The food tour that ends above the roofline
What the ending is for
Helsinki is a low city and most of what you see on a food walk is at eye level: counters, bread, the inside of a hall built in 1889. Finishing on a roof with a drink in your hand rearranges all of it at once. You can see how small the rectangle you have been walking actually is — Market Square to the Central Station is about a fifteen-minute walk, and this tour never leaves that box either.
The drink at the top is the one place where the small print matters. The listing includes a non-alcoholic drink among the tastings and states plainly that alcoholic drinks are not included. So if you picture yourself with a beer looking out over the harbour, that is available and it is yours to sort out at the bar. The drinks page sets out which of the six includes what, and the Alko page explains the state monopoly, which surprises people more than the roof does.
Lunch is actually included
This is the only walking tour of the six where the listing says lunch is included. On the others you get tastings, and a tasting is a portion at a counter, not a meal. Three hours with seven tastings and lunch is a different shape of afternoon: you will not come off this one looking for somewhere to eat, which in an expensive city is worth more than it sounds. Taxes and fees are stated as included too, so what you see when you check dates is the whole of it.
Jugend Hall and the Old Market Hall
Jugend Hall is the Art Nouveau interior on the route, and the Old Market Hall is the 1889 hall on the Eteläranta waterfront: wooden counters, brick and iron, a single long aisle with fish, cheese, charcuterie and bakery counters and small cafés along it. It is the hall that appears on almost every food tour in this city, and the page about it goes counter by counter.
Included
- Three hours with a guide, in English or Russian
- Seven tastings: cheese, fish delicacies, smoked reindeer, rye bread, a local pastry, artisan chocolate and a non-alcoholic drink
- Lunch
- A visit to Jugend Hall and the Old Market Hall
- A rooftop bar at the end, with a city view
- Taxes and fees
Not included
- Alcoholic drinks, including anything you order on the roof
- Tips, which are not expected in Finland in any case
- A guarantee of weather — the view is a view in whatever the sky is doing
- A small-group cap: the listing does not state one
- Languages beyond English and Russian
What works
- Lunch included is unique among the walking tours here
- The rooftop ending gives the walk a shape and a last photograph
- Taxes and fees are stated as included, so nothing is added later
- Two indoor stops, Jugend Hall and the 1889 market hall, in one route
- Artisan chocolate is the tasting reviewers single out most often
Worth knowing
- 28 reviews is a modest sample next to the 62 behind the city walk
- Alcohol on the roof is not included, and people assume it is
- The meeting point on Mannerheimintie is not where the other tours gather
- Three hours including lunch is a large part of a short day
- No stated group cap, so you do not know how many you will be
What people say about it
Astrid, from Germany: “The tastings were varied and delicious. The highlight was the small chocolate factory.” Peter, from Australia: “We tried a range of interesting and high quality things.” Brandon, from the United States: “Very high-quality food with a knowledgeable guide.” Abeer, from Saudi Arabia: “She told the story of Finnish culture and heritage through food in a way that was engaging.” Valerie, from Australia: “Rooftop bar ending was great.” Lara is the guide named most often. Reviewers from Belgium, South Africa and the United States sit behind the same score. The review page weighs it properly.
Take a layer you would not take to a restaurant. A Helsinki roof in June is colder than the street below it by more than you expect, and the wind comes off the harbour without anything in the way to stop it. The people who stay up there long enough to finish the drink and look properly are the ones who brought a jacket.
Book the rooftop tour
Live availability is below. If the view matters more than the lunch, the coffee culture tour takes in Oodi and both cathedrals in two and a half hours, and the city walk is the better-reviewed alternative on the same ground.
If this one is not right
Cathedral and the Old Market HallHelsinki: City Tour with Food Tasting
Eight local delicaciesHelsinki: Authentic Food Tour with 8+ Local Delicacies
Waterbus to PihlajasaariHelsinki: Baltic Bites — Food & Island Experience
Those dates don’t work?
Browse the other tables in Helsinki — the market-hall walks, the neighbourhood crawls, the cooking evenings and the island tasting — and pick a day that suits you, with instant confirmation.
Frequently asked questions
Is the drink at the rooftop bar included?
A non-alcoholic drink is included among the seven tastings. Alcoholic drinks are not, so anything stronger at the top is yours to arrange at the bar. Which tour includes what to drink is set out in full on the drinks page.
Where does the rooftop food tour meet?
At Robert’s Coffee Jugend, Mannerheimintie 1a, which is a different starting point from the other tours in the centre. From there the route takes in Jugend Hall and the Old Market Hall before the roof. All six meeting points are on where tours start.
Is lunch really included?
Yes, and this is the only walking tour of the six that says so. The others give you tastings, which are counter portions rather than a meal. Taxes and fees are stated as included too. What the hours and stops are actually buying is argued out on what a food tour is worth.
Which market hall does it go into?
The Old Market Hall on Eteläranta, which opened in 1889 and is the hall that appears on almost every food tour here, plus Jugend Hall on the way. Both are indoor stops, which matters in winter. More on market hall tours.