Helsinki Private Tour With A City Planner

Jonna our tour guide was so witty and knowledgeable! I’m so glad we got to see Helsinki with her. She made Finland memorable.

Emek was outstanding. He knew so much and he shared so much of his knowledge and experience that we came away with a deeper understanding of Helsinki and the Finnish people. This was so far beyond our expectations that I have already recommended his walk to a family member headed for Finland. This experience was our favorite part of our trip to Helsinki.

Excellent tour and guide! He did a great job keeping us informed and entertained. The guide was very knowledgeable and great humor. I was engaged the whole time and learned a lot.

This was a very interesting and educational tour of Helsinki. Emek was friendly and super knowledgeable. We enjoyed his company and the tour information!

Emek’s tour was exceptional and fascinating. He went far beyond describing buildings by putting them in historical context, enabling us to learn about Finland’s surprising history and the people who helped create it. His passion for all of this comes through emphatically. Any question we asked brought forth an expansive response that illuminated areas we’d never thought of. I am a lifelong architecture fan, have gone on architectural tours around the world, and lead architecture tours in my home city of Chicago. This was the best architecture tour I’ve ever experienced.

Excellent overview of Helsinki and Finland by a very well-informed guide who tailored the experience to our interests and included extensive historical background. Loved this tour!!

My tour with Emek two days ago was really quite wonderful. I’m traveling solo in Helsinki and I really wanted to do an architecture tour so I splurged and opted for a private tour. It was expensive and worth every euro. Emek is highly qualified to lead an architecture tour and very passionate about what he shares with you. He’s extremely articulate and animated as he explains the underlying details of what we are looking at. Our tour started with a short history of Swedish and Russian rule in Finland. We then started walking around, and we stopped in multiple places, each of them accompanied by an extensive analysis of how the building was actually built, the aesthetics, how it fit into the overall scheme of things in terms of the history of the time, and how the design had to accommodate the local conditions in Finland. All very fascinating information. We went to approximately six different places with stop at each. Emek knew that I was interested in Art Nouveau and made sure to include some examples. Each building that we went to was brought to life by his explanations. Our last stop was the central library. What an amazing place! It is a classic example of form and function marrying together in an absolutely wonderful and successful way. I’ve been raving about it to friends ever since this visit. This tour was probably the best guided tour that I have ever taken, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. To have a true expert explain hidden intricacies is a real pleasure. If any of what I have said, strikes a cord with you, please make sure to book a tour with Emek when you are in Helsinki next.

We were very impressed with Emek as our guide through Helsinki. He possesses an abundance of knowledge about the historical and contemporary elements of Finland. He was engaging and very relatable. We highly recommend Emek as your guide!

This was amazing. I learned so much about the city and culture. The guide was pleasant and informative. We had a wonderful time.

Our tour guide Emek was very knowledgeable about the history of Finland. We had a great time and enjoyed our tour 100%.

What a wonderful tour! We learned so much about the history and architecture of Helsinki in a short amount of time. Well worth your time.

Emek was a fantastic tour guide. He took us across the key areas of “downtown” Helsinki and spent plenty of time pointing out key landmarks and explaining the city’s history. He also answered all of our many questions about the city and life in Finland. Would highly recommend that you book him for small, personalized groups tours.

This private tour was fantastic. We booked this walk through Helsinki after looking for similar tours, and it did not disappoint. If I could give Emek more than five stars, I would! It was so informative, tailored to my group and incredible value for money. We saw a whole bunch of highlights across the city and learned more about Finnish culture in this three hours than the past few days. Fantastic use of time and not too walking intensive (plenty of stops). Emek answered all of our questions expertly, even the difficult ones, and made sure to really show us what life in Helsinki is like. Highly recommend for anyone visiting Helsinki and wanting an overview of history, architecture, politics, culture and modern life. Emek does a great job of tailoring this and our conversations were incredibly valuable.

A fantastic tour with Emek. Interesting (and fun) from start to end! A true sample of excellent tour guide. It was such a friendly atmosphere. His way of explaining everything from architecture, markets, arrangements and tourism to Helsinkis exciting history was extremely good. He was very flexible and could answer any kind of questions. We had three great hours in a fantastic weather. We highly recommend Ataman Tours!

Highly recommended tour of beautiful Helsinki! Emek is extremely nice and friendly. He customizes the tour to your own liking, he was very patient with our pace and with all the questions we had. He was able to explain all the information in a fun and enjoyable manner. The kids paid close attention to everything he was saying. He adjusted the start time due to a flight delay we had the day before the tour, which we very much appreciated. He showed us places which we wouldn’t have known or appreciated on our own. We couldn’t recommend him enough! Taking his tour is a must-do in Helsinki!

A truly interesting tour. Learnt a lot about the history of Helsinki and Finland listening to the stories about the people and how the different regimes have made an impact - while we wandered around the city and learnt about the different buildings. . Highly recommend.

