Santa’s cabin in Helsinki is in front of Virgin Oil by Mannerheimintie. If you want to see him, don’t do the same mistake as I did, don’t expect him to be an early riser; He’ll be seen there today 11-14, 15-17.30 and tomorrow 12-15, 16-17.30. My guess is you can spot him still on Monday and Tuesday 12-14, 15-18.30 but then he probably has other places to visit.
By Vanha is also a human size display of the Christmas story. My kids were more interested in the figures next to, that is Leningrad Cowboys by Zetor’s front door. But at least Baby Jesus is to be seen 24/7.
By the main church is Tuomaan markkinat, ie the Christmas Market open until 22nd. I thought it didn’t look too bad with the sun shining on the church, despite the lack of snow.
I love Christmas markets! The atmosphere… So far the greatest Christmas markets I have visited have been Germany though. I also loved the sustainability angle on the ones in Germany: for a coin or two you get a cute mug with print of the city and the Christmas market, and when you hand it back, you get your money back too. Obviously I never took them back but instead collected a cheap but nice looking, not to mention a memory weighed, tea set. Too bad Finland hasn’t taken after that habit. But they did a good job in creating a nice atmosphere too:
PS Minna Parikkas shoe shop on Aleksanterin katu has a window display worth taking a look at, even in the company of boys and men!
Free But Fun 
The Christmas markets of Germany obviously deserve their fame (and yes, I love the habit of making it cheaper to do the right thing environmentally) but yours look great as well. Having just spent the morning at the overcrowded shopping mall actually it looks heavenly! Especially the sunlight on the church there.
It was quite beautiful with the sun, and I like our small but cosy Christmas markets too. They certainly beat overcrowded malls anytime.
I love the pictures… they just feel Christmas-y 🙂
It was a good start to the Christmas (a few days off work was well received at my end!)
How absolutely cute! Wishing you a great new year ahead. cheers.
Thanks, hoe you have a fantastic new year lined up as well!
Great photo of the church.The market looks exciting.Merry Christmas to you and your family 😀
It looked pretty stunning with the sun shining on the white church. Hope you had a good time with your family as well!
Looks like a great place to walk through! Love it!
Quite a lot of nice things to see 🙂
I’m guessing Santa is really busy in the morning? 🙂
The markets look great, I wet to the one here yesterday (must blog). The church looks beautiful, really beautiful!
Look forward to seeing an Italian Christmas market!