In the swamp – excursion to the roots of Helsinki

White – that’s how we had imagined winter in Finland. But it’s not just here in Switzerland that winter is going crazy, southern Finland has also been spared snow and ice so far. Admittedly, there is no guarantee of snow in southern Finland for the end of December, but we had imagined it all to be so perfect. Snow-covered roads, icy rivers and glistening sunlight. Nothing there! On the other hand, Finland showed us how appealing different shades of grey ;) be.

Whether it’s deep winter or midsummer’s night, the Viikki Nature Reserve in the northeast of Helsinki is always worth a visit. Where the Vantaanjoki River flows into Vanhankaupunginlahti, you will also find the cradle of Helsinki. Helsinki – or Helsingfors in Swedish – was founded here in 1550 on the orders of King Gustav Vasa of Sweden. The district is now called Vanhakaupunki and unfortunately there is not much left of this so-called “old town”. On the other hand, a huge nature reserve beckons year in and year out for long walks and discovery tours. For bird lovers, this is said to be a true paradise.

Instead of wearing a beautiful white winter robe, Viikki showed up in a gray and yellow dress. The landscape reminded us a bit of the Everglades (you just have to mentally replace the birch trees with mangroves). Only the alligators were missing.

Another similarity with the Everglades is that there is a lot of water (which should actually be frozen at this time of year) and therefore the nicely laid out boardwalks only just protruded from the water. Nevertheless, we ventured a few meters into the reed thicket and felt like Indiana Jones. So close to the city, already so much wilderness – you can imagine that Helsinki has already made up some points with me.

The best overview of the Viikki Nature Reserve is from the various lookout towers that are located along the walking paths.

When dusk set in, we made our way back. We left the swamp behind us, crossed the mystical birch forest again until we had solid ground under our feet again. However, one thing is certain, the nature reserve also makes a quite decent impression in gray and yellow.