Finnish Easter starts a week early. On Palm Sunday, kids dress up as Easter witches in headscarves and painted freckles, carry willow twigs tied with feathers, and go door to door reciting a blessing for candy. Good Friday and Easter Monday make a long weekend, so there are days to fill. Here's what we checked, from Easter Island at Korkeasaari Zoo to the daffodils at the Winter Garden.
Pääsiäissaari is Korkeasaari Zoo's spring Easter event, a family day out on Helsinki's animal island. Kids spend it outdoors spotting the zoo's residents, discovering the nature around them and working through animal tasks.
Several activity points are set up around the zoo, and guides host animal feedings.
Haltiala Farm is a working farm with pastures along the river, reopened in June 2026 under new owners. The petting zoo keeps native Finncattle, Finnsheep, Finngoats and Finnish Landrace chickens, plus alpacas, ponies and summer pigs.
Paid extras include pony rides, a pedal car track, 18-hole minigolf, a trampoline park, a treasure hunt and electric ATVs for kids. A café, pizzeria, waffle shack and burger truck share the courtyard.
Fallkulla is a city-run farm on the northern edge of Malmi where families can meet traditional domestic animals: sheep, goats, cattle, hens, rabbits and horses. There is a riding arena next to the horse paddocks, and the farm has its own café, Kahvila Kilikuppila.
Helsinki's youth services run the farm, so older kids can come back for hands-on animal-care sessions, courses, small groups and camps.
The Winter Garden is a glasshouse of more than 200 plants, open to the public since 1893. Three rooms hold a cactus and succulent collection, palms with a camellia tree over 130 years old, and a Western Wing with seasonal flowers and tables.
Visitor favorites include the carp in the Palm Room fountain and the carnivorous plants in a display case. A fenced Rose Garden sits out front.
A botanic garden of the University of Helsinki, here since 1829. Its 10 greenhouses run from desert to rainforest to tropical wetland, with giant Santa Cruz water lilies, banana trees, flowering cacti and carnivorous plants. In the Palm House, a path through plant evolution leads to the world's biggest seed.
The outdoor garden has ponds, a garden of the senses to smell and touch, and Finland's first rock garden.
Children's Town is the Helsinki City Museum's hands-on exhibition for young kids, set in Sederholm House, the oldest house in the city (built 1757). Kids climb into a horse-drawn carriage, take the wheel of a ship, play shop in an 18th-century store and sit in a 1930s classroom. Everything on display may be touched. Grandma's House shows 1970s everyday life, and toddlers get a marine play and reading corner.
A tram depot from 1900 holds six historic tram cars, including a horse-drawn car complete with its horse. Kids can take the driver's seat in the Sisulaattori simulator, built inside a tram that ran from 1941 to 1979, and travel through wartime, Olympic and 1970s Helsinki on film and sound. A play map of the city lets them drive toy vehicles, and an old validator lets them stamp tickets.
Uunisaari is a small island just off Kaivopuisto, made of two islets joined by a wooden bridge. Its sandy-bottomed public beach has a playground, changing room, toilets and showers, with a fire pit and picnic table nearby.
Sand roads loop the island, and a walking path leads across to neighboring Liuskasaari. A restaurant, a seasonal café and two seaside saunas sit by the shore.
Finnish Easter starts a week early. On Palm Sunday, kids dress up as Easter witches in headscarves and painted freckles, carry willow twigs tied with feathers, and go door to door reciting a blessing for candy. Good Friday and Easter Monday make a long weekend, so there are days to fill. Here's what we checked, from Easter Island at Korkeasaari Zoo to the daffodils at the Winter Garden.
Pääsiäissaari is Korkeasaari Zoo's spring Easter event, a family day out on Helsinki's animal island. Kids spend it outdoors spotting the zoo's residents, discovering the nature around them and working through animal tasks.
Several activity points are set up around the zoo, and guides host animal feedings.
Haltiala Farm is a working farm with pastures along the river, reopened in June 2026 under new owners. The petting zoo keeps native Finncattle, Finnsheep, Finngoats and Finnish Landrace chickens, plus alpacas, ponies and summer pigs.
Paid extras include pony rides, a pedal car track, 18-hole minigolf, a trampoline park, a treasure hunt and electric ATVs for kids. A café, pizzeria, waffle shack and burger truck share the courtyard.
Fallkulla is a city-run farm on the northern edge of Malmi where families can meet traditional domestic animals: sheep, goats, cattle, hens, rabbits and horses. There is a riding arena next to the horse paddocks, and the farm has its own café, Kahvila Kilikuppila.
Helsinki's youth services run the farm, so older kids can come back for hands-on animal-care sessions, courses, small groups and camps.
The Winter Garden is a glasshouse of more than 200 plants, open to the public since 1893. Three rooms hold a cactus and succulent collection, palms with a camellia tree over 130 years old, and a Western Wing with seasonal flowers and tables.
Visitor favorites include the carp in the Palm Room fountain and the carnivorous plants in a display case. A fenced Rose Garden sits out front.
A botanic garden of the University of Helsinki, here since 1829. Its 10 greenhouses run from desert to rainforest to tropical wetland, with giant Santa Cruz water lilies, banana trees, flowering cacti and carnivorous plants. In the Palm House, a path through plant evolution leads to the world's biggest seed.
The outdoor garden has ponds, a garden of the senses to smell and touch, and Finland's first rock garden.
Children's Town is the Helsinki City Museum's hands-on exhibition for young kids, set in Sederholm House, the oldest house in the city (built 1757). Kids climb into a horse-drawn carriage, take the wheel of a ship, play shop in an 18th-century store and sit in a 1930s classroom. Everything on display may be touched. Grandma's House shows 1970s everyday life, and toddlers get a marine play and reading corner.
A tram depot from 1900 holds six historic tram cars, including a horse-drawn car complete with its horse. Kids can take the driver's seat in the Sisulaattori simulator, built inside a tram that ran from 1941 to 1979, and travel through wartime, Olympic and 1970s Helsinki on film and sound. A play map of the city lets them drive toy vehicles, and an old validator lets them stamp tickets.
Uunisaari is a small island just off Kaivopuisto, made of two islets joined by a wooden bridge. Its sandy-bottomed public beach has a playground, changing room, toilets and showers, with a fire pit and picnic table nearby.
Sand roads loop the island, and a walking path leads across to neighboring Liuskasaari. A restaurant, a seasonal café and two seaside saunas sit by the shore.
