We would like to think that in 2025 that all or at least the majority of the big cities we visit have, in some capacity, taken into consideration ways in which they can be made more friendly for people with physical disabilities or people with have trouble with mobility. But have they? Well to find out, I was given the opportunity by my college to go on an Erasmus+ mobility for two weeks to Helsinki, Finland to see what their attitude was towards persons with disabilities. And due to my additional needs as a wheelchair user, I brought my family too! Are the Finnish a friend or a foe to the disabled community? In this blog I will give you my full, unfiltered opinion on the accessibility throughout Helsinki, so no matter your physical challenges you will also be able to visit this beautiful historical city.
Accomodation: Sunset apartments, Espoo
Because I was in the unique position of bringing my family along with me on my Erasmus to Helsinki, we were granted full use of the accommodation budget for the trip. So with this in mind, my parents started searching for apartments in Helsinki on Airbnb.com and Booking.com. Looking for suitable accommodation in Helsinki proved to be a little more difficult than we imagined. The apartments were either not that accessible or way over our budget. But eventually, they come across a beautiful apartment in the neighbouring city of Espoo. It was about a 20 minute drive from Helsinki, but that wasn’t really an issue as we had rented a car so we had the freedom to go wherever we wanted.
The apartment was on the 15th floor and the door was located right beside the lifts, so we had easy access in and out of the building. And there was a lidl right outside the apartment. No seriously, you could throw a stone out the window of the apartment and you’d hit the roof of it. It was right outside. The apartment itself was very modern with a double and a twin bedroom, a decent bathroom and shower and a sizeable living area come kitchen. The kitchen was white with granite work tops and has a big dining table. The living area had a smart tv and a three-person sofa. Which was unfortunate considering there was four of us, but what can you do?
Central Library and Helsinki Cathedral
For day one of our two-week tour around Helsinki, we visited Helsinki Central Library and Helsinki Cathedral. Let’s talk about that first one first, shall we? Helsinki Central Library Oodi is a living meeting place at Kansalaistori square, right at the heart of Helsinki. It is one of 38 branches of Helsinki City Library and part of the Helmet library network.
Oodi complements the cultural and media hub formed by Helsinki Music Centre, Finlandia Hall, Sanoma House and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma. Oodi is a non-commercial, urban public space that is open to all, right opposite the Parliament Building.
When we first arrived at the central library, I was blown away by the sheer size of it and the surrounding area. On approach, the library stands out as this HUGE, modern, wood clad work of art looking out onto an expansive and picturesque sports and athletics area. Near this there was a big sign bearing the city name on it surrounded by tourists taking their photos. So OBVIOUSLY I just had to do the same!
When we got inside, we were greeted with a modern, clean foyer that ran the entire length of the front of the building. When I looked up, I noticed that the wooden clad design was continued onto the interior ceiling. The whole place looked like a work of art. The modern feeling was continued when we looked around surprised to see robot bookshelves roaming freely around the building. Very Sci-fi indeed! In terms of its accessibility for persons with disabilities, I would give the Central Library Helsinki a solid 9/10. Overall, it is a very wheelchair friendly, modern building, with lifts, indoor ramps and smooth, unobstructed floors. One thing I would say is that it did have a small lip on the frame of the front door, which if you’re not paying attention could easily have you faceplanting on entry of the building! This very nearly happened to me! The feeling was um… unpleasant to say the least. Also, we found that the toilets could only be accessed by the lift, which I was little bit annoying considering it being such a modern building. They should really be on the ground floor so you’re not going up and down lifts constantly.
Later in the day as we made our way down to the Helsinki Cathedral, that’s where I think that the cracks started to show in this beautiful city. And not only because of the weather, which by the time we left the library had turned from sunshine to on and off showers.
But aside from the out of hand issue of the weather, we also had to deal with the OTHER issue that was out of our hands in this old city. The minefield of cobble stones! Its every wheelchair user’s nightmare. Uneven, bumpy cobbled roads. And in Helsinki there’s definitely plenty of them. Especially in the older parts of the city. On the short journey over to the cathedral I had to tread very carefully so as to try not to face plant for the SECOND time in the day! And know its really hard for city councils to just change a big part of what gives the city its identity, but I also don’t think having the alternative of using the parallel cycle lanes is a good idea either. I did do this on occasion. Which is fine, until you come across the OTHER occupants of the cycle lanes. The CYCLISTS themselves! They zoom by doing a million miles an hour with the only warning of their passing being a “ding-ding” from their bell.
