Discover Sisu: Empire to Equality Free Tour in Helsinki, Algeria - A unique experience

Join us and discover the untold story of Helsinki! Explore its journey from empire to equality on a unique free tour full of hidden spots, local insights, and true Finnish spirit. See the city through a new lens with Helwalk!

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Things to do Sisu: Empire to Equality Free Tour

Discover a hidden, uniquely Finnish Helsinki. At Helwalk, we want to show you a different part of Helsinki, a part you wouldn’t otherwise see! Join us to explore hidden secrets, local wonders, exciting establishments, and more off the beaten path. Discover the true essence of Finnish Helsinki and learn about its origins and driving forces. From Swedish royalty to Russian imperialism, through war, assassinations, political turmoil, and rebellion, Finnish national identity endures. Through revolution against an Empire, the invasion of the Soviet Union, and a flirt with dictatorship, modern Finland emerges as a unique social democracy in the modern world. The tour will have a focus on Finnish national identity and how the modern political landscape and values were shaped by a history of war, revolution, and social responsibility. Filled with a history of art, design, ingenuity, and intrigue, the Finnish capital has so much to see and learn that it is easy to miss. Let us show you! Hear the story of how Finnish national identity is formed and shaped, and how this builds the social democratic republic of modern Finland.

Included

Kansalaistori Square

Hietaniemi cemetery

Equestrian statue of Marshal Mannerheim

Sibelius Academy N-Building

Hakasalmen huvila

Hidden gems

Discover hidden gems

History

Politics

Optional coffee stop

National Heroes

Meeting point

Mannerheim Statue

Reviews (29)

2025-09-26 13:39:52

“Mr. ”

Virkelig god og oplysende tur. Guiden er sjov og underholdende, og vi lærte meget om Finland og landets historie. Jeg vil anbefale alle at tage på denne guidet tur :)

Tobias Dumanski (Danish)

2025-09-25 15:53:09

“סיור מצויין!! Great tour!”

Excellent tour. The guide is full of in-depth knowledge. He doesn't just tell jokes, but a really in-depth tour to get to know Finnish society, its history, its culture. Great.

Gilad Mulyan (English)

2025-09-23 18:30:33

“Best thing to do in Helsinki”

Booking this tour and spending some time with John is one of the best things to do in Helsinki. It was a pleasure to learn about Finland (history, culture, people...) while listening to a perfect and incredible storyteller (very detailed and interesting information!). Honestly, I wouldn't miss this tour if I come to Helsinki. I can say that this is the best tour I have ever been on (and I have been on many). Highly recommended! John is so nice and also gives you good tips for the rest of your time in Helsinki! Great and fun experience...and full of knowledge.

Silvia (English)

2025-09-19 03:32:48

“Great Tour”

Great tour of Helsinki, really got a good in depth history of Finland and a great look at parts of the city that are a little bit off the beaten path. Really in depth and personable tour and I would love to hop on another one of their tours if I find myself back in Helsinki!

Andrew Walker (English)

2025-09-02 11:48:28

“Great tour to see the real Helsinki”

The guide was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. I absolutely recommend if to anybody who is into history and politics.

Paul (English)

2025-08-23 14:07:07

“History and architecture tour ”

Johnny was our guide. He was very knowledgeable. Answered all questions and was genuinely involved in what he presented. Never made short cuts and the tour ended after 3 hours . Long past the time it was supposed to last . I recommend any other tour where Johnny would be the tour guide

Ingrid Eckert-Prinz (English)

2025-08-21 17:08:58

“Very interesting tour”

Very nice tour with interesting details about the city and finish people

Levi (English)

2025-08-18 12:16:46

“Experience”

I liked the tour very much. Very informative and engaging guide. Always tries to answer poeples questions and if he has answer then he answers. Patient and kind. I highly recommend to this tour if you want to know more about the finns and there history.

Vykintas Švėgžda (English)

2025-08-16 14:34:49

“⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️”

I really enjoyed this tour, I highly recommend it if you want to now more about Finland’s history and politics????

Francesco (English)

2025-08-14 16:27:08

“Good walk! ”

An alternative tour with the history of Finland and their monuments, discovering the Finnish architecture around the city with some storic pills. Recommended!

Gianluca Campanelli (English)

2025-08-14 12:11:53

“Very nice informative tour”

good historical information

Lisa (English)

2025-08-12 16:34:34

“Super!”

John is a nice host, who gives a very interesting and entertaining tour. Highly recommended!

Malin (English)

2025-08-06 17:29:53

“Nice political history tour”

John is a great guide, very talkative and knowledgeable. The tour is a very good introduction on Finnish history of the last two centuries and how Finland apparently becomes the country with the happiest citizens. You will also see some less touristy parts of Helsinki. If you are an American tourist with a Regan portrait on your desk, better stay away though. There are some socialist ideas mentioned during the tour which might confuse you a lot.

