The Top 7 Things To Do in Töölö, Helsinki

The largest stadium in the country and the host of the 1952 Summer Olympics, the Helsingin Olympiastadion (or Olimpia Stadium) represents a landmark for sport activities and various other large-scale events. The functional architecture comes courtesy of Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti, who designed the stadium in 1938 to host the 1940 Summer Olympics. However, plans were soon cancelled due to the start of World War II. The stadium was built to host up to 50,000 people and is one looming structure over Helsinki, reaching heights of more than 72 meters!

Located in the center of Töölö, and surrounded by the prolific cultural and political building icons of the neighborhood, this Francophone eatery is really worth a visit. Lyon is a restaurant perfect for casual dining, special celebrations and business gatherings alike. The menu offers such treats as fresh cod with cockle glaze, sautéed with green peas or short ribs with bone marrow and onion. Simply delicious!

The five-floor Parliament building represents one of Finland’s most important structures and evokes some of the proudest moments in the history of the parliamentary republic: giving women the right to vote – the first country in Europe to do so – being perhaps the most notable. Since Finland’s independence in 1917 from Sweden and Russia, the building has been hugely important. Designed by Johan Sigfrid Sirén in a modernist style with a classical and neoclassical Corinthian capital façade, marble staircases, a plenary chamber, grand reception hall and five unique floors, the site is a veritable symbol of Finland as a whole.