Helsinki · Things to do

A UNESCO-listed 18th-century fortress spread over islands off the city, reached by ferry. People live there, so the walk around the ramparts is the main event; the museums inside charge separately and keep their own hours (Suomenlinna Museum 10.30-17.00, Submarine Vesikko 11-18), and some close outside the summer.

Public sauna and restaurant on the Baltic shore at Hernesaarenranta 4, about 25 minutes' walk or a tram ride south of the centre. Sauna and restaurant hours differ and change day to day (for example restaurant 11-23, sauna 12-22), so check before you go and book a sauna slot.

Free to walk into, open Mon-Fri 8-21 and Sat-Sun 10-20. As well as around 100,000 books it holds two cafes, studios, the Urban Workshop maker space and the Kino Regina cinema; the top-floor reading level is the part most visitors come for.

Art museum at Mannerheimintie 22-24 showing changing contemporary exhibitions. Open Mon-Fri 11-20 and Sat-Sun 11-17, closed Tuesdays; tickets are sold online, and since shows rotate it is worth checking what is actually up before committing an afternoon.

The church quarried into bedrock, entered from Lutherinkatu 3. A day ticket is 8 euros for adults and free for under-18s. Opening times shift week to week because services and concerts take priority, so check the site about a week ahead rather than turning up.