Checking out Puu-Vallila, Helsinki's wooden house district + some biking around the city's parks

Saturday would be my last full day in Helsinki, so I wanted to cover some ground. First thing I did was head out to Puu-Vallila, aka the Wooden House District. It makes a lot 'must see' lists for its distinct history and character. My takeaway after checking it out is that it's cool if you're planning to spend more time up in the broader Vallila area, but not necessarily worth the trek if you're just flying through this particular subslice of Vallila. It's a lazy analogy, but from what I'm reading it sounds like Vallila has vibes like parts of Brooklyn did in the early 2000s (thinking Carroll Gardens up through Williamsburg). It also sounds like coming to Helsinki and spending a long summer weekend focused on Vallila specifically could be fun. For your reference and consideration I'll share a few links from MyHelsinki.

* Up & coming Vallila

* 7 Vallila "must dos"

* 72 hours in Vallila

What I did was take the tram up to spin around Puu-Vallila for maybe 20 minutes before hopping on a City Bike to head back downtown.

For orientation, let's see where Puu-Vallila is within the city. It's a bit north. Again, my apartment is marked by the southern-most heart icon you see in the image below and Puu-Vallila is that red pin up north.

Getting up there was straightforward, but took some time. Two trams, twelve stops, and ~35 minutes.

Another delightfully quiet tram ride. And, fyi, that little blue terminal you see in the pics below is how and where you pay for your ride. Dead simple and convenient.

I hopped off the tram at Vallian kirjasto, just like the app told me to. It's right on the southestern edge of the district, as you can see marked by the red pin in the first image below. Second pic is what I saw when I hopped off this lovely Saturday morning.

I snapped some pics of the perimeter as I looped around to the main area.

Soon enough you get a glimpse of the traditional homes that are the area's calling card.

This green building here is Pikku-Vallila, which appears to be very well reviewed. Perhaps if you were coming just to see Puu-Vallila it would be a good idea to swing through during this pub's limited opening hours and enjoy a pint or coffee on the sidewalk.

Snapped a few more pics that caught my eye. Foilage, solid color facades, bright blue sky. Very nice.

And that was it. As you get out to the nothern point of the neighborhood where Maekelankatu and Sturenkatu intersect you find a generic, wide open intersection. Underscores how Puu-Vallila really is a rather small oasis within the broader Vallila zone.

Rather than tram it back to the center, I decided to get one more ride out of my City Bike pass. Picked one up and generally pointed myself toward the center via the paths along the ... ponds? lakes? ... bodies of water that lie right in the middle of the city on either side of the train tracks that run down into the center of the city. You can see them below in the first image. Following image is my route, kinda, indicated by the darker blue line.

I only snapped a few pics. Again, I was enjoying the ride and didn't want to hop off every 30 seconds to take pictures. But you can get the idea of how it was. Really pleasant.

Altogether that accounted for about 1h 45m ish and it was time for the next stage of the day, which would be a bit of wandering / shopping in the Kammpi area.