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Happy Guide Helsinki

Happy Guide Helsinki

Happy Guide Helsinki
5
About
Happy Guide Helsinki offers guided activities in Helsinki and Southern Finland. We have daily options the whole year around. What is common for all of them they are offered the sunny and sustainable way :) We have city and themed walking tours, bicycle tours and we show you the real Helsinki how we locals live and love it: enjoying the effective and eco-friendly public transport network of Helsinki. You can join us for public tours from Free Walking Tour weekends to daily tram and bike tours to private guide services. For everything there is a sustainable tour solution!
Helsinki, Finland

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

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5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles353 reviews
Excellent
298
Very good
36
Average
14
Poor
4
Terrible
1

Hanna P
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2023 • Couples
My husband and I recently booked a food walking tour in Helsinki with Happy Guide Helsinki and had a wonderful time! Karri was an amazing guide and educated us on Finland’s history and culture as we sampled traditional foods. We even learned more about the Moomin characters which quickly became one of our favorite things about Finland. Karri was very responsive via email and answered all of my questions. He even met us at our hotel to start the tour. Thank you Karri!
Written 20 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ambassador770688
9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2024 • Friends
Last time we were in Helsinki, it was cold and rainy, so we didn't do anything. This time we scheduled a bike tour with Happy Guide Helsinki and what a difference in our perspective of Helsinki. Philipe did a really great job showing us the highlights of Helsinki! He provide a great overview/history. Also loved that he was constantly looking back to make sure everyone in our group was was doing okay. I've been on tours where the guide just takes off and doesn't look back - that makes for a bad experience. Philipe was a great guide - would definitely recommend him!
Written 19 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JDB1958
Watertown, NY148 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2014 • Couples
My wife and I went on the free tour today and it was easily within the top five tours we have been on in Europe in the past two years. What made it best was Karri--his knowledge of Finish history, little known facts and ideas, and knowledge of Helsinki--made it a wonderful experience. One of the highlights was that we were able to go inside a couple of the churches--the Greek Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral and The Kappi Chapel of Silence--something we have not done before on a Free Tour. Seeing both the traditional and modern sides of the city was great.

Hint: Sunday is a great day to visit Helsinki--the city does not shut down as many do in Europe and you can see and do many things including seeing the sights, shop, and also eat at the market for a reasonable price--we paid 15 Euro for lunch including the mixed fish platter with potatoes and mixed veggies. That is cheap in Helsinki!

Also, although the tour is free, don't forget to tip your guide, Karri, and be generous, folks; the tour is worth it.
Written 12 October 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jim B
72 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
I'm sure she is a lovely person but the Spanish tour guide girl should not be leading these tours. As nice as she is she did not welcome anyone to the group unless they went up to her , her facts were scarce and almost as though they were off Wikipedia and she was pointing to a building she had seen in a picture. No enthusiasm no stories or interesting culture just very bland. She had a microphone but was constantly facing away from the crowd so it was very hard to hear- we would have had a large group of 30-40 people so I understand this is tricky but no extra effort was made. Unfortunately We Had To Leave The Tour Mid Way As We Did Not Feel We Would Be Interested In The Second Half.
Written 23 May 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chris P
London, UK16 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2014 • Friends
We arrived in Helsinki and weren't sure if there was a free walking tour (a model which is popular in many other cities), so we went to the tourist office and asked - they said "we don't really do this in Helsinki". How wrong they were...

There is a free walking tour every Saturday and Sunday at midday - face the cathedral, go up the huge steps, and you'll see a person on one of the 'platforms' to the left side in a funny moose hat. This is where you'll find an excellent free tour!

(There may be another one at 11am on weekdays, but I think it's a different company and could start from a different location.)

We had Hanna on Sat 19th July 2014 who gave a top-notch tour and was able to answer almost all of our questions very easily, and with a fantastic sense of humour. The tour lasted three hours, with a ~15 minute break about halfway to buy things at the open market and use the free toilets and WiFi in the town hall.

I don't usually review these Free Walking Tours on TripAdvisor, because they tend to be extremely popular and well-known. This one was hard to find, but still attracted a crowd of twenty or so! This wasn't a problem though - Hanna had a microphone and small loudspeaker, and spoke loud enough anyway.

If you go on any of these free walking tours, and if you can afford to chip in to keep them running, then definitely do! Some tour guides in some places suggest 5-10€ per person if you can afford it, but as students, we tend to chip in 10€ for the three of us. This was well worth it.

