Linnanmaki is the fantastic amusement park located in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
This park opened in 1950, making it Finland’s oldest amusement park.
This park may be small in size, but it contains a lot of notable attractions and has a wonderful
atmosphere.
In this video, I will be reviewing Linnanmaki and explaining why this is the country’s
best amusement park.
Linnanmaki’s location is both a blessing and a curse for the park.
The park is located in the heart of Helsinki.
This allows the park to feed off the energy of the city.
However, the park is landlocked on all sides and it’s a rather small park to begin with.
Linnanmaki is only 19 acres in size, which is shockingly small for a park with visitor
numbers this high.
And it’s even more impressive considering a sizable former water tower occupies the
middle of the park.
But Linnanmaki somehow crams in almost 4 dozen attractions by building rides right next to,
over, or under pre-existing rides.
Building this many rides in close proximity has the potential to look cluttered or messy,
but Linnanmaki looks great.
The park is clean, well-maintained, and well landscaped.
The adjacent rides compliment each other nicely and create some exciting visuals both on and
off-ride.
And in other cases, the park has had to remove something to add something new.
This is similar to what you see at a lot of other parks pressed for space.
Not only does Linnanmaki have a limited amount of land, but the land they have is challenging
to build on.
This park is located atop a hill so several rides have creative layouts or placements.
But the benefit is that the taller rides have stunning views of the downtown metropolis.
Linnanmaki is Finland’s most popular amusement park and the park can feel quite congested
on busy days.
Many of the pathways- both on the midways and in the queue lines- are quite narrow.
And on those busier days, you’ll spend a good chunk of your day waiting in line.
While the operators load the rides rather quickly, many of the park’s roller coasters
have really low capacities.
Salama seats just 4 riders per car.
Tulireki seats just 6 riders per car.
And Kirnu seats just 8 riders per car.
And the park only ran one or two cars on each of these rides during my visits.
These lines moved at a snail’s pace and hovered around a half hour.
Then Linnunrata eXtra, Pikajuna, and Ukko can only run one train.
The two highest capacity coasters in Vuoristorata and Taiga are their most popular, so their
higher capacities are negated.
Taiga had the longest line, reaching 45-60 minutes on a day when the park nearly hit
capacity.
But if you want to avoid Taiga’s line, you can purchase single skip-the-line passes for
this ride only.
Each one costs 9 Euros and you board the next train in any row of your choice.
This may be a wise investment if the park is slammed.
Or you can try visiting on a day with cruddy weather.
On my return visit, the park was completely dead due to persistent rain all-day.
And most rides remained open despite the steady precipitation.
Linnanmaki has free admission.
And one really interesting thing is that several of the park’s kiddie rides are completely
free.
But that goes back to this park’s mission.
Linnanmaki is owned and operated by the non-profit Children’s Day Foundation, who use the park
to raise funds for child welfare work.
Some of the park’s revenue goes back into upkeep or new attractions while the rest of
it is donated.
Linnanmaki has donated nearly 120 million Euros in its 70 year history.
So you can leave Linnanmaki knowing you not only had a fun time, but you also supported
a worthwhile charity.
If you want to ride the larger rides, you either need to purchase tickets or an all-day
wristