Gardenia is a lovely green indoor oasis on the university campus in Viikki, a bit like the winter gardens. We went to Gardenia on Sunday 23rd November due to the Christmas sales they had. Our children had fun running on paths between the plants and watching the fish, the Christmas sales was a bit of a disappointment for me because I was hoping to buy delicious home made bread and sweets for the freezer but they mainly sold knitted socks. Due to the event we got to make ornaments for the Christmas tree though, which our kids loved.
Upon entering Gardenia, there is a small cafe serving lunch. The salmon soup on the menu when we passed the cafe smelled delicious but as we hadn’t anticipated a served lunch, we went on to enjoy a home cooked meal á la husbands.
Gardenia made a good excuse for some variation in catching up with friends and the setting was lovely. However, I was surprised to find out that the entrance normally costs 4e for an adult and 2e for a child (due to the event, there was no entrance fee this time). However, the rumour is that Gardenia will be closed soon, so even though their webpage didn’t mention this, you may want to hurry to be able to visit it while it is still there. Please find open hours and other information on their homepage.
Free But Fun 
Always sad when places close down like that. Any notes as to what will replace it?
couldn’t find any information on their website but surely there’ll be something as that’s where the uni students train, and the atudy programme is going strong!
Aha. Well that’s good to know, anyway.
Glad you got to visit just in case it closes – and I’m glad they kids got to make something – that’s right up their alley!
Thanks!