The art of the coolcation — and why Helsinki does it better than anywhere else

Hint: it involves saunas, archipelago islands, and a very good address.

Let's be honest. The idea of a summer holiday involving 38°C heat, overcrowded beaches, and the kind of sunburn that requires medical attention has lost a certain amount of its appeal. Travellers are wising up, and heading north.

Enter the coolcation: the quietly brilliant travel trend that trades scorched cobblestones for fresh air, tourist stampedes for design boutiques you can actually browse, and southern heat for Nordic evenings so luminous and long you'll run out of reasons to go to bed before the light does.

And if you're going to do a coolcation properly, Helsinki is where you want to be. With us at Hotel Lilla Roberts of course.

Why Helsinki is the perfect coolcation destination?

Summers here are pleasantly mild, warm enough to justify a linen blazer, cool enough to actually enjoy wearing it. In summer, the whole city seems to exhale.

There are around 300 islands in the Helsinki archipelago, each offering its own particular version of escape: the fortress history of Suomenlinna, the wild beauty of Vallisaari, or simply a quiet granite outcrop and a picnic basket. The FRS ferry connects most of them from Market Square.

The city's café culture has taken on delightful new form through its lippakioski, retro kiosk stands, some dating back to the 1920s, now reimagined by young entrepreneurs as neighbourhood gathering spots. Architecture tours reveal Helsinki's extraordinary range of styles, from neoclassical grandeur to the Oodi Library's striking contemporary lines. And then there's the sauna, the most Finnish of institutions, perfected at places like Löyly, where a glass-and-timber structure perches on the Baltic's edge and the concept of "cool off" is taken quite literally.

Helsinki has a habit of turning its industrial past into something worth celebrating. Come summer, the city fills with festivals, markets and outdoor events that feel genuinely local rather than staged for visitors. Thrift boutiques and designer concept stores occupy the same streets. It is, in other words, exactly the kind of city you want to spend a summer in.

The best part of the plan: Hotel Lilla Roberts

A coolcation is only as good as the hotel you return to at the end of the day. Which is where we come in. Stay in a boutique hotel in Helsinki's Design District and your stay will be as much a part of the experience as the city itself.

Hotel Lilla Roberts occupies a building with a past rather more colourful than most. Designed by architect Selim A. Lindqvist in 1909, it began life as a power plant before serving as the city's police station. Today, after a meticulous transformation, it is something considerably more enjoyable to check into. The Art Deco interiors, all geometric lines, polished metals, and the kind of layered lighting that makes everything look a little more cinematic, sit comfortably alongside the building's original bones. It is a hotel that celebrates individuality with a smile, and somehow manages to feel both glamorous and genuinely welcoming at the same time.

The rooms

From the compact and perfectly considered Comfort rooms to the generous sweep of the Suite overlooking Kasarmitori Square, every room at Lilla Roberts has been designed with the same attention to detail. Expect Art Deco-inspired bathrooms and the kind of bed you'll negotiate with yourself about leaving. The Lux rooms, with their high ceilings and 1930s character, are a particular treat: spacious enough to feel like a small personal universe, intimate enough to feel like yours.

Restaurant Krog Roba and Bar Lilla e

Dinner at Krog Roba is the kind of Nordic restaurant experience that earns its reputation quietly: seasonal ingredients, classic flavours treated with a modern hand, and an atmosphere warm enough that you'll find yourself ordering one more course than planned. The restaurant is housed in the former police station premises, which, given the quality of the aquavit selection, feels appropriate.

At Bar Lilla e classic cocktails meet Nordic creativity, seasonal ingredients and passionate innovation, mocktails included. It is where your evening begins, and quite often where it ends as well.

Location

Lilla Roberts is located on Pieni Roobertinkatu, a quietly elegant street in the heart of Helsinki's Design District, close enough to the city's best restaurants, galleries and shops to feel connected, far enough from the main thoroughfares to feel like a discovery. The Esplanade is a few minutes' walk away. The harbour is not much further. Helsinki, in other words, is essentially on your doorstep, which is exactly where you want it to be.

How to spend your coolcation days in Helsinki

Wake up slowly. Have a filling breakfast. Then, consider the following:

Morning. Take a ferry to Suomenlinna and enjoy the sea breeze in a gorgeous scenery.

Afternoon. Lose an hour or two in the boutiques around Design District. Then find a lippakioski with a good queue. Queues are a reliable indicator of quality, in Helsinki as everywhere. Sit down. Order something cold. Watch the city go about its business.

Evening. Return to Lilla Roberts. Dinner in the restaurant. A nightcap at Bar Lilla e. Notice how late the light is staying.

Repeat, with variations, for as many days as you have.

A note on the season

Helsinki rewards every season with something different, but summer is when the city truly lights up. The days are long, the terraces are full, and the locals, who have been waiting patiently since October, are radiantly, infectiously happy. Finland has been voted as the happiest country in the world for many years in a row, and in the summer you can definitely feel why.

It turns out the best holiday you'll take this year might be the one where you traded the heat for a little Nordic cool.

Book your coolcation

Long evenings, good food, and a city that knows exactly how to make the most of summer. All that's missing is you.