Family City Paths: Jätkäsaari

Published in November 2019.

Commercial collaboration with Verkkokauppa.com.

Do you want to get lost on new paths and discover something new? See Helsinki through different eyes? Turn in a different direction at a crossroads? Family City Paths are just for that! City paths lead to new neighborhoods, new places, and help and inspire you to explore your home city or visit new corners as a tourist. Family City Paths is a new type of tourism concept for Helsinki neighborhoods, developed as a final thesis project by hospitality management student Heidi Säynätkari. The four city paths created as a final thesis are now joined by new and different paths around the city.

Pienten Helsingin fifth city path is also the first commercial family city path, which takes you on an adventure to completely new corners of Helsinki. Verkkokauppa.com acts as the sponsor of the Jätkäsaari Family City Path.

Jätkäsaari is one of Helsinki's newest residential areas, which features, for example, the West Harbor passenger terminal, Helsinki's tallest hotel, a fun school building, a brand new park, playgrounds for all tastes, and Finland's most popular online store with its many surprises. The island will also get a sports field and rumors suggest possibly also a swimming pool.
Jätkäsaari is also a must-visit destination for lovers of interesting architecture and train and vehicle spotters. With children, it's worth visiting to admire at least the interesting architecture of Jätkäsaari school and daycare behind Verkkokauppa.com.

The architecture of Jätkäsaari elementary school gives room for imagination.

Carrot Bridge

When arriving from Ruoholahti, Välimerenkatu should be crossed via the orange pedestrian bridge. Carrot Bridge is a fun detail and a route to Hyväntoivon Park and a good place to spot streetcars, work machines, and other traffic.

Hyväntoivon Park

In Jätkäsaari, one of Helsinki's newest parks, Hyväntoivon Park, is currently being built in the center of the residential area as construction progresses. A large part of the park is already in use and features a playground, which is primarily designed for slightly older children. At the fenced, smaller play area in Hyväntoivon Park, children from nearby daycare centers also spend time, so this small playground can be utilized in the evenings and on weekends.

Hyväntoivon Park is a park project that represents new park design and creates a different experience for children through mounds and furniture.
Read more: Hyväntoivon Park

Verkkokauppa.com Jätkäsaari Store

The Jätkäsaari city path also passes by Verkkokauppa.com's flagship store in Jätkäsaari. The store offers experiences in addition to shopping.

Verkkokauppa.com's selection includes a comprehensive range of children's products, toys, and other household items from dishes to lamps and cooking utensils. The selection includes extensive home electronics and during cycling season also children's scooters and bicycles. All of Verkkokauppa.com's range can be ordered for home delivery, but products can also be picked up from the store. However, note that some products from Finland's largest online store are special order items, and the entire range is not displayed in the stores. Some products are available for pickup from the store's warehouse immediately, while other products take a few days to deliver.

In the three floors of Verkkokauppa.com's Jätkäsaari store, there's plenty to wonder about with children. The third floor features children's products and toys, with the toy selection growing with the holiday season. The toy department also has a Lego building place for children. Next to the toy department are children's items, and Verkkokauppa.com's selection of strollers and car seats is on display along with other necessities for baby and toddler life. The third floor also features, among other things, kitchen appliances and accessories, as well as a music department.

Toys and children's products can be found on the 3rd floor of Verkkokauppa.com's Jätkäsaari store.

With children, it's also worth visiting the second floor's TV wall. Verkkokauppa.com's Jätkäsaari store also has a lunch café, and in the ground floor of the building, there's a burger chain restaurant with a play area.
Verkkokauppa.com's selection also includes a wide range of designer lighting and, during the holiday season, also Christmas and decorative lighting. In addition to electronics purchases, you can add Marimekko and Iittala products, food items from specialty coffees to bulk confectionery packages, and soft drinks to your shopping cart. Verkkokauppa.com is often thought of as an electronics store, but its selection has expanded considerably in recent years to include other home and everyday product categories as well as product categories of interest to families.
The WC facilities and a small baby changing room at the Jätkäsaari store are located on the second floor.

Read more: Verkkokauppa.com

Verkkokauppa.com's selection also includes a wide range of home lighting.

Verkkokauppa.com observation deck

A special feature of the Jätkäsaari store is the observation deck built on the seventh floor that is open to everyone. From the observation deck, there are spectacular views of the West Harbor cruise terminal, the open sea, and towards Helsinki's city center. The roof terrace is the perfect place on nice weather to spot maritime traffic and large cruise ships. The observation deck is open during store hours and admission is free.
Verkkokauppa.com has also acquired a MiG fighter jet for its roof terrace, which you can marvel at up close.

Art

Before continuing the journey, it's worth stopping to admire Tommi Toija's Bad Bad Boy sculpture next to Verkkokauppa.com's main entrance, which will certainly give you something to talk about on the way home.

Jätkäsaari Library

From Verkkokauppa.com, the city path continues towards Jätkäsaari Library, located at the corner of Tyynemerenkatuu and Välimerenkatu. When heading to the library, you can choose to walk along Tyynenmerenkatu and watch ships and passing traffic, or take the considerably quieter Hietasaarenkuja lane. Jätkäsaari Library has a nice small children's section and the opportunity to explore scale models of Jätkäsaari's building plans. The library is located on the second floor of the building known as Huutokonttori and has elevator access. Across from the library stands Helsinki's tallest hotel, which is itself a sight for children. In front of the hotel, you can find a seal sculpture originally designed by Stefan Lindforss, which is one of the Hejhylkeet sculpture series scattered around Helsinki.
Read more: Jätkäsaari Library

Helsinki's tallest hotel can be found in Jätkäsaari.

Ruoholahti Play Park

From the library, the journey continues to Ruoholahti Play Park a few blocks away, where younger and older children can enjoy organized activities on weekdays and free play in the evenings and on weekends in the park's large outdoor area. The play park's versatile play equipment provides plenty to do, and in winter, the park's small hills serve as good sledding slopes.
Read more: Ruoholahti Play Park

On the other side of Ruoholahti Canal, on the Ruoholahti Elementary School yard, you can find Pekka Nevalainen's A,B,C, the Cat Walks... sculpture, which is worth saying hello to on your way home.

Next to the play park runs Ruoholahti Canal, and rumors say that late autumn and early spring at the Crusellius Bridge end of the canal you can see a gray seal diving and hunting sprats.

Saukonpää

Visit Saukonpää especially in summer and also check out the playground in the adjacent Saukonpää Park.
The end of Saukonpää on the west side of Jätkäsaari can be recommended as a visit destination, especially during the summer months. A green area has been built on the shore, with publicly available grills, sun loungers, and a few sculptural instruments that children can also try.