Raimund (English)

2025-08-05 16:53:55

“Un tour diffèrent d Helsinki ”

Très intéressant Basé sur l histoire de la Finlande et les grands hommes qui ont conduit à construire cette nation Sisu et vers la social démocratie

Annie Benguigui (French)

2025-08-05 15:56:24

“HelWalk with Johnny ”

Had the best time at the HelWalk with Johnny. Super friendly and informative tour that introduced the importance of the Finnish 'Sisu' concept in everyday culture and politics. I absolutely recommend this tour to anyone as it was one of the best tours that I've personally ever been on!

Alicja Ukleja (English)

2025-08-05 14:51:35

“Top”

Very prepared and enjoyable person. He gave us a fantastic tour of the city with an incredible story telling experience. We got a lot of information about the political history of the nation and brilliant descriptions of urban landscape, buildings and monuments. We got a 2 h summary of hundreds of notions essential to understand the cultural exception of this country. Maybe too fast speaking sometimes for no English mother tongue but very effective in a friendly mood.

Francesca Morselli (English)

2025-08-04 16:02:30

“Thanks! ”

Must do your, very knowledgeable and enriching experience!

Kajal (English)

2025-07-24 13:09:43

“fabulous tour”

The tour was very interesting and gave us a lot of interesting insights into the history of Finnland and we visited places which we would never have gone to as standard tourists. So it is highly recommended to join the tour if you want to see more of Helsinki than the standard tourist spots.

Tobias (English)

2025-07-17 15:12:40

“TOP TOUR”

Very interesting history and sites ... I recommend ... Thank you !

ALAIN BERTRAND (English)

2025-07-16 10:50:51

“????”

Top

Magnus (English)

2025-07-13 18:34:17

“A Must-Do Tour in Helsinki with an Amazing Guide!”

I highly recommend this tour in Helsinki! Jonny is an amazing guide with an impressive knowledge of the city’s history and culture. You’ll have a great time exploring places that you wouldn’t easily find on your own, whether you’re a tourist or even a local wanting to discover more about where you live. He makes the experience fun, interesting, and very insightful. Don’t miss it!

Italia Suarez (English)

2025-07-11 13:45:24

“Great experience”

Great experience joining John on his finnish history based tour. He keeps groups small so there is a lot of room for interaction and questions. He was very enthusiastic and tells a great story. We can definitely recommend following one of his tours!

Amu (English)

2025-07-05 15:05:14

“Greatest free Walking Tour”

This is my second visit to Helsinki. Nevertheless, these 2.5 hours were great. Great topic, super (fun) facts and nice atmosphere. I could have listened to John even longer. The tour was very varied. Highly recommended for everyone! You see corners of Helsinki that you wouldn't have seen before. Thank you!

Emily (English)

2025-07-02 14:47:33

“A wonderful way to learn more about finnish history and culture”

We had a wonderful time, the tour was about getting to know what really matters in Finnish politics, culture and history rather than going around the most famous over-touristy spots. Johnny has extremely much knowledge and a ton of joy transmitting it. We learned a lot about the city and the country and went through really interesting places that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Definitely highly recommended. Thanks a lot Johnny!

Benjamin Getti (English)

2025-06-28 15:36:59

“Great walking tour”

Great walking tour of Helsinki! The guide was friendly and full of interesting facts about the city’s history and design. We saw key landmarks at a relaxed pace—perfect way to get to know Helsinki.

Mary (English)

2025-06-27 14:47:58

“Historical city tour”

Amazing tour! The guide nicely links Finnish history with key sites across the city, offering a compelling and insightful journey through Helsinki. A perfect choice for anyone looking to explore the story of Finland beyond the usual tourist spots. Highly recommended!

Laurenz Nagler (English)

2025-06-25 15:30:27

“perfect guide ”

He answered all questions we asked to deepen understanding of history!

May (English)

2025-06-21 18:59:47

“Getting to know the roots of modern Finnland”

So, John is relatively new to doing this tour of Finnland's capital and the historical, political and societal roots of modern Finnland and the layout of its main city. But unless he'll tell you during the tour (or read this review), you'd never guess that he has not done the tour hundreds of times. John is extremely knowledgeable about Finnland's and Helsinki's history. You'll learn stuff and will be able to make new connections between things you've known before. That is probably because John is capable of explaning complex matters in an interesting, fun and relateable way. Last but not least, he is happy to answer questions and honest enough to admit if he has not thought of one of yours before. This makes for interesting, intelligent conversation and time well spent. We highly recommend the tour to people who want to know more about Helsinki than just tourist info basics. You get exactly what's in the description of the tour.

Jonas Müller (English)

2025-06-12 17:42:09

“Fantastic”

The tour was very interesting. John is a very nice man, has a lot of knowledge about Finland and Helsinki, reality , history, and relations with other countries He knows how to explain and has answers to all our questions. It was a really pleasant evening. We hardly recommend this not conventional tour

Susana Feldman (English)

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