As for the cathedral itself, it was this beautiful old building on a hill with steps wrapping the whole way around it. And at the front of the building there was huge ramp made of wood that was probably about fifteen foot in width and about thirty foot in length. It didn’t have any hand rails on it though, so for elderly people and people who have balance issues that could be an issue. Ironically though, even with that ramp there we could only surpass the first set of steps. We still couldn’t get inside the cathedral via the front door. So we had to ask people who were manning the door for assistance. In fairness they were very nice and they told us that there was another entrance up the street. But this entrance was badly signed with the only way of knowing where to go was a partially faded sign that was no bigger than the span of my hand which depicted a wheelchair. I’ll be honest, I was not impressed with that at all, because the sign can be easily missed.
When inside the cathedral, we were greeted with this beautiful baby blue coloured interior with two huge chandeliers hanging at each end of the cathedral. There were small golden accents everywhere and a beautiful organ up high at the back of the church. It was truly a beautiful building to be in.
On a lower floor of the cathedral, there was an exhibition of crosses in remembrance of the many fallen victims of the war in Ukraine. It all came about when a Ukrainian blacksmith by the name of Serhii Polubotko received a beautifully forged cross from his Slovakian blacksmith friend, Daniel Miclos. It arrived with a humanitarian shipment addressed to the Ukrainian army.
The cross bore the text: For peace and hope for Ukraine. Serhii Polubotko’s response was to assemble a museum collection of crosses in memory of the victims of the war. This then started a global appeal to blacksmiths under the working name #WithLovetoUkraine. Blacksmiths were asked to make a cross consisting of steel combined with copper, brass, or bronze and which is no more than 500mm high. The appeal led to a campaign that resulted in over 200 crosses from 27 countries. The first exhibition was held in Norway in the summer of 2023, after which it has toured around Europe. The exhibition in the crypt of Helsinki Cathedral is the eleventh in order.
Also on the lower floor of the cathedral, we found the disabled toilet. But when we went up to it, we saw a sign (a very visible sign this time, might I add) that said “WC: €2”. The cheek! I think I’d rather have kept my legs crossed, thanks. So how would I rate the Helsinki Cathedral out of 10? I think the most I can give this building is a 6. And that’s probably being a little generous. Yes, there was a lift down to the crypt. And yes, there was a ramp at the front. But it didn’t have a handrail and didn’t go up all the stairs.
Photographic Studio, Food Market, Boat tour, Esplanade Park
On day two of the trip, we went to a photographic studio in the city, we visited Esplande Park and we took a boat tour around the area. Our first port of call was the Hippolyte Photographic Gallery to meet with the arts and graphic design students who were also on the trip. We were advised to park outside a nearby courthouse as it had disabled parking spaces. But we found out when we go there the courthouse was a good 20 minutes from the gallery. But it was no trouble getting to it as unlike in the centre of Helsinki, the footpaths were smooth and easy to navigate. On arrival at the gallery, we found there to be no disabled access into the building. So we had to go in a door around the back which has lots of steps up to it, so I had to have my parents help me in. Once inside we met up with the other students who were in the middle of a talk from the gallery staff. Like the outside of the gallery, the inside wasn’t wheelchair friendly as there were steps up & down into the different areas. But in all honesty, I didn’t really mind because I kind of found the gallery to be a bit boring. I’m not that interested in art and painting, so I couldn’t really appreciate the art for what it was. So with that in mind, I don’t think I could give the Hippolyte Photographic Gallery a high score for accessibility. A one maybe. A two if I was being REALLY kind. But I’m not going any higher than that.
Later that day we went into Esplanade Park to see what it was like. The park is characterized by an architectonic style with its straight tree-lined alleys and flowerbeds. The rows of linden trees on either side of the park create a hall-like space. At the Market Square end of the park lies one of the most historic restaurants in Helsinki, Kappeli, built in 1867 and designed by architect Hampus Dahlström (1829-1882). Opposite Kappeli is Espa Stage, which offers concerts all through summer, from the beginning of May to the end of August. On either side of the stage is a pool with sculptures by Viktor Jansson (1886-1958). “Water Nymphs” depicts a mermaid and child playing with a fish, and “Hey There” (“Hi”) depicts a small boy playing with a fish. Standing in the middle of the park is the statue of Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877), Finland’s national poet and author of the Finnish national anthem. Sculpted by the poet’s son, Walter Runeberg (1838-1920), it was the first public monument erected in Helsinki.
