A walk around Töölölahti Bay

Töölölahti Bay and its surroundings are one of Helsinki's most distinctive attractions, and there is much to interest the photographer. It's only a short walk north of the city centre. Until you reach the railway bridge just outside the central station it seems like a lake - then it's apparent that it's really an inlet. Walking and jogging round the bay is a popular activity: beginning from near the Alvar Aalto designed Finlandia Hall www.finlandiatalo.fi overlooking the bay there's an extensive network of paths fringed by silver birches and (unexpectedly) outcrops of rock. Nordic walking poles are much in evidence. It's a pleasant place for a stroll on afine autumn day.

Setting off anticlockwise you soon cross the railway bridge (a chance to watch the constant procession of red and white trains entering and leaving Helsinki) and reach the beautiful ornate wooden villas of Linnunlaulu set on a rocky rise above the eastern banks of the bay - and a fine viewpoint. An art park was created around the bay as part of Helsinki's celebration of European Cty of Culture in 2000.



I carried on walking to the east of the railway tracks and down along the edge of the Elantarharlahti bay towards Kallio Berghall and the shops and market at Hakaneimi, but follow the Linnunlaulu houses to the Helsinginkatu and return past the Finnish National Opera House www.opera.fi or continu further to take a look at the Olympic Stadium (the Games were held in 1952). The stadium's tower now houses a budget priced hostel for travellers.

Not far away you may come across the welcoming and well stocked Arkadia Oy bookshop on Pohjonen Hesperiankatu, a fine place to stop off on the way, maybe, to the Sibelius Monument among the silver birchesa and perched on a rocky outcrop looking westwards across the bay towards Seurasaari island.