Academic Bookstore (Akateeminen Kirjakauppa)
Academic Bookstore (Akateeminen Kirjakauppa)
4.5
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Vironniemi
How to get there
- Rautatientori • 5 min walk
- Helsingin yliopisto • 6 min walk
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4.5
253 reviews
Excellent
121
Very good
102
Average
24
Poor
3
Terrible
3
Miss Voon
Stockholm County, Sweden65 contributions
July 2023 • Family
I love this place with all the books and the service.
Can’t understand why it always needs to be so warm inside though
Cannot either understand why there are so few Swedish books. Swedish is after all the second official language of the country
Can’t understand why it always needs to be so warm inside though
Cannot either understand why there are so few Swedish books. Swedish is after all the second official language of the country
Written 8 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sheilagh
Atlanta, GA106 contributions
July 2024 • Solo
This place has a nice selection of books. The staff are lovely and helpful. S/he kindly wrapped the book gift for me in a lovely manner. I am very grateful to their kindness and artistic taste.
I love they have beautiful poetry, like MANY famous English ones including also International ones like Rumi. I wish they had more poetry books and some recommendations throughout the bookstore. I couldn't reach out to ask for suggestions.
Also this place has a lovely selection of postcards with beautiful Finnish words. I wish they had more from the art of Finnish painters like Martha W and more.
I love they have beautiful poetry, like MANY famous English ones including also International ones like Rumi. I wish they had more poetry books and some recommendations throughout the bookstore. I couldn't reach out to ask for suggestions.
Also this place has a lovely selection of postcards with beautiful Finnish words. I wish they had more from the art of Finnish painters like Martha W and more.
Written 26 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kalle
Helsinki, Finland49 contributions
I would just first like to tell you that Akademiska Kirjakauppa means nothing. It's a micture of Swedish and Finnish, it should Akademiska Bokhandel (Swedish) or Akateeminen Kirjakauppa (Finnish).
Anyway, it's the best bookshop in Finland and it is a four-floored mecca for readers. It has the most perfect collection of English books and if you can't find your book here, you're unlikely to find it anywhere else.
Anyway, it's the best bookshop in Finland and it is a four-floored mecca for readers. It has the most perfect collection of English books and if you can't find your book here, you're unlikely to find it anywhere else.
Written 3 September 2004
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
pwaltari
Helsinki28 contributions
Dec 2016 • Solo
Akateeminen Kirjakauppa (Academic Bookstore) is a traditional bookstore with great variety of books and related products.
The building was designed by the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in 1969. "Akateeminen" (as it is commonly called) is one of the more monumental bookstores anywhere, and the interieur is a sight in itself.
The book selection is good, but it used to be better. Since 2015 new Swedish owner Bonnier Books has emphasized the "store" and played down the "academic".
Service is still on the positive side. On the second floor there is a quality cafeteria called Cafe Aalto.
The building was designed by the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in 1969. "Akateeminen" (as it is commonly called) is one of the more monumental bookstores anywhere, and the interieur is a sight in itself.
The book selection is good, but it used to be better. Since 2015 new Swedish owner Bonnier Books has emphasized the "store" and played down the "academic".
Service is still on the positive side. On the second floor there is a quality cafeteria called Cafe Aalto.
Written 24 December 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Travelling_My
Helsinki, Finland87 contributions
June 2012 • Friends
Academic bookshop designed by the iconic Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in the 1960s is an architectural gem on white marble in the corner of Northern Esplanade (Pohjoisesplanadi) and Keskuskatu street in the very heart of the city, (see http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Academic_Bookshop.html). It is a must for all architecture and book lovers. It is the best bookstore in Helsinki and one of the largest bookstores in the Nordic countries, with several floors, and books in several languages. You can easily spend hours browsing the selection and admiring the beauty of the building. The second floor small cafe Aalto is excellent, one of my absolute favorites in Helsinki. The cafe has original Aalto furnishings, interesting and chatty culture vulture clientele, table service, good coffee, large selection of delicious sweet and savoury snacks and light lunch options, always fresh and tasty!
Written 20 July 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kari P
Helsinki, Finland94 contributions
June 2012 • Solo
The atmosphere is something special and Cafe Aalto inside the shop is a perfect meeting place. Books in many languages and the personnel is really professional ( they speak most of the european languages i guess - and you will get the help you need)
Easy to find in the city centre. Surprisingly many japanese tourists are visiting - probably because of the architecture (by Alvar Aalto)
Easy to find in the city centre. Surprisingly many japanese tourists are visiting - probably because of the architecture (by Alvar Aalto)
Written 5 June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pnemiller
Kutztown, PA2,187 contributions
This terrific place has a wide variety of books in different languages--it is a great gathering place with a very good cafe. The best in Helsinki.