After our walk through the park we went to the harbour where there was a food a clothes market going on. There was all sorts of things being sold there. There was fruit and veg, jewellery, hats AND there were lots of places selling cooked Finnish traditional food. Mum and dad decided to try the local salmon, while my brother and I tried the reindeer hotdogs. And I’ll be honest… I wasn’t all that impressed. It just tasted like a hotdog sausage. I didn’t really think it was anything that special. It was nice, I was just expecting a bit more. After our food we noticed that there were boat tours going on around the area, so we collectively decided to see what was what. As we boarded the boat, we were met with a plush interior with dining tables and a bar area. I was thinking we were in the wrong place. It was SO posh! They had menu of very enticing sounding dishes followed by a alcoholic drinks menu. Unfortunately though we didn’t order anything. Though I was tempted by a cheeky G&T. We stayed on the boat for about an hour and a half taking in the sights. I would actually give the boat tour a solid 7 out of 10 for accessibility. The ramp on was a little bit difficult to navigate, because it I had to get down off the curb and straight onto the ramp which arched up and down onto the boat. But the toilet on board the boat was very clean and spacious.
Overall, it was a very good day. The park was beautiful and the market had so many stalls with food to try and buy, clothes to buy and a nice place on the harbour to have sit down. The boat tour was probably the best part of the day.
Moomin Museum and Spy Museum.
The Moomin museum, formerly Moominvally is a museum displaying illustrations by creator Tove Jansson. With about 2000 exhibits on display, there was certainly a lot to see there. The displays were all very cute and colourful and intricate. It was a very nice place to be. Although in saying that, I don’t think I was the right person to fully appreciated the art for what it was. In terms of the accessibility, I’d give it a 10 out of 10. There wasn’t really anything to complain about with the Moomin Museum. There were decent lifts, there were ramps around the interior of the building. It was all pretty good. I just wasn’t that interested in the actual story of the moomin. I did at least appreciate hearing how the family still owns the rights to the Moomin name after all these years and how popular they still were. Especially among younger audiences.
Spy Museum
The Spy Museum is the world’s first public museum of international espionage, located in Tampere, Finland. The museum was founded in 1998 by Teppo Turja. The museum is located in the centre of Tampere in the old Finlayson factory building, which has been converted into a cultural centre. The museum is visited by over 20 thousand people every year. Approximately half of the visitors are from outside Finland, particularly from Russia, the United States, Germany, France, Japan and the United Kingdom. The museum is privately owned. The basic installation, which covers espionage from a neutral point of view, concentrates on inspecting espionage through individual spies and the methods and tools they used. Many sorts of material is presented, for example nuclear power espionage from the time of the Cold War.
As for wheelchair accessibility, I’d give the spy museum an 8 out of 10. There’s not really that much to shout about in terms of the wheelchair accessibility of the spy museum. It didn’t really have anything wrong with it. It had decent lifts inside, but it was mostly on the one level anyway.
The Rock Church
The next place we went to was The Rock Church. Locally known as Temppeliaukio Church, this Lutheran church was designed by architects and brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and was opened in 1969. It got its name of “The Rock Church” because it was built directly into solid rock. Plans for the Temppeliaukio/Tempelplatsen (Temple square) began as early as the 1930s, when a plot of land was selected for the building and a competition for the design was held. The plan by J. S. Siren, the winner of the second competition to design the architecture of the church, was interrupted in its early stages when World War II began in 1939. After the war, there was another architectural competition, subsequently won by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen in 1961. For economic reasons, the suggested plan was scaled back and the interior space of the church then reduced to about one-quarter of its original design. Construction finally began in February 1968, and the rock-temple was completed for consecration in September 1969.
The interior was excavated and built directly out of solid rock and is bathed in natural light which enters through the skylight surrounding the center copper dome. The church is used frequently as a concert venue due to its excellent acoustics. The acoustic quality is created by the rough, virtually unworked rock surfaces. The iconic rock walls were not included in the original competition entry, even though the Suomalainen brothers had considered the idea, because they believed that it was too radical for the competition jury. But when conductor Paavo Berglund shared his knowledge of acoustics from some of the best music halls and the acoustical engineer Mauri Parjo gave requirements for the wall surfaces, the Suomalainen brothers discovered that they could fulfill all the requirements for the acoustics by leaving the rock walls exposed in the Church Hall. Temppeliaukio Church is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city; half a million people visit it annually. The stone-hewn church is located in the heart of Helsinki. Maintaining the original character of the square is the fundamental concept behind the building. The idiosyncratic choice of form has made it a favourite with professionals and aficionados of architecture.