Top Five Helsinki Sights

It was announced the other day we're doing Helsinki as our next destination in the Trippa Series.  Currently being produced, here is our run through of the top five sights from the capital of Finland

Suomenlinna

A sea fortress just off the coast of Helsinki is Suomenlinna, now a protected UNESCO world heritage site, it's one of Helsinki's most popular tourist attractions.  The island is full of seperate museums, cafes and places to stop for photos.  You can easily fill a day in summer visiting here, but not so much in winter.

Havis Amanda

This originally French statue was originally slated when it was unveiled, today though it is persistently voted as the most beautiful piece of artwork in Finland. Located in the center of Market square by the  Kauppatori tram station

Sibelius Monument

Located in Sibelius park, the Sibelius Monument is dedicated to Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius.  On display since 1967, the 6 m wide and 24 tonne heavy exhibit made from 600 steel pipes welded together draws in massive crowds every year.

Helsinki Cathedral

Helsinki Cathedral has gone through many name changes over the last 100 years but today the beautiful religious monument just off Senate Square is most commonly simply refered to as Helsinki Cathedral.  Opening hours vary with the seasons but admission is free.

Stadium Tower

Rather than being something to go see, our last in the list is something you would be more likely to see everything else from.  Helsinki's Olympic Stadium Tower is one of the best viewing spots for the whole city.  The 72 Meter high tower gives an excellent view across the landscape of the whole city, tickets cost €5 for adults and opening hours are until 20:00 weekdays, 18:00 weekends.

The last in our list provides you, instead of something to look at, but instead something to view the rest of Helsinki from.  The Olympic Stadium Tower provides the best viewing spot for viewing the landscape of the city from 72 meters in the air.

So there you have it, our top five favourite sights from the capital of Finland, Helsinki.  The app will be released in the early part of next year, following London which we are also busy on putting the finishing touches to.  If you're off on a little trip away then why not take a look at one of our other smart city guides like Trippa Cardiff, Trippa Berlin,Trippa Stockholm, Trippa Barcelona or Trippa Oslo.

What's on, London in December

It's December so time for another roundup of events happening over the next four weeks in another one of our favourite European cities. London is almost ready to be launched so here's what you should try making it along to in the English capital.

Spitalfields Winter Festival - 6th to 17th December 2013

Spread out across a variety of venues in the East London area, Spitalfields Winter Festival explores some excellent hidden corners. A broad range of music, opera and free events bring together local and global artists. Expect happenings in venues from Old Spitalfields Market, Shoreditch's Village Underground and many more.

For more information, take a look here.

Battersea Park Santa Dash - 7th December 2013

Quite literally a Santa Dash in Battersea Park on the 7th of December. Watch or take part as people dressed as Santa Claus run 6k from 10 am.

For more information, take a look here.

Christmas Chocolate Festival - 13th to 15th December 2013

For fans of anything Chocolate, this festival in the Southbank Centre is the perfect place to get some festive treats in time for the big day.  It’s not just shopping from top destinations as L'Artisan du Chocolat, The Chocolatier, Hotel Chocolat, Rococo Chocolates and Choco Passion. You will also have the opportunity to create your perfect chocolate bar with a little help from ChocoMe, learn how to make salted caramel pecan brownies with Rachels' Kitchen and much more from the variety of workshops throughout the weekend.

For more information take a look here.

Midnight Mass at St Paul’s Cathedral - 24th December 2013

On Christmas Eve every year, St Pauls Cathedral comes to life as the Choir of St Paul's is joined by Barbican Brass for an evening of carols by candlight

New Years Eve Fireworks - 31st December 2013

The fireworks display in front of the London Eye is probably the best display the UK has to offer all year (apart from maybe bonfire night) The best views are from Victoria Embankment, the South Bank, and Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Bridge, make sure you arrive early though as space is limited and thousands of people will be trying to cram into the space.

So there are our picks for December in London, our guide for the capital is due for launch any time now so keep your eyes peeled.  You may also be interested in Trippa Cardiff, Trippa Berlin, Trippa Stockholm, Trippa Barcelona or Trippa Oslo.