Written 23 September 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Surrealname
Helsinki84 contributions
A must for book-lovers all over the world. In addition to Finnish literature translated into different languages, they have the best selection of international books available in Finland, fiction and non. They have a wide variety of books in English, German, French, Italian, Russian etc.
Moreover, the Academic Bookstore is designed by Alvar Aalto, the most famous architect of Finland.
Moreover, the Academic Bookstore is designed by Alvar Aalto, the most famous architect of Finland.
Written 12 December 2008
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kathryn799
Huddersfield, UK50 contributions
Oct 2018 • Friends
Even if you are not into books, it's worth a visit here just to look at the building, the architecture is amazing a very beautiful building, but if you love books you will be in heaven, the problem is it's very big so you can lose yourself in here for hours (or even days!)
Written 9 November 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
S S
Auckland Central, New Zealand88 contributions
July 2017 • Couples
I had a whole day of activities planned for my last day in Helsinki. I decided to blow them off to spend a couple of hours in this bookshop. I have no regrets.
This store is AWESOME. Keep in mind that I have a Honours degree in English Literature, so it goes without saying that I'm a bibliophile. However, my husband hardly reads anything, and even he enjoyed this store.
There are great books on the Kalevala, including the two I had already purchased from the art gallery. There were several Finnish Nightmares books (that was mostly what kept my husband amused). There was a HUGE magazine collection, in several languages; and all sorts of every type of book in several languages.
I didn't end up finding an English copy of a really good Finnish history book (I would have settled for a good Finnish history book in any language, to be honest). It's entirely possibly Finns are so humble it hasn't occurred to them that their history is sufficiently fascinating to others to warrant writing more than one book about it.
I also couldn't find any books about the Estonian character puppets I'd purchased from Tallinn the previous day. Not that it's really Helsinki's job to stock Estonian storybooks, but given their close proximity, and the fact that people travel daily between the two cities, I personally would have found it handy.
I did, however, find three Harry Potter books in English, with the specific covers that my kids were collecting but that our local bookstore was struggling to stock. My kids were stoked when we came home with those "souvenirs" of our trip! I also found a really awesome book in English by a Swedish author about Scandinavian folklore: Vaesen. And, if there wasn't a weight limit on our luggage, my husband and could well have left armed with more books than we bought.
This bookstore is centrally located in the city centre, and has toilets and a cafe inside, because they appreciate that their store is so fantastic, you're going to spend ages in it! From Monday to Saturday it is open from 9am, which is handy, since so many places in Helsinki don't open until 10 or 11am, giving you even more time to explore both levels of this shop.
This store is AWESOME. Keep in mind that I have a Honours degree in English Literature, so it goes without saying that I'm a bibliophile. However, my husband hardly reads anything, and even he enjoyed this store.
There are great books on the Kalevala, including the two I had already purchased from the art gallery. There were several Finnish Nightmares books (that was mostly what kept my husband amused). There was a HUGE magazine collection, in several languages; and all sorts of every type of book in several languages.
I didn't end up finding an English copy of a really good Finnish history book (I would have settled for a good Finnish history book in any language, to be honest). It's entirely possibly Finns are so humble it hasn't occurred to them that their history is sufficiently fascinating to others to warrant writing more than one book about it.
I also couldn't find any books about the Estonian character puppets I'd purchased from Tallinn the previous day. Not that it's really Helsinki's job to stock Estonian storybooks, but given their close proximity, and the fact that people travel daily between the two cities, I personally would have found it handy.
I did, however, find three Harry Potter books in English, with the specific covers that my kids were collecting but that our local bookstore was struggling to stock. My kids were stoked when we came home with those "souvenirs" of our trip! I also found a really awesome book in English by a Swedish author about Scandinavian folklore: Vaesen. And, if there wasn't a weight limit on our luggage, my husband and could well have left armed with more books than we bought.
This bookstore is centrally located in the city centre, and has toilets and a cafe inside, because they appreciate that their store is so fantastic, you're going to spend ages in it! From Monday to Saturday it is open from 9am, which is handy, since so many places in Helsinki don't open until 10 or 11am, giving you even more time to explore both levels of this shop.
Written 5 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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