(And apologies to our tour guide if I got her name wrong..!)
Written 24 July 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Roger C
Porto, Portugal37 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2015 • Couples
It was a miserable day in Helsinki. We booked a tour in advance for 20 Euros pp from the Cathedral steps, a shuttle bus took us to nearby from the Cruise Ship. Look for the happy Viking - and he was - red hair and a wispy red beard, just returned from a world visit himself. But he was home in his beloved home city. There were just 8 of us. You don't have to book but if the weather is nice, I'd recommend it. Anyway we 8 intrepid travellers braced ourselves for an ordeal - which turned out to be a delight. We went in the Church to get out of the rain and blessedly stopped half way round for a refreshing coffee and some fried herring in a market square tent and a loo in the town hall. Highlights were the Rock Church and the Silent Church. What tales we told when we returned to the ship - so many people opted out of seeing this fab city and its wonderful people. Well done Happy Helsinki for this slightly off-beat quirky walk. We loved it.
Written 29 June 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Leezz
London, UK96 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2016 • Couples
Did this free walking tour today. It started at the Senate Square right in front of the huge Lutheran Cathedral. Our guide was Valentina and she was very friendly and welcoming. The tour took us on a two and a half hour walk around the city with a ten minute break about half way. The half way point was in front of the City Hall building where we could use the rest rooms inside and grab something to drink/bite across the road at the markets (opposite the City Hall). The sites and attractions that we visited and she talked about included, the statue of Alexander II (in the Senate Square), the old harbour, army barracks, orthodox cathedral behind the army barracks, the street with the new art nouveau buildings, the silent chapel, the presidents palace, the lovers bridge, the forestry building near the harbour, the mermaid statue, the street with the five star hotel where Justin Beiber stayed (Hotel Kamp), the library of Helsinki (opposite the Lutheran Cathedral, the Tor Tower (with the roof top view - we didn't go up or in the hotel to view it though but you can, it's free to use the rest room), the statue with the poet who wrote the first draft of the national anthem in Swedish. We finished off the tour in Kamppi (the bus station). It was here at this last stop that she showed us and pointed out more attractions to visit like the music museum, the railway station, the Olympic stadium, the rock church, the national history museum etc. These are all very close to each other and quite good to pop in and check out if you have time at the end of the tour. I went to the Rock Church and it was well worth it! The reason I gave this tour a rating of three is because I didn't really absorb what she was saying and ended up coming back to the hotel to google more key information about the sites and key facts then it made more sense. Also, her microphone wasn't working and given the size of the group (30 plus) it would have been helpful but she did her best to accommodate everyone and did say to us to speak up if we couldn't hear her.
Written 20 March 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Emily A
Vienna, Austria24 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2013 • Solo
It was my lucky day: by happenstance, I had a private bike tour with Happy Tours on a beautiful spring day....plus, it was Vappu Day - a festive national holiday - so everyone was out and about. This is a MUST for anyone traveling to Helsinki. My amazing guides were so friendly and knowledgeable, and I felt safe and comfortable (I'm not a huge biker) the entire time. A perfect way to spend time with new friends, learn a little Finnish history, and see a beautiful city! The highlight of my trip.
Written 6 May 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Akaasha
Amsterdam, The Netherlands1,088 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2017 • Couples
Firstly let me say the tour was not bad. It was not the worst, but nor was it one of the better ones we have had. For us and for what we felt Helsinki had to offer we felt that perhaps it dragged on just a little too long. The tour was conducted in two loops, one being of the old city area and the second being of the newer area. The second we thought was not really that interesting and felt it didn’t really add a great deal to the overall experience. We would have been happy to pay the same as we did and skip that last part.

Our main disappointment with the tour was that it was not really that engaging. We felt the guide had just started or was being trained (there was another guide always with the group and appeared to be evaluating our guide). So I guess due to lack of experience and potentially nervousness the level of fun and engagement was not there. The facts were also not ones that you could in some cases really say were relevant and in fact most of the details you’d probably find on the first page of a Google search – so no interesting and unusual facts to differentiate the tour.

All in all okay, but we probably would not choose to go on this tour again.
Written 28 April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mathilde H
15 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2016 • Solo
The following review has been written after a visit to Tallinn where the walking tour was exceptionally good and free of charge. The happy walking tour Helsinki wasn't bad but just paled in comparison. Firstly it cost 20 euros which I find a lot for a walk with a few facts. The tourguide said it'd take 2-3 hours and it was closer to three so they could have just said three hours but anyway! It takes you past some important sites and it's a nice way of getting to know the city. However the tour guide himself thought he was quite interesting and maybe he was but generally when I do a tour I prefer not to have to guess where my guide is from etc and would have preferred some fun facts about Helsinki. I didn't feel like the guide was an expert in the field but just learned some things by heart. Most questions he could not answer. It wasn't bad but you expect more when it's a 20 euro thing...! Also the tour did not end where it started which was a bit of an inconvenience. I'm not sure I'd recommend doing this to anyone. Perhaps it's better to do a walk with an app. I find it strange that there were no alternative walking tours to be found, surely some University students would be good at it and benefit from it...!
Written 13 August 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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