Ateljee Bar

This was a deeply underwhelming experience. As a New Yorker, I know my rooftop bars, and I know it’s a genre particularly prone to weak drinks, shameless prices, and indifferent staff. This place had all three. I’m pretty sure my strawberry margarita had not a drop of tequila in it (serves me right for ordering a strawberry margarita, probably…)
Helsinki has many charms, but its skyline isn’t really one of the key draws, so I’m a bit disappointed that I spent 17 euro to get seatjacked by loud tourists and look at roofs, smokestacks, and cranes under a gray sky. There are plenty of cool bars in the area – don’t go to this one.

Views are unmatched in Helsinki, but the quality of the mixed drinks is on the lower end and the tables are often not the cleanest. Make sure you go to the bathroom while there, the view is great!

This tiny bar sits atop a hotel and offers tourists like me a very nice view of Helsinki. It’s very close quarters and requires a bit of tight stairway climbing to access, so only the able-​bodied are welcome. There’s a small and pricey cocktail menu. The drinks are made quickly and well, which is important when it’s crowded (which is probably all the time in summer). It’s well worth a visit to sip a cocktail and drink in the view, but it’s more of a novelty than a bar.

Helsinki doesn’t have many very high buildings. One of the highest ones is Hotel Torni. And on the very top of it you find Ateljee Bar.
Coming up here is a must for every tourist visiting Helsinki. From both their terraces you have a great view over the whole city and can get a good overview of what is where in Helsinki. You can see all of Helsinki’s main sights and neighborhoods from Linnanmäki to Kaivopuist, from Katajanokka to Lauttasaari.
But Ateljee is not only a place for tourists. Also for locals it’s a great place to come from time to time to see their beautiful city from above and enjoy the view with a glass of wine or an outstanding cocktail.
To get to Ateljee Bar you have to enter from the main entrance of Hotel Torni and take the small evelator to the 12^th floor. You have to climb the last steps yourself. And if you are at Ateljee don’t forget to go to the bathroom. The toilets here are the most impressive in whole Helsinki.

Expensive but you MUST go. The view is the best! It is a great place to view on a summer day with your friends. They also used this bar to tape one of my favorite Finnish movies. visit the bathroom with a view! You will feel both violated and FREE!

The view from the Torni Hotel is stunning, probably the best in town, especially at sunset.
However, I was expecting more from the 12 – 14 euro cocktails. Both cocktails we ordered tasted nice, but more in a ‘mild juice with sparkling water’ kind of way. I was simply expecting more flavour and a more cocktail-​like drink with e.g. fresh fruit juice. The view made up for the slight disappointment and I’ll still go back for sure !

No trip to Helsinki is complete without a trip to the top of the Torni hotel to visit the Ateljee bar. It is one of the best (and free to enter) places to get a great view of the city. The city itself doesn’t have very many tall buildings, so you can see pretty far on a clear day. Unfortunately, I was there when it was raining on and off, but I was told by my walking tour guide that you can theoretically see all the way to Tallinn (Estonia).
The bar itself is small and fills up easily, so I’d recommend trying to go during the week or during a workday so the crowds aren’t so bad. For a fabulous location, the prices aren’t that bad. The locals will probably tell you that the place is very expensive (which is sorta true), but you can’t put a price on the expanse of views!
Take the trip up!

Allez y si vous voulez une vue sympa sur Helsinki ! Pas enormement de place, mais un bar branché et classe au dernier étage d’ un hôtel. Accessible sans problème sans être client de l’ hotel. Des coktails sympa en plus.

When visiting Helsinki there is one bar you absolutely have to visit. Pay no attention to locals who might mention that it is touristy or too expensive. It definitely is, but it matters so little when Ateljee gives you the best scenic view of the Helsinki skyline. True, the city doesn’t really have a skyline, but that only means you can see further than you could have ever imagined, because there are no tall buildings blocking the view. You can see far into the sea (some say you can even see Estonia). You can even see the forests that surround Helsinki.
The drinks are also good, but they are expensive. If your budget is really tight you can always go for something simple like a coffee or soda. The lift doesn’t take you all the way up to the bar either, so unfortunately there is a set of steep stairs one has to climb. It’s no Mayan temple, but it can prove to be an impossible task for old and disabled folk.
I take all my foreign friends here. It is a Helsinki must-​do.