London's Top Five Hotels

The guide we're currently working on is for the capital of the England, London.  A few weeks ago we published a list of London’s top five sights.  Well today here is a list of our top five favourite hotels in London

The Hoxton

Possibly London's coolest hotel, the Hoxton in Shoreditch just screams cool in every way.  Mismatched furniture in the foyer, an American style grill on the ground floor and seven concept rooms with names like 'The Hoxton Cabin' make this a fantastic place to stay.

The Ampersand

 Probably the best hotel for anyone wanting to visit London's museums, the Ampersand is a 111 room hotel with inspiration for the styling taken from the V&A, Science Museum, Natural History Museum and the Royal Albert Hall, all of which are in immediate vicinity to the hotel.

The Fox and Anchor

The Fox and Anchor looks like a pretty plain, standard London pub.  Nothing about the building would make you think that inside there are six individually styled hotel rooms.  Each room is named after a local landmark and styled to reflect the history of the place.

The Zetter

The Zetter is a cool, quirky boutqiue hotel in the Clarkenwell district of London.  Everything is all about contrasting styles in a theme which could probably be called modern-vintage.  If you can then get a rooftop suite for a panoramic view of London and a massive TV

Metropolitan by COMO

The COMO Metropolitan hotel is a stylish boutique hotel in Mayfair.  It boats the best views of Hyde Park of any modern hotel.  The staff at the hotel are always happy to help, just ask at reception and anyone behind the desk will be able to put a package together for you.

That's our favourite five hotels in London.  All of which can be found in the soon to be released Trippa London guide, keep your eyes out for a launch date.  Our other guides include Trippa Seville, Trippa Berlin, Trippa Barcelona, Trippa Stockholm, Trippa Oslo and Trippa Cardiff 

Oslo International Film Festival

Oslo is a city we've not taken a look at for a while for no real reason actually, but this week marks the start of the Oslo International Film Festival, an annual event showcasing the best indipendent films that the world has to offer. We looked at the Reykjavik International Film Festival not that long ago, the Oslo event is a much smaller affair but still just as interesting for any film buffs out there.

The OIFF starts on the 20th of November with psychological thriller 'Tom at the Farm', it premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the award for the best film at the whole thing. The following four days are full of a wide selection of feature length films, short films and three documentaries which will be shown in two locations in Oslo.

A wide variety of Genres are on offer, ranging from the dark journey of discovery from Dirty Young Loose, a heartwarming and touching story about a group of developers in the 80's in Computer Chess and a fast paced violence comedy called Why Don't You Play In Hell? Almost all of the films are being shown with English subtitles but some are being shown with Norwegian. Check when buying tickets to avoid any confusion.

The festival is taking place in Filmens Hus in Tancred and Lillebil. To see a full selection of films on offer take a look at the OIFF website. Tickets for each of the screenings can be bought from Filmweb or Cinemathique. If tickets have sold out then turn up to the cinema and you may be lucky in getting a space if someone else has cancelled or just hasn't turned up.

If you are visiting Oslo for the International Film Festival or just happen to be in the Norwegian capital over the coming weeks, then make sure you download the best free Oslo travel guide for iPhone.  It’s free of charge and features the best sights, hotels, restaurants and shops that Oslo has to offer.

Alexander Rodchenko: Reykjavik Art Museum

We've not taken a look at Reykjavik for a while, but now it's time we went back there I think to take a look at one of the exhibitions that is appearing in the fantastic Reykjavik Art Museum. November is an excellent time to visit the most northerly city in the world, made even more interesting this year by this exhibit being on.

We're taking a look at Alexander Rodchenko - Revolution in Photography, the exhibit which has traveled the world and even stopped off at the Southbank center for a while, but now is in Reykjavik.

The exhibition looks back at the work of Alexander Rodchenko, one of the most important and influential artists of the early 20th Century.

Reykjavik Art museum are proud to be hosting this exhibition, which should appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in art, political history, photography or graphic art. All of the pieces being shown at the exhibition are from the collection of the Moscow House of Photography Museum/ Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow.

If you're not aware of the life and works of Alexander Rodchenko - born in St. Petersburg in 1891, he worked as an artists and designer from 1915. Utilising multiple forms of media, he started out his career as a painter and scultop, before moving onto photography in 1925. He was a pioneer of photography and graphic design, designing book covers, adverts, and posters in collaboration with Varvara Stephanova, his wife and closest colleague.

