We visited Helsinki for 2 days in November as part of our bigger trip around Finland. We didn’t know much about the city before we went, but we absolutely loved it! The architecture, history and culture were all really interesting and we had some incredible food whilst we were here too!
In terms of the availability of safe gluten free options, Helsinki was incredibly easy. Whilst not many people seemed to know what coeliac disease is, they did understand the phrase “gluten allergy” and gluten free options were widely marked on restaurant menus, in cafes and on food packaging so it was very easy to understand what I could have.
We’ve listed our favourite places to eat below and have also included our itinerary to help you plan your trip to Helsinki.
Helsinki Food Market
The main food market in Helsinki is in the Old Market Hall, next to the harbour. Compared to other cities, the Helsinki food market feels so small and authentic, full of local businesses and amazing food!
Our favourite place was Kumpi Peruna, a 100% gluten free stand which offers cheesy jacket potatoes with a huge selection of toppings. We spoke to the owner who informed us that she was also very sensitive to gluten and in her words “you won’t find gluten anywhere at my stand” – a statement we love to hear! We shared two potatoes from here; one with salmon and vegetables and the other with reindeer, cheese and lingonberry jam and they were both incredible!
We also visited Soup + More which had very good reviews for gluten free, but after talking to the people preparing the food, it became clear that it wasn’t coeliac safe, due to the area they prepare the bread being too close to the soup. We had full respect for them being honest with us. Martin had the salmon soup and said it was very good, so this is still a good option for people who are ok with cross contact (e.g. if you have more of an intolerance).
Another thing we bought here was Reindeer and Elk jerkey, which are naturally gluten free. We bought two packets to have on our travel day and they were surprisingly good!
The market hall itself is so pretty and is definitely worth a visit. The central part of the hall is particularly stunning! The cafe Story has a lovely seating area with big windows looking out over the harbour, making it a lovely place to sit and relax with a coffee.
Restaurants
Because we mostly ate at quicker more casual places this trip, we only booked one restaurant, Ravintola Kuu. We clearly chose well because we can honestly say this is one of the best meals we’ve ever had! Ravintola Kuu is a small restaurant serving traditional Finnish food in a beautiful setting which honestly feels like you’re in someone’s dining room!
The restaurant was full of Finnish people (I think we were the only ones speaking English) which is always a good sign because the locals often know the best places to eat, especially when it comes to their regional specialties! It’s a little out of the city centre but is easily accessible by tram (it took us 20 minutes to get there, so very reasonable).
After we were seated at our lovely corner table, I explained to the waitress that I had a “gluten allergy” (by this point I had given up explaining coeliac disease in Finland) and offered to show her my Finnish coeliac translation card. She responded confidently that she understood that I couldn’t have any gluten and reassured me not to worry because catering to a gluten free diet is very common in Finland. She immediately made me feel confident in the restaurant’s ability to prepare my food safely.
The menu here is extensive offering a selection of set menus and a la carte options. The waitress informed me that other than one pie dish, the entire menu could be made gluten free, so I had plenty of choice (a lot more than I’m used to!). Martin chose the Kuu menu, which came with salmon soup, reindeer, a cheese course and a cloudberry dessert, whilst I ordered salmon soup, meatballs with potatoes and also a chocolate and cranberry dessert from the a la carte menu.
At the start of the meal, they brought me some gluten free bread and crackers to have with my meal which was a really lovely extra! Salmon soup is a local specialty from Helsinki and was something we were really excited to try and it did not disappoint; it was absolutely delicious! We both absolutely loved our main courses; reindeer is a particular specialty to Finland and Martin said it worked very well with the celeriac puree, mushrooms and blackcurrant sauce and the meatballs dish I had was authentically Nordic with mashed potatoes, creamy sauce and lingonberry jam. They prepared Martin’s cheese course to be gluten free so we could share which was so lovely to try a local cheese (served traditionally Finnish with lingonberry jam). We can’t quite remember the names of our desserts but Martin’s was cloudberry flavour and mine was chocolate and cranberry and we both loved them!
We absolutely loved this restaurant and would 100% recommend it to anyone visiting Helsinki (coeliac or not).
Casual Options
As we said in the intro, gluten free options are widely available in Helsinki. We bought snacks and quick lunches at the supermarket when we wanted something a bit lighter. S Market is a big supermarket in the centre of the city which has a huge selection of gluten free bread, pastries and cakes. In Finland, supermarkets mark gluten free options with a yellow G on the price label which makes it very easy to spot. They don’t just do this for the “free from” section, but throughout the whole supermarket which was so helpful for finding naturally / accidentally gluten free products, for example the taco salad I had for lunch on our first day.
The department store Stockmann has a premium food hall in the basement which also has a huge gluten free section and the same allergy labelling. Here we found a number of treats like danish, chocolate muffins and even gingerbread men!
We had a good breakfast at our hotel each morning (Hotel Indigo Helsinki) which had a buffet as well as a la carte options like omelettes. We also visited a number of coffee shops throughout the city (the dark winter mornings drove a need for caffeine – thank god coffee is naturally gluten free!).
Cafe Regatta is a beautiful coffee shop serving a range of drinks and treats. Some of the treats were labelled as gluten free, but were in the same container as the gluten containing treats so I decided not to risk it. I did confirm that the hot chocolate was gluten free which was so good!
Even McDonalds in Finland is gluten free which meant I could have my first Big Mac in a long time! The allergens are all marked on the website (in Finnish, so you will need to use Google Translate) and we also confirmed with the people working there that the fries are in a dedicated fryer. A local specialty is the blueberry milkshake which was actually so good!
Another local specialty is Long Drink – a gin based grapefruit flavoured drink that all the locals told us to try. It’s definitely more of a refreshing summer drink but it was very nice. The website clearly states that it’s gluten free. You can buy it at most bars and restaurants in Helsinki.
There were a few other places that we discovered during our research which were sadly shut on the Sunday and Monday we were in Helsinki, but are definitely worth considering if you’re visiting on other days; Kakuttaa and Keliapuoti Leena Raitisto – both bakeries on the outskirts of Helsinki.
Itinerary
This is our itinerary for our 2 days / nights in Finland:
| Saturday | Sunday | Monday |
| Travel to Helsinki Check in to hotel Evening walk through city centre Casual dinner at McDonalds (to try their GF options) | Helsinki walking tour with Green Cap Tours (includes Senate Square, Helsinki Cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral, Market Square, Esplanadi Park & Oodi Library). Casual lunch from S Market Sauna Loyly – 2 hour sauna session Dinner at Ravintola Kuu | Visit the Temppeliaukio Church Hot chocolate at Cafe Regatta Free time to explore the city. Shopping at the Mooman Shop and Stockmann. Dinner at the Old Market Hall Overnight train to Rovaniemi |
We hope you found this guide helpful and have a great trip to Helsinki! We’ll be posting again soon about the next leg of our trip in Rovaniemi, Lapland so check back in soon!
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Jess and Martin’s Gluten Free Travel Guide 
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