5 Reasons Helsinki is the best
Why I love this city so much
Helsinki is one of the coolest places to live, in my humble opinion. But just stating that isn’t enough. That’s why I want to give you five solid reasons (in no particular order) why I love this place so much—despite the extreme cold and dark of winter.
1. Clean and Delicious Tap Water
Water is life. We can’t survive very long without it. For most places in the West, the primary way of getting water is through the tap—or buying bottled water. The reason why people still buy bottled water in certain countries—despite having access to tap water—is because it doesn’t taste very good. You might as well drink chlorine straight out of the bottle, and it might taste a little better. (That was a joke. Please don’t do that.)
Drinking tap water here is a privilege. It’s crisp, cold, and doesn’t taste like absolute garbage. In fact, Finnish tap water is among the purest in the world. It’s hard to describe without having something to compare it to. I had a come-to-Jesus moment when I was in Berlin in 2021.
A friend hosted me for a couple of days, and it was my first time in Germany. There was a particular moment when I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. I didn’t think much of it. It was an action I repeated daily in Helsinki. Then I took a sip. My body acted without my consent and spat out the water straight away. It was horrendous. The aftertaste is better left in my memory.
All that to say: I have clearly been spoiled with how good the tap water is here. But why is it so good? The secret behind the quality lies in the country's natural resources. Finland has thousands of lakes and a vast network of groundwater sources, which provide the basis for tap water production. This country has strict water protection policies and regulations that make sure the water stays pure throughout the whole process. Unlike in many other countries, Finnish tap water is chlorinated only as a precautionary measure to prevent bacteria growth in the pipes. This means that the tap water actually tastes amazing. You’re not constantly tasting chlorine, which is more than I can say for a lot of other places.
People happily drinking water out of the tap has the unintended consequence of reducing the amount of bottled water being bought. Why buy bottled water when you can just fill a reusable bottle with tap water that is—at the very least—as good and probably better? This means that there are fewer plastic bottles being thrown on the floor.
2. Impeccable Cleanliness
This place is so clean. I have a bunch of bottles that I need to recycle. Do you want to know what’s cool about my recycling adventure? I get paid to do it. Empty cans and all kinds of bottles (especially alcoholic ones) have a price tag attached to them. Gather enough of these at a festival, music event, or party, and you could make an absolute killing. Which is what people do. At big outdoor events, you will always find someone walking around with a bag, picking up empty cans and bottles, which are then taken to a machine housed in many grocery stores. At the right event, some of these folks could feasibly make hundreds of euros in a few hours.
So you finished drinking a Red Bull? Instead of throwing it in the trash, you recycle it yourself or just leave it near the trash can. Someone will pick it up. It's free money, it keeps the streets clean, and someone else’s pocket a little less empty. That genuinely blew my mind when I first arrived.
Couple that with incredible waste management, a general sense of environmental awareness, plenty of green spaces, low population density, and efficient public services like street cleaning—and you get one of the best managed and cleanest cities out there.
3. Abundant Nature
Since we’re talking about aesthetics, we can’t mention how great this place looks without bringing up nature. I’ve spent the majority of my life over the last five years in this city. In all of that time, I have never felt disconnected from nature. You can walk almost anywhere and you will inadvertently stumble across some kind of park, trees, garden, or protected green space—you name it. Once you leave the city, all you’ll see are forests. The amount of greenery all around plays an important role in making the city feel natural and organic; as though the buildings themselves grew out of the ground.
Several aspects are at play here. One of them is the fact that Finnish culture is very much in awe of nature. It values nature and natural resources. Going ice swimming, walking out into the forest, and hunting are very much part of the culture. Someone once went so far as to tell me that they don’t even flavor their food with any spices—except salt—because they only want to taste the natural flavor in the food. But yeah, we’ll agree to disagree on that one.
Something else to consider is the natural geography of this country. There are thousands of lakes and an unending sea of forests. Helsinki also has some really strict environmental policies to protect natural habitats and biodiversity. I mentioned it earlier, but a lower population density also puts a limit on how much the city can sprawl and how quickly. There’s way more to all of this, but the point is that you can be in the city and still find places to be lost in nature—which is such a pleasure.
4. Efficient Public Transport
Can we even talk about how cool the city is without mentioning public transport? I have been absolutely spoiled by how efficient, clean, and reliable the public transport is. I don’t think I’ll ever need a car if my life remains in the city. There is almost nowhere I can’t get to, both short-distance and long-distance. Creating an efficient transport network plays a big part in making city life a dream or a nightmare. Some places do it terribly. I remember being in LA a couple of years ago. I was completely fed up with the public transport. It was so unreliable in certain areas. It was almost always better to have your own car or to call a taxi service like Uber.
Helsinki not being a sprawling metropolis makes it much easier to build transport routes that make sense. Depending on where you’re going and what time, you can take a bus, metro, tram, or train. If you’re a little extra and it’s not winter, you can take one of those scooters, walk, or cycle. I find the pricing for public transport to be quite reasonable. I just pay for the monthly ticket, which makes it very convenient—allowing me to take whatever I want, when I want it. The transport feels smoother and more efficient than in other cities like Stockholm. Within the city, it’s not often I have to wait longer than 10 minutes for a bus. Even that is a bit much.
5. Safety
As great as public transport is, it wouldn’t mean much if the city itself was unsafe. I’m 32 years old as of filming this, so I’m still pretty young. However, the older I’ve gotten, the more I have started valuing safety and security over a lot of things. I like taking risks. Heck, moving to this country was a massive risk. But my bodily safety is not something I like to gamble on. For a long time living in South Africa, growing a pair of eyes on the back of my head was normal. I have been robbed at knifepoint on multiple occasions. I looked at most people with a tiny bit of suspicion. Walking down the street at night was a nightmare. It’s strange thinking about it now because life is so different. But I do recall the hyper-awareness. I wouldn’t even walk with my phone out in certain areas. As amazing and as beautiful as South Africa is, there is no denying that crime drastically reduces the quality of life.
It was only when I moved here that I realized what a difference feeling safe makes to your life. My first experience of that was about three months into living in Helsinki. I went to a bar/club for the evening. But it was only the next day that I realized my wallet was no longer in my pocket. Luckily, I’ve got actual footage of myself talking about it. I’ve had many more experiences like this since then. I even once forgot my laptop on a bus, and it still came back to me.
I know I talk positively about Finland most of the time, but there is good reason for it. There is so much good here worth protecting and celebrating. Like any other place, it’s not perfect. But there’s so much negativity in the world, and people are drawn to it. News sells best when it’s terrible. But living here has taught me the skill of hyper-focusing on the good. Any random person can find something to complain about. People do it all the time. That’s why their lives always go from one bad year to another. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with pointing out an issue. That is how things get better. But I’m personally done with looking at the glass as half empty. There is so much to be grateful for in life. Existence itself is a mystery and an unfathomable gift. My gratitude goes far beyond living in Helsinki, but living here gives me a lot to be grateful for.
Thank you for reading! Here is the link to the Youtube video