Hotels near Ateneum Art Museum and the National Museum of Finland

The Ateneum Art Museum on Rautatientori Square holds the largest collection of classical art in Finland - 28,000 works from the 18th century to the 1960s. This is where you see the entire canon of Finnish national painting: Akseli Gallen-Kallela's Kalevala scenes (Aino, Lemminkainen's Mother, The Defense of Sampo), Albert Edelfelt's Louis Pasteur portrait, Helene Schjerfbeck's Convalescent, Hugo Simberg's The Wounded Angel and Eero Jarnefelt's Under the Yoke. The neo-Renaissance 1887 building by Theodor Hoijer stands directly across from Central Station. Opening hours are Tuesday-Friday 10:00-20:00, Saturday-Sunday 10:00-17:00, closed Monday, admission 22 EUR.

The National Museum of Finland at Mannerheimintie 34 (700 m north-west of Central Station on trams 4, 7 or 10) is the country's principal history museum. Housed in a 1910 National Romantic-style granite castle designed by the Gesellius-Lindgren-Saarinen partnership (yes, that Eliel Saarinen), the collection traces 10,000 years of Finnish life from the Stone Age through Swedish and Russian rule to independence in 1917 and the modern republic. Opening hours are Tuesday-Sunday 11:00-18:00, closed Monday, admission 18 EUR. The tower cafe on the fifth floor is worth the extra 5 EUR.

Pro Tip: Go to Ateneum first for the Golden Age of Finnish art (Gallen-Kallela is in the second-floor hall) and time it for Wednesday evening when hours extend to 20:00 and prices drop after 17:00. The Museokortti (Museum Card, 79 EUR annual) pays for itself if you also plan to visit Kiasma, National Museum and the Design Museum.