The best known areas - and lesser known insider locations - for shopping in Helsinki are:
Kamppi Shopping Center: modern stores & restaurants with good prices
The Kiselef Bazaar: mall offering craft shops, local artwork, clothing
Esplanadi Street: higher-priced shopping area downtown with clothing & souvenirs
Kauppatori Market Square& Market Hall: fresh food and crafts in the center of Helsinki
The Forum: mall at Mannerheiminkatu 20 with modern clothing chains
Stockmann and Sokos department stores on Mannerheimintie have a diverse selection of international and Finnish brands – everything from fashion to food.
The Kiseleff House by Senate Square sells handicrafts and souvenirs.
The Old Market Hall next to Market Square and the Hakaniemi Market Hall, located in the bohemian area of Kallio, are treasure troves for those seeking culinary delights and souvenirs.
Personal touch from small boutiques
There are several delightful boutiques right in the centre of Helsinki. Uudenmaankatu Street is particularly known for its fashionable shops, selling Finnish couture, specialist brands and unique handicrafts not available from larger stores. Fredrinkinkatu and Korkeavuorenkatu are also streets well worth a visit.
Shopping for all tastes
Those interested in Finnish design should not miss the "design district" comprising Uudenmaan-katu, Fredrikinkatu, Annakatu and Bulevardi. These streets, in the area known as Punavuori, are full of fashion, exhibitions, museums, restaurants and art galleries, all united by Finnish design. Fredrikinkatu is famous for the most diverse and unique selection of fashion and interior design shops. Bulevardi is the street for art lovers, antique hunters and those into high-quality leather goods. Aleksanterinkatu is the street where you will find the most well-known retail chains as well as jewellers.
Pohjoisesplanadi and Eteläesplanadi streets are the places to shop for the classic Finnish brands, such as Arabia, Iittala, Hackman, Annikki Karvinen, Marimekko, Finlayson and Artek.
Good shopping outside town
The entire metropolitan area is dotted with large shopping malls, which are pleasant places for shopping - cool in the summer and warm and dry in the winter!
Itäkeskus Mall: with 240 shops is the biggest shopping location in Helsinki and in fact the largest shopping mall in the Nordic countries. It is a 15-minute metro ride from the center of Helsinki.
You can also take a local train to Leppävaara's Sello which houses 160 shops
Jumbo is located next to the airport in Vantaa and offers the services of 120 specialist shops and two hypermarkets.
Iso Omena in Espoo with its 115 service providers is also a comfortable shopping centre within easy reach.
Useful Addresses
Update 20/05/2008
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