Emek was phenomenal. We have done many walking tours all over the world and he was by far THE best! Very knowledgeable and passionate about sharing the cultural and epic story of the Finnish people. We really enjoyed the walk about.

An extensive walking tour! We left with a great sense of the city to begin our own explorations. Kiitos Raila

My husband and I had a wonderful Grand Tour with guide Tanja. Tanja showed us special destinations, shared her experiences and wealth of information with us. We felt enriched, and personally cared for, throughout the 6 hour walking tour!

Emek was an outstanding guide. Knowledgeable about a wide range of topics regarding Finland and beyond. He was friendly and responsive to our wishes.

We did this tour with Emek and he was so informed not only about the architecture but about the history, culture and political policy of Finland. we saw some really interesting landmark buildings. Emek had a great sense of humour, this combined with his knowledge, manner and love of the Finnish people and their culture made this tour one of the most memorable and enjoyable we have ever done.

Emek was a great guide. Entertaining, knowledgeable, kind and flawless English. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with him.

We were a group of architects, we had a great tour with Emek! He is really knowledgeable and well informed about buildings, history, Finland, and a good communicator. Super interesting!

We have done a lot of city tours. In fact that is the way that we like to be introduced to new cities. Emek's tour was one of the best we have done. While walking throughout the central part of Helskinki, he gave insight into the history of the city, architecture, social problems and how the Finns have tried to solve them, and personal anectodes about his own experience as a non native Finn. He is easy to understnad. He is a city planner and thus has an understanding of how cities work. Emek is very flexible, approachable, and listened to our requests about how to do the tour (for example stopping to talk in shade during a sunny hot day instead of boiling in the sun). We highly recommend that you use Emek- all of us on the tour feel that we learned so much about Helsinki at so many different levels that we feel that we understand this city more than many others that we have visited.

As others reviewers noted, Ataman Tours with Emek is the best of the best. My spouse normally prefers DIY tours but we both said after that we would gladly take the tour *again* the next time we visited Helsinki. Emek is informative, personable, funny, engaging, and a true fount of knowledge. Stop your research now and book a tour with Ataman Tours!

I had a great time touring the city with Emek. He explained a lot about Finnish history and population. Very interesting. I ll be back. Thanks

Emek is an extremely knowledgable and friendly person and a terrific communicator, too. You can ask him anything, not only about the various sights, but virtually about everything - and he comes up with an answer that demonstrates his pool of knowledge, his insight and his ability to teach his guests an enormous amount of things. Highly recommended.

Emek is a fantastic tour guide. He has all the historical, factual and architectural knowledge you would hope for but he is also a great person and goes the extra mile with his tours. Highly recommended.

We have taken a private tour with Emek and it was very informative and funny tour. We haven't realized the time had passed so quickly. Don't forget to have a beer with him following (or during) the tour!

Emek provided a professional and engaging tour of Helsinki, using architecture as windows into the city's storied history. It was the perfect way for me to be introduced to the city on my first day in town, and I particularly appreciated the variety of sights that he included from each the major eras in the city's history, including the city's futuristic new central public library (a particular favourite of mine that I would not have otherwise discovered).

The tour is great. Emek has a good knowledge of the city and brings very interesting histories that is not easy to know by ourselves. One special touch that for me was really good was all the time explains the differences about the Finnish language and how to understand it. I recommend the tour!

If you want to know more insights about Helsinki this is a must. Our guide Emek is extremely knowledgeable and very friendly.

We had the luck of having a really private tour of Helsinki with Emek, only our family! We were really happy to go at the pace we wanted, to spend more time on things that interested us and to have a laugh or two also! Emek is really passionate, he knows his city inside out and he has a lot to teach ! He pointed to us great addresses that we appreciated a lot! He also shared a lot of interesting historical facts about Helsinki!! Great experience and great way to discover the city!!!

Great tour! Very informative and you will learn more then just architecture. Highly recommend!!! Definitely worth the time!

Well, one thing I should say about this excursion is that everything was really great: the hospitality and welcoming of our host Emek, the view and insteresting facts about the city and its history. Don't regret booking that thing!

Emek is amazing guide with great stories about city. I liked the most with president's dog. It's more like friend who know the city very well and he showing to you. Not like typical guide. He never said "I dont know" and he can talk about everything. Great tour! Thank you Emek!

Emek leads an informative tour of central Helsinki sights. We learned a great deal about how and why the city was developed and how it’s evolved time. Emek was friendly and we had fun spending the morning with him.

Emek’s tour was a wonderful way to start my visit to Helsinki! I found that I learned quite a bit about the history of the city/country as well as the modern life of its people. This is a great first activity as it will orient you of the city. Emek is very engaging and truly a storyteller. Definitely make this walking tour a priority of your visit!