Rodchenko's art is linked closely with the changing Russian Society of the time. Industrialisation and the Russian Revolution were both taking place.

The exhibition has been running for a month already and will continue to run until the 12th of January. Visit on the 17th of November though at 15:00 to hear Benedikt Hjartarson, an assistant professor at the University of Iceland, discuss the works of Rodchenko in more detail.

Entry to the museum costs 1,200 ISK, opening hours are 10:00 - 17:00 Daily.

Our guide to Reykjavik can be downloaded today free of charge through the iTunes store.

What's On, November in Stockholm

November is here, so we're taking a look at the best things to get up to Stockholm, the capital of Scandinavia and quite possibly the coolest city in the world.

November 6th - 17th; Stockholm International Film Festival

Watch some 170 films at Stockholm’s annual International Film Festival.  There will be a range of films, from Hollywood blockbusters to low budget independent releases, making sure that there is almost certainly something for everyone over the 12 days that the international film festival is running.  Tickets for any of the screenings requires a membership card has to be bought for 220 SEK which will grant you access to 12 free screenings, then individual showings have to be bought separately. If you would like to see more information about the festival, a full run down of everything that is going on and to buy tickets and your membership card then follow the link at the top of this page.

November 23rd - Christmas; Christmas Markets

Anyone who's prepared will be thinking about getting their Christmas shopping done now, those people who obviously don't enjoy the rush of last minute queues and fighting knee over elbow to get theior hands on the last box of reduced roses will probably love a good Christmas market.  Germany is known for being the best place to go for a good Christmas market, but Stockholm can certainly hold it's own in the shopping area.  These are our three favourite across the cities islands

Gamla Stan Market - Open since 1915, this market with its little red stalls have sold warm “glögg”, gingerbread, cheese, sweets, arts and crafts.  Open from the 23rd of November, right the way up to the 23rd of December, each of the stalls opens at about 11 every morning.

Skokloster Castle - Open on November 30 and December 1 only, you don't get much of a chance to enjoy the christmas atmosphere in a Baroque castle, but if you can, make sure you do.

Skansen - Skansen is the Swedish living history museum and celebrates all Swedish festivals.  Christmas is no exception.  Come along yo buy Christmas treats, hear carols and spread some Christmas cheer.  Open every weekend from the 30th of November right the way until Christmas.

November 30; LIGHTS Festival

LIGHTS is the winter counterpart for the annual Summerburst dance music festival in Stockholm.  LIGHTS will be held in the brand new Tele2 Arena, turning it into Scandinavias biggest and most illuminated indoor club.  Over 15,000 electronic music fans will gather in the space for a night of fun and this brand new indoor dance and electronic music festival. Tickets cost 510 SEK for over 18’s, 795 SEK for over 20’s and can be bought through the link above.

Hopefully any one of these events should be enough to convince you to make the trip to the coolest city in the world.  If you are making the trip, then make sure you download the best free guide to Stockholm available for iPhone through iTunes.

Photo Via:  Verity Borthwick

Our Favourite Five Seville Restaurants

Over the weekend our guide to Seville launched, already it’s had a fantastic response.  If you are thinking about taking a trip to the capital of Andalucia then make sure you download the newest and best available for iPhone, completely free, through iTunes here.

We wanted to give you and idea of what to expect from our guide to Seville, here’s our favourite five restaurants from the city with a little extract of what you can expect from each one.

Egaña Oriza

Egaña Oriza is one of Seville’s most renowned restaurants and is a flagship of modern Andalucian cuisine.  Inspiration is taken from the owners home in the fiercely independent Basque county in Northern Spain, and is combined with traditional Andalucian dishes. 

Enrique Becerra

Enrique Becerra is one of Seville’s best restaurants, serving some of the finest dishes in Southern Spain. Popular among the locals for its hearty, inexpensive, quality food. Here, tapas isn’t just a novelty but simply the way food comes. Lots offlavours and options ensure you get a really varied experience, but the low prices and high quality mean you don’t have to sacrifice anything for the pleasure.

