafe-scene
- suprisingly friendly people (I always heard that Finnish people are rude, but it's not true from my experience)

Cons:
- super expensive (especially alcohol and eating out)
- cold AF in winter
- not too many things to do

If you want to have a great place to stay, meet people and be able to work, I can recommend Noli Studios. I stayed in Noli Sörnäinen with my girlfriend and enjoyed the place. Also has pretty good connections to almost anywhere in Helsinki.

4 years ago

A lot more things to do there on Summer than on Winter, even though the city is beautiful both seasons. Wouldn't recommend going there in the beginning of spring or late autumn since it'd be mostly rainy and cold. On Summer I recommend just walking around the city and checking out all the architecture and drinking beer on the beach of Hietalahti or taking a ferry to Suomenlinna and having a picnic day there. Linnanmäki amusement park is also nice if you are traveling with children. On Winter I recommend you leave the city center and go to f.ex. Mustikkamaa or Central Park. There are places where you can ice skate.

8 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Great public transport

✅ Friendly people

✅ Walkable city

✅ Lots of vegan options

✅ Great cafe-scene

✅ Fast internet

✅ Very clean

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Very family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

❌ Very expensive

❌ Cold weather

❌ Not much to do

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets very cold in the winter

❌ Very damp now

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Very difficult to make friends

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

-621°
freezing

-1014°
freezing

-130°
freezing

337°
cold

1152°
cool

1864°
cool

1763°
cool

1152°
cool

846°
cold

032°
freezing

-523°
freezing

Real (median)

-228°
freezing

-522°
freezing

134°
very cold

541°
very cold

1254°
cool

1864°
cool

1763°
cool

1253°
cool

1049°
cold

438°
very cold

-229°
freezing

Humidity

damp
85%

damp
82%

damp
84%

damp
79%

damp
80%

damp
75%

damp
74%

damp
81%

damp
78%

damp
83%

damp
80%

Most common

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
57mm

dry
26mm

dry
45mm

dry
41mm

dry
48mm

dry
10mm

dry
42mm

rainy
82mm

dry
36mm

rainy
77mm

rainy
64mm

dry
43mm

Cloud

cloudy
88%

cloudy
71%

cloudy
68%

cloudy
65%

cloudy
62%

cloudy
53%

pockets
44%

cloudy
63%

cloudy
69%

cloudy
82%

cloudy
83%

Air quality

clean
27 US AQI

clean
34 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
32 US AQI

clean
31 US AQI

clean
34 US AQI

clean
30 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

clean
24 US AQI

clean
29 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

Remote workers

2,929 people

2,720 people

2,250 people

2,486 people

2,340 people

2,896 people

4,137 people

3,835 people

3,632 people

2,667 people

3,424 people

2,929 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

Based on Helsinki's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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33 Mbps

Sweden

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 7° 45° 10° 51° AQI 21

✈️32min

$5,818 / mo

31 Mbps

Tokyo

Japan

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 25° 77° 25° 76° AQI 30

✈️10h

$4,124 / mo

25 Mbps

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 65° AQI 87 😷

✈️3h

$3,387 / mo

🌇 Also went here324 people

Rome

Italy

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 16° 61° 16° 60° AQI 33

✈️9h

$8,920 / mo

🌇 Also went here303 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 41° 106° 31° 88° Has AC AQI 62 😷

✈️11h

$1,663 / mo

🌇 Also went here343 people

1,200 remote workers in Helsinki now, of which 2+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.75/5 (Rank #85) 737 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍16 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	🧐 Very expensive: $4,677 / mo
📡 Internet	🚀 Super fast: 61 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 11°C51°F (feels 7°C45°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 83%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Very low: 3%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 22 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 29 US AQI
👌 Safety	Great
👩 Safe for women	Great
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Good
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very rich: $5,525 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Sprawling: 2k ppl/km² (1 per 22x22m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Great
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Finland
🗓️ Average trip length	4 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	61 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 11°C 51°F + 💦 Damp (83%) = feels 7°C 45°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 22 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 29 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Vallila
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Itäsaaret
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	EUR 100 = USD 112
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
☕️ Best coffee place	Coffee House Asema-aukio
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
🦷 Fluoride added	🚫 No fluoride added
🪨 Water hardness	Soft · 54 mg/L
♻️ Return rate	👍14% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	1,000,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$66,302 / year
😤 Population density	🧘‍♀️ empty: 22x22m (484m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 44% 👱‍♀️ 56%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 85% 👱‍♀️ 15%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Ambiguous
💻 Online electronics shop	Verkkokauppa
🏠 Apartment listings	Oikotie
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Finnair
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Flybe Nordic
🏥 Best hospital	Helsinki Private Hospital

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$4,677 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$3,155 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$6,480 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,851 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,980 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,860 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,208 / month
🏠 Median home price	$459,364
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$93 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$127 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$344 / month
🍛 Dinner	$18
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$3
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$10
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$5
👩‍🏫 International school	$12,693 / year
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$4 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$12,376
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$34,930
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$110,589

Helsinki

1,200 remote workers in Helsinki now, of which 2+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

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