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10 Surprising Facts About Helsinki You Probably Didn't Know (A Street Artist's Dirty Secrets)

@David Vance2/8/2026blog
10 Surprising Facts About Helsinki You Probably Didn't Know (A Street Artist's Dirty Secrets)

so, helsinki. yeah, that city. i've been squatting in abandoned factories and painting over bland concrete for two years now. everyone thinks it's all design cupcakes and sauna steam, but there's a gritty underbelly they don't tell you about. let's spill some beans, or should i say, spill some paint?

first off, you can legally spray paint in some spots. i know, mind-blowing. there's this wall in kalasatama, near the metro station, where the city set up a legal graffiti area. heard it from a local who was drunk on koskenkorva at a dive bar in kallio. > 'they put up a wall so we don't paint on the historical stuff. smart, eh?' but don't get too comfy, the cops still harass you if you're near it without a permit. safety here is high, sure-helsinki's consistently ranked as one of the safest cities globally-but they love to bust street artists for 'vandalism.' job market? if you're in tech, you're golden. startups in kamppi pay well, but rent? holy shit. average rent for a one-bedroom in kallio is around 900 euros, which is cheap for this expensive-ass city. check out the cost of living on numbeo: Numbeo Cost of Living in Helsinki. but in mind, salaries are higher too, so you're not totally screwed.

weather? it's dark in winter, like, permanently twilight. but summers are magical, all 18 hours of daylight. neighbors: tallinn's just a 2-hour ferry ride, stockholm a 1-hour flight. easy to escape when you need a break from the finnish silence and cheaper beer. speaking of beer, it's actually cheaper here than in oslo, so that's a win.

now, saunas. there are more saunas than starbucks, i swear. my building has one, and it's included in rent. but some are public and cheap, like the one in herttoniemi. > 'go there, it's 5 euros and you'll meet all the old guys who've seen everything.' coffee culture is insane too. finns drink 12 kg per person per year, i heard. my local cafe, corgee, has lines around the block. Yelp for best cafes says it's overrated, but i love their dark roast. it keeps me up for night painting sessions.

the islands. helsinki has over 300 islands. most are empty, perfect for secret art projects. seurasaari is touristy, but if you kayak out, you find abandoned boathouses. > 'heard a story about a ghost on lorby island, but probably bullshit from a guy who'd had too many karjalanpiirakka.' language? finnish is a beast. not even indo-european, related to estonian or hungarian. good luck with that. but everyone speaks english, so you're fine-unless you're trying to order a beer in a dive bar and the bartender just sighs.

design capital. helsinki was world design capital in 2012. you see it everywhere, even in the tram stops. speaking of trams, they're old but charming. green and yellow, like in this photo:

green and yellow city tram

i once painted a tram depot wall and got chased by a driver. not my finest moment.

night of the arts. every august, the city goes crazy with art installations,open studios, and street performances. it's the one time cops look the other way for spray paint. > 'just don't paint on the alvar aalto buildings, or the design nerds will crucify you.' which brings me to architecture. there's this white concrete mosque near the water, you can see it from the ferry:

white concrete mosque near body of water

yeah, helsinki has a mosque. surprising, right? it's in the itis shopping area, but the photo's from somewhere else-close enough for art.

now, the dirty secrets. did you know you can see the northern lights from esplanadi park if it's clear and dark enough? but winters are so dark and cloudy, it's rare. > 'some guy told me he saw it over the market square, but i think he was tripping on mushroom tea.' another fact: the city's underground sewage system has tours. i've never been-too busy above ground-but TripAdvisor for Suomenlinna says it's boring. whatever, i prefer the street art scene. helsinki has a annual street art festival where international artists paint entire buildings. last year, they did a murano glass-inspired piece near the harbor. i tried to get in on it, but my style's too 'grunge' for them.

rent in alppila is getting insane, but if you bunk with five others in a shared apartment, you can scrape by. locals warn about the 'summer exodus' when everyone leaves for mökki (cottage) and the city feels like a ghost town. > 'then the students come back in august and it's a madhouse.' job market's tight in creative fields unless you're in design or tech. i've done gigs painting cafe walls for minimum wage. but hey, at least i get free coffee.

finally, helsinki's public transport is efficient. trams, metros, ferries-you can get anywhere. i map my painting spots using this:

but don't trust google maps in winter when everything's covered in snow and ice. you'll end up in a snowbank. happened to me once, and i had to carry my spray cans home like an idiot.

so there you have it. helsinki's not all ikea and silence. it's a messy, creative, expensive, safe-as-hell playground. just don't paint on the old brick walls-some local historian will lose their mind. check out r/helsinki for more drunk advice and rent horror stories. and if you see me tagging a legal wall, buy me a beer. i'm usually near the kalasatama wall, if the cops haven't kicked me out yet.

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About the author: David Vance

Writing is my way of listening.

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