Finland · Uusimaa · Helsinki
Eira, Helsinki — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Eira is a small Helsinki borough south of the city centre, known for its jugend apartment blocks and the embassies along its streets.
About Eira
Where to stay in Eira
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Eira is one of the addresses Helsinki keeps for its embassies, and the jugend apartment houses that fill it are among the city's most sought-after, which sets the tone for anyone booking a room in the borough or in Ullanlinna next door. The centre is a walk north. Restaurants cluster across Eira, Ullanlinna and Kaivopuisto rather than in any one of them, so dinner is rarely a district decision.
Beds themselves are few.
About Eira
What are the main landmarks in Eira?
Two monuments carry the register. The Merenkulkijoiden ja mereen menehtyneiden muistomerkki remembers seafarers and those lost at sea, which is the one line the borough's list draws to the water rather than to its own streets. Juhani Ahon patsas is the other, a statue keeping one personal name on a list that is otherwise about the sea.
What is the history of Eira?
Eira's record begins with its buildings. The jugend apartment houses are what the borough is known for, a single architectural style running through streets that also hold many of the foreign embassies in Helsinki. Eira's beginning is dated by architecture, not by any charter.
What the borough keeps instead is two monuments, the Merenkulkijoiden ja mereen menehtyneiden muistomerkki and Juhani Ahon patsas, and a stock of old apartments that Ullanlinna and Kaivopuisto share the reputation for.
Where is Eira?
Eira lies south of Helsinki's centre, a borough of a fraction of a square kilometre with Ullanlinna and Kaivopuisto alongside it.
More areas in Helsinki
Updated September 2026