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.