Kruunuvuori

Some may say this is a ghost town, I’m not very sure you could call it that way but this is certainly a very interesting experience.
After a small hike you will find within the woods, abandoned houses that look almost intact. Some of them can be as old as the late 1800’s but they are now part of this «ghost town» with chaos, old furniture and a lot of graffiti.
Walk around, get into some houses and check the inside (be careful when going up the stairs). The view is stunning, from both the houses and the bay area.
Perhaps if you live in Helsinki this can be the place to have a barbecue, it’s quite interesting.

I love exploring nature reserves in urban environments and Kruunuvuori fits that bill perfectly. It’s a forest area in East Helsinki which in the old days was used for the Helsinki population as a weekend retreat. In fact, you can still see various country houses, most of which are in a derelict state and it seems it will only take only one more winter storm for them to fold into pieces like a house built from cards.
Nevertheless, Kruunuvuori, which translates as Crown Hill, is well worth a visit if you want to escape from the hectic city life and go for a stroll in the woods. The trails will lead you around in a circle and so you cannot really get lost and it all takes only 30 – 45 minutes to do one round. While you’re walking, you will be able to enjoy nice views over Helsinki Bay and you will spot Helsinki Downtown somewhere in the distance.
Now, how to get there: take the metro to «Herttoniemi» and from there catch the bus #88 and get off at the last stop. From there, I suggest you use the map of your smartphone to locate the entrance, which is marked by a barrier… beyond which is all fair game!

This is a great outdoor place to visit in Helsinki. Read previous reviews for detail.
Just wanted to say that some of the wreck houses are really in bad shape and city of Helsinki is probably building something to this area in a few years so dont spend time thinking what year to visit or you might miss it.