If you are coming to Helsinki I definitely recommend the visit with Emek! He’s very open to adapt the tour to your interests and needs and he shows from the first minute a deep knowledge and interest for Finnish culture and history. It’s a nice way to discover aspects of the city you can not find in the guide. I only regret not having had the whole day to spend with him!

I've bounced across 6 time zones and 16 countries in the past 6 months due to work. In each main stop I try to have at least one experience that will stick so I don't forget the city or country. This was THAT experience for Finland. Despite 4-5 days in Helsinki it was this tour that made the impact. 1. It was well organized. 2. Subject matter expert with loads of perspective beyond Helsinki - important for giving you context. 3. Friendly, sociable guide, a proper host. 4. I love dirt, concrete and how people use space, so does he. This tour was perfect for me. It is a thinking person's tour (if you want it to be). While he certainly covered the factoids of who did what when, the important part is not the detail you can look up later, but that he could give context for the shifts in power over the centuries and how the population developed and how you can see all of that in the city still today. Brilliant. If my travels take me back to Helsinki, I'll do a tour with him again. I would imagine no tours are the same and there's enough depth to his knowledge to keep a curious visitor engaged. Engineers, builders, real estate developers - you will kick yourself for missing this. HIGHLY RECOMMEND for anyone who wants to feel some understanding of Helsinki.

I strongly recomend this tour for anyone visiting Helsinki. Emek is a wonderful tour guide and very knowledgeable about all things Helsink/Finland. The tour was a highlight of our trip.

This experience was outstanding, highly recommend! Emek is terrific and this was the highlight of my trip!

Using some of Helsinki’s architectural landmarks as a backdrop, Emek’s tour provided a great insight into the culture, history and language of the Finnish people. The walk was neither long nor arduous, as Helsinki’s core is compact, but it was a great introduction to Finland for my wife and me, a couple of first time visitors to the country. Emek was very friendly, informative and engaging. We thoroughly enjoyed our three hour plus walk with him.

"An excellent guide, Emek is distinguished by both the breadth and depth of his knowledge. He is equally at home in linguistics (the role of Mikael Agricola in choosing to use the Roman alphabet as the basis for the written Finnish language in the 16th century because it would promote trade), architecture (Eliel Saarinen and his design for the central railway station in Helsinki), and geography (the link between the formation of market halls and population growth). He has synthesized knowledge from multiple perspectives to form an analytical, fact-based portrait of the country as revealed in its monuments, buildings and urban design. Most rewarding from our perspective was that he avoided a simplistic nationalism, noting instead how multiple cultural influences formed the country of today - one where signs are in Finnish and Swedish, where a Russian church stands near a Lutheran church - that with quiet pride, takes care of its citizens and prizes order without repression. A highlight of the trip was the visit to the public library in Helsinki; with its open stacks, coffee shop (in place of "no food allowed in the stacks"), 3-D printers, and recording studios, it embodies the nation's commitment to fostering the ingenuity and creativity of its youth - something Emek helped us understand. In addition, he combined his knowledge with practical courtesy, making sure to stop at the two-hour point for coffee and a rest room break. In short, we can highly recommend Emek as a guide."

Emek gave a wonderful tour of downtown Helsinki, providing history, insight and sharing personal stories that made the area come to life. I would not have seen the library without this tour and it is amazing! The 3 hours flew by. I highly recommend this experience!

This was the most unexpected encounter. Emek, besides being the true Finn at heart, has a transcendent wealth of architectural and social knowledge. He will take you through to see the inner side of Helsinki, cloaked from conventional visitors. You will start to understand its rhythms that echo and resonate through centuries. You will start to understand Finns themselves, their humble nature and ability to listen, their sophisticated, intricate and enchanting language; and hopefully, you will take away home something useful from Helsinki and implement it there and make it better.

Emek was a fabulous guide! He thoroughly knows Finland’s history, the city and is well versed on the different architecture used throughout the city! The tour was fun and educational and I highly recommend Emek!

Emek's tour was excellent! He explained Helsinki's history and how the city evolved from a small town into a thriving metropolis in the span of just 200 years. At the same time, he provided great insight Finnish culture. During our three-hour walk through the city, Emek took us to a host of landmarks and provided great insight to each site we visited. Emek was very personable and funny. He even spent time after our tour to provide our group with personalized recommendations for the rest of our stay in Helsinki. For anyone visiting Helsinki, I highly recommend this tour!

Totally recommend this tour Emek was a great guide with a wealth of information. I think by the end of it we all wanted to move to Finland! The tour gave us a taste of the history of Finland and also what it is like to live in Finland itself. One of the guys on the tour was obviously a history buff and we also had a Finnish women from Helsinki but living in England for about 30 years. The history buff was impressed saying 'he knows his stuff' and the Finnish women said she learnt stuff she didn't know. At the end of the tour I had new appreciation for Helsinki and Finland.