Nightlife

Post-millennium Helsinki has seen an explosion of nighttime possibilities. Friday and Saturday nights are impossibly overcrowded, so if you plan to go out, you need to show up early at a club, or you may not get in. The older crowd sticks mainly to bars in popular first-class hotels.

Nearly all theatrical performances are presented in Finnish or Swedish. However, music is universal, and the Helsinki cultural landscape is always rich in music whatever the season. The major orchestral and concert performances take place in Finlandia Hall. Operas at the Finnish National Opera are sung in their original languages.

Your best source of information -- virtually your only source, other than Finnish newspapers -- is a little magazine called Helsinki Guide, distributed free at most hotels and at the tourist office. It has complete listings, not only of cultural events, but of practically anything that's happening in the Finnish capital -- from the Baltic herring market to bodybuilding contests.

Casinos

Several Helsinki nightclubs have small-stakes casinos -- usually just a roulette wheel with an attractive croupier and a deliberately low maximum bet. For more serious action, head directly for Grand Casino Helsinki, the only bona fide casino in Finland.