Becerrita

Small, cosy and a favourite among locals, word of this delightful eatery is only just reaching visitors to Seville.  Out on the west edge of the old part of the city is a glorious little restaurant serving delicious Andalusian inspired dishes, including a great selection of tapas. Visitors would like to keep this hidden gem a secret for a while longer, but it’s reputation continues to draw in diners from all around the world.

Taberna del Alabardero

The hotel of the Taberna del Alabardero is home to one of the most prestigious restaurants in Seville. Known for its exquisite nouvelle cuisine just as much as it is for it;s relatively inexpensive bistro lunches, you are sure to have a fantastic meal here whenever you come

Heladería La Fiorentina

Without doubt the best place in Seville to get an ice cream. Walking past the counter will make your eyes light up with wonder, and once you’ve picked a flavour from the wide range of the usual suspects and the shop’s signature recipes,  a tub of Ben and Jerry's will never taste the same again.

So there's our five favourite places to eat in Seville - each of which (plus many more) are included in the Trippa Seville app which you can download today.  If however you’re not off to Seville any time soon then why not take a look at the rest of our travel guide destinations.  We have a whole collection of new destinations recently launched along with our old collection which is constantly being updated.

Cardiff Fashion Week

London, Milan, Paris, New York - all places which automatically bring fashion and style to mind.  Hopefully soon Cardiff will be another city on the global landscape which will make you think of fashion as soon as you hear the name, well thats the hope from the organisers of Cardiff Fashion Week.

The first CFW was in 2012 and was a roaring success, it was the first event to celebrate Cardiff's status as one of the leading shopping destinations in the UK (Cardiff has been described by one person as having better shopping than Milan, although I don't know if we would go that far)

The 2013 CFW runs from the 19th to the 27th of Ocotber and is shaping up to be an even more exciting event than 2012's.

Expect to see emerging designers showcasing their new collections, much loved high street stores displaying on catwalks and the whole week to finish off in the Hilton Hotel with the high-glamour retail awards.

There willl be fring events happening across the city, including instore fashion shows, champagne receptions, promotions, makeovers and live photoshoots.  One of the best places to go to see the independent side of fashion would be Cardiff Fashion Quarter, opposite the castle.  Events will be taking place there sporadically over the whole week.

If you're a regular shopper in Cardiff or just someone who wants to come along and take a look at what is happening over the week take a look at the CFW Twitter and Facebook pages to stay up to date with all of the weeks events.

If you happen to be visiting Cardiff for the fashion week then make sure you download the Trippa Cardiff app from the app store.

If you're not visiting Cardiff but are heading somewhere else in Europe then why not take a look at our list of travel guide destinations here, we're constantly adding new locations to our list and all of our guides are completely free to download and use.

We're Going to London!

We had a bumper week of published guides last week, Stockholm, Berlin and Barcelona all were published in the space of seven days so it's time to line up our next big travel guide destination - it's London!

Just to give you an idea of what to expect from our next big app launch, here's the top five sights that we're going to be including in the guide

Big Ben

The famous clock tower in London isn't actually called Big Ben, that's the name of the bell inside it, but everyone calls the tower Big Ben...so we're just going to go with it as well.

Hyde Park

Probably the most famous park in London, Hyde Park is the host to festivals, concerts, joggers and dog walkers all year round.  It also has some interesting and historic monuments that should definitely be seen on any visit to London

Piccadilly Circus

An iconic symbol of London, the neon that illuminates the city by night is a mecca for tourists to get their photo taken infront of the lights and see the traffic come past.  It's a great meeting spot before heading out on a night out as well.

Science Museum

The Science museum is London's interactive science and technology experience.  Although it is aimed more towards children, many adults (including myself) have been known to go there and have a fantastic day out.

London Eye

The London Eye is the largest ferris wheel in Europe and provides tourists with a fantastic view across the whole of London.  A trip around the wheel takes just less than an hour and gives you a view of London like no where else.

