Apéro - Piece of France in Helsinki - Please be seated for Takeoff

Head to the bar, tell your friends on Facebook where you are and ask for a sparkling wine. – By checking in to this bar in FB you get a discount priced sparkling wine for a starter. Of course you can choose some nice wine or a beer from the regular menu too.

Then choose your table and enjoy your drink listening quietly playing music. Quite often it is Edith Piaf. – This is a French bar anyway.

Soon you will propably be served some snacks like salted peanuts to go with your drink. Getting free snacks is common in many countries, but hardly ever in Finland, expect here. If you feel more hungry, try their quiches (for less than 10€).

Do they have a wifi? I have no idea! This is a place to meet people in real life. (But if you really need it, like for checking in to get your discounted sparkling wine, ask the friendly staff).

While waiting for your friends make some new ones with dogs and their owners. – This is a pet-friendly place. And because of that, if you are allergic to the dogs or are afraid of them, this is not a place for you, sorry.

Apéro has also a small terrace. It might look crowded on a sunny day, but just squeeze in, folks here like to talk with strangers and have them to sit at their tables. This is a great place to get to know some local people. Most of the clients live in the neighbourhood (Kamppi and Hietalahti).

Oh, this is also a French bar by the temperature, even it’s located in Finland. The place is small and has a kitchen, so it often gets very hot inside. But don’t worry, it will be exactly what you need on a cold winter day. Just remember to wear a t-shirt underneat your winter gear to be able to take off your layers.

I like to meet my friends chilling out in some small, relaxed bars. This is the one! I am lucky to have my favorite place for wining located in my own block, which is only 15 min walk from the Helsinki railway station. I try to visit Apéro every time I visit my native country.

Tomorrow we’ll be home for ten days with my hubs. Before switching in to our home with our tenant, we want to visit Apéro and introduce it to our tenant who happens to be also our friend. Once again Apéro will be playing the scene for meeting our friends and chatting over a glass of wine.
Your drink will be served with this smile! And don’t worry if you don’t speak Finnish, most of the Finns do speak English and here you can also meet a native French speaker behind the bar (not this guy though, he is a pure Finn).