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Once again our summer holiday began (and ended) with an overnight stopover in Helsinki. In anticipation of this, we prepared a list of sights that one could see in the city center if you have a long layover in the town. It is a short 28 minute train ride from Vaanta airport to the railway station in the city center. There are two tours presented below. The first is a map-based tour that features popup windows of the major attractions. It contains a bit more information, but is less immersive. The second is a 360 degree tour which is immersive, but does not contain explanatory videos, as these cannot be embedded in Google's VR Creator. Whichever  you choose, we hope you enjoy learning more about this fascinating capital city.
A Virtual Tour of Some of Helsinki's City Center Highlights
 
Instructions: You may tour this site either by clicking on the numbered images on the map, or by selecting a site from the table below. In either case a window will pop up, explaining that site. Simply click the "Close" button at the bottom of the popup window to return to the map. For the tour to work, you must have any ad-blocker disabled for this site. Please note that the "Close" button may not work on some mobile devices, in which case simply select the "Back" button on your browser or close the popup if it has opened in a separate window.
Helsinki Image MapUspenski Cathedral Old Market Market Square Esplanade Helsinki Cathedral Senate Square Temppeliaukion Church Museum of Contemporary Art Ateneum Art Museum Railway Square
1. Railway Square
 4. Temppeliaukion Church
 7. Esplanade
 10. Uspenski Cathedral
2. Ateneum Art Museum
 5. Senate Square
 8. Market Square
3. Museum of Contemporary Art
 6. Helsinki Cathedral
 9. Old Market


 A 360 Tour of Some of Helsinki's City Center Highlights
Railway StationSnap Content

Virtual Reality Tour for VR Headsets:

QR CodeThere is also a version of this tour designed specifically for VR headsets such as Google Cardboard, and it works with both iPhone and Android devices. It may be access by scanning on the QR code to the left. If you are viewing this on a mobile phone, you may access the VR tour by following this link.



For iOS devices: scan QR code with your device's camera app, tap on the prompt to open Safari. Select "Allow Device Motion" and the next prompt, "Allow Access to Motion Orientation." Turn the device to landscape mode and a split screen will appear. When the screen turns white, swipe up for fullscreen mode, and place in headset. Here is a video of how to do this--it is simpler than it sounds! [The video opens in a new window--close when done to return to this page]

For Android devices: Open the camera app and use the built-in scanner to scan the QR code above. Confirm that you want to open the website, and wait for it to load--it should load in stereo view. Select the fullscreen ("X" option) from the menu at the bottom. Turn the device to landscape mode and you are ready to go. Here is a video of how to do this--it is simpler than it sounds! [The video opens in a new window--close when done to return to this page]


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