Keep your eyes peeled for the launch of Trippa London, but for now you can see our existing selection of destinations on our website

Whats On, October in Barcelona

Here is the monthly roundup of the best events we have seen in the heart of Catalonia - Barcelona. We've taken a look at the best the fine city has to offer, even when the weather looks like it's turning a bit for the worse

4th October - 12th October - Oktoberfest in Barcelona

I think everyone who reads these blogs will know how much we love a good beer festival. Unlike the Oktoberfest that's held in Munich every year though, the one in Barcelona is actually in October, rather than late September. Over 30 German beers will be served along with German food and live music. Tickets are free but you need to reserve a table in advance

11th October - 13th October - Barcelona Jazz Weekend

Barceloan Jazz Weekend works as a warmup for the much bigger Jazzfest which takes place every year. The three day event takes place around the whole of the city and a full program of events can be seen though the link above. Tickets are available for €50.

13th October - Correbarri

If you're a fun of running, or just standing and watching people run around you, then the Correbarri is the event for you. Entry costs €14, but ends today so you need to be quick if you still want to go. Anyone can come along and watch the historic event which has quite a strong sense of competition between the 10 districts of Barcelona. If you prefer watching or taking part in Marathons then head along to the towns of Castelldefels and Gavà i Sitges on the 20th of October.

26th or 27th October - El Clásico FCB v Real Madrid

It's the fixture of the Spanish Football season. This year it's got even more interesting though with the worlds most expensive player Gareth Bale joining Ronaldo for Real Madrid, against (arguably) the worlds best player Messi and the hotly tipped for big things Neymar for Barcelona. The match takes place in the Nou Camp but if you can't get tickets then find a pub playing the match, sit down and enjoy - the atmosphere will be truely electric.

These are just our favourite picks from Barcelona over the coming month, there’s always something going on in this spectacular city.  Our Barcelona guide will be available to download in a matter of days, so keep your eyes peeled for the big launch.

Take a look at our current list of travel guide app destinations for when you next take a trip away!

Stockholm's Top Sights

Stockhholm was one of our favourite destinations to write about and visit.  The capital of Scandinavia is quickly becoming known worldwide as a hub of culture in the north of Europe, rapidly becoming the coolest new place to be.  Our Stockholm guide is due to be launched in the next few days so here are a selection of our favourite places inside the city.

The recently opened museum dedicated entirely to the history of 80's pop sensation ABBA takes pride of place at the top of our guide.  You can spend a whole day reliving what it was like to be a part of the group with exhibitions including some of their famous costumes and set pieces that featured on the covers of some of their most popular albums.  You can also get involved by singing along to their songs, dancing the night away and even have the opportunity to speak to members of the group.

Stockholms City Hall is a staple tourist destination for anyone visiting the city.  The colours and the architecture attract thousands of visitors every year.  No visit to Stockholm would be complete without climbing to the top of the famous 106 foot high tower

Vasa is the most popular museum in Stockholm.  It is actually a ship which sank hundreds of years ago and has been dragged up.  You can learn all about the history of Stockholm in this very unsual setting.  It's a fun day out for all the family, getting adults and kids involved throughout the day.

Not normally a city people associate with the beach, Stockholm actually has a selection of fantastic beaches.  We've chosen to include Langholmen island in the guide which was formerly a prison island, left to ruin and turned into a beautiful hotel, cafe and relaxation destination.

These are just our favourites, there are many many more sights in the finished guide, keep an eye out for details of the launch, coming in the next few days!  If you want to see our current selection of travel guide apps then take a look at the Trippa website today

La Merce Festival, Barcelona

This weekend is the 111th annual La Merce festival in Barcelona.  This 5 day long free festival fills the streets of Barcelona with music, parties, street performances and art.

The opening ceremony is a fantastic parade full of  giants, dwarves, dragons and other weird and wonderful mythical creatures that should give you a good idea of the whole spirit of the festival.  The true creative nature of Barcelona is on show here, not just the city but also the people who make it what it is.

La Merce is spread across 17 venues throughout the city including Rambla del Raval, Plaça Reial, Castell de Montjuïc, Plaça dels Àngels, Avinguda de la Catedral and Plaça Reial .

There are so many events going on every single day that we couldn’t possibly include them all into one blog post, but these are our top two things to see during your visit to this hub of activity.

