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As Ilmari commented, the recent NY Times travel blog post by "frugaltraveler" is very good. It even mentions my favorite bar, Pub Magneetti. I like his other recommendations too: free concerts & somewhat hippie atmosphere at Alppipuisto; public sauna in Kallio; berry-picking). Some more ideas below. Many of these may not be "only in Helsinki" things, ...

From the airport to the city center you can go by: taxi (quite expensive) bus (takes 35 minutes) In both cases, having to wait 5 hours you'll have plenty of time for a quick visit of the city center. From the train station (nice building) the senate square (with the Luteran cathedral and the university), the Esplanade and the market square are all within ...

I can at least answer the question for Suomenlinna. Take the ferry over there which takes approximately 15 minutes and leaves quite regularly from Helsinki's city center (Market Square). Then it really depends on your taste. You can easily spend a whole day on Suomenlinna. There are bars where you can get a drink, very tasty restaurants, some museums and ...

Helsinki (and Finland itself) has been characterized by a number wild, free-spirited innovators. Two main sites illustrate this point: One is the so-called rock church. It was built at the location of a huge rock that no one thought could be moved. The architects were laughed at for "trying." But they didn't MOVE the rock, they carved the church out of the ...

First of all let me say I am not from Helsinki, or even a Fin myself. But I have visited several times. You mention local people places, here's a Google map I made with some marked spots. The fortress island to the south is not a place where locals venture much. But I thought I'd still point it out. If you're interested in that sort of thing it might suit ...

I wrote a blog post about my trip to Suomelinna - it's doable as a half day trip, if you want, but you could also take a picnic and enjoy the grassy areas if it's nice and sunny (beware, it was freezing with an off-shore breeze in summer when I was there). The boat takes 15-20 minutes including boarding. Wikitravel has several guides for Helsinki - ...

Seurasaari is quite similar to Suomenlinna, only smaller. A straight circuit of the island on foot takes about an hour, but there are plenty of interesting old buildings to poke your nose into (most free, a few not), a couple of nice rustic cafes and even two nudist beaches (one for men, one for women), so it's easy to spend half a day here as well. Most ...