Castellers (Human Towers), this unbelievable display of skill and strength held in Plaça de Jaume is one that really has to be seen to be believed.  The aim of the event is to construct the tallest human tower and to have a small child stand up at the very top of it for just a short moment. Bear in mind that the square fills up very quickly so make sure you turn up early to get the best view.

Correfoc (Fire Run), which quite scarily is exactly what it sounds like.  The roads around Via Laietana are closed and opened to ‘The Devils’ who are a community group that dress up in capes with pitchforks holding onto hand held sparkelers and firecrackers, aiming them at passersby.  It’s not for the feint of heart to get involved with, but plenty of fun to watch from a distance.

The La Merce festival also includes the Barcelona BAM music festival which is in it's infancy and showcases the finest musical talent that Catalonia has to offer as well as other acts from all around the world.  Each year a guest city is invited to show off their culture and top artistic proposals at La Merce.  Previous years have included Medellin, Quito, Istanbul, Dakar, Saint Petersburg and Montreal, this year is the turn of history and culturally rich Vienna.

Over 2,000,000 people are expected to attend over the whole five days of the festival.  No ticket is required to attend any of the celebrations, just turn up over the weekend and immerse yourself in the festivities.  For a full programme and details of all the events that are taking place, visit the official La Merce website.

Our Barcelona travel guide app is due to come out before the end of the month, so keep your eyes peeled.  Right now though you can see our full list of travel guide app destinations here

Berlin by Bike!

Berlin is an extraordinarily interesting city. The divide between east and west is still noticeable, and the transition is instant - not gradual like you would see in an organically growing city. It's like two cities have crashed into each other. It's the perfect place for us at Trippa to visit and pick out the very best of the city to help show you around with our travel apps!

Travelling around, you can take in the strange differences and fascinating clash of cultures by looking at the majestic architecture next to the vast, functional buildings of the Communists, the enormous green spaces such as Tiergarten in contrast to the bleak concrete squares of the east side, which are beautiful in their own way, and the striking changes in atmosphere which are just around the corner. It's a fascinating experience.

One of the best ways to take it all in is surely by bike. The city is a cycle-haven and getting out in the fresh air, travelling at your own pace down any road you want to take makes sightseeing even more of a pleasure.

Cycling is so easy in Berlin. Being such a flat city, cycling is never laborious. You can just peddle around leisurely and take in the sights, stopping only when you want to spend a little more time looking or for a lie down on the grass in the beautiful gardens and on the banks of the River Spree.

There's no need to worry about safety as a cyclist in Berlin. In the UK and other European countries, cycling can be a little hazardous even if you are the most attentive cyclist. But in the German capital, bikes have been such a large presence on the roads for so long that road users are more attentive and considerate when it comes to bike-riding road users. Drivers have had hundreds of cyclists sharing the road with them for decades, so bikes are respected as any other vehicle rather than a road-hogging nuisance.

The roads are much safer for cyclists due to both the considerate drivers and the sheer space afforded by the size of the roads. Berlin's roads were built to allow enormous military vehicles such as tanks down them, often side by side. That means that the city benefits from great wide roads and many of the widest avenues have dedicated cycle lanes with an abundance of space, well away from the other traffic. These are not narrow afterthoughts, but a welcome provision for the hundreds of people who cycle in the city.

As a visitor to the city, you will not be left out. If you start to feel a little jealous of the Berliners peddling around enjoying the breeze and the sunshine while you are forced to use buses and the U-Bahn, clean and efficient as they are, then you can join in! Berlin has a number options to get you on your bike, or at least a bike.

There are several bike rental companies that operate in the city, providing you with a bike for the day from as little as €9. Companies such as Pedalpower and Fahrradstation rent bikes to everyone – you just have to turn up at the shop, pay and cycle away.

Even easier than that, you can rent one of the thousands of bikes stationed outside stations and near major roads with Call-A-Bike. Armed with only a credit card and a phone, you can register and request a code to unlock one of the bikes. Then you ride it to wherever you want to go, park it in one of the Call-A-Bike stations and go on your way. The cost is €0.80 per minute up to a maximum of €15 in 24 hours.  Perfect for an easy, flexible way of seeing the best of Berlin.

Berlin is one of the upcoming Trippa Destinations. Check out what's going on in the city this month with Trippa!

Photo Credit: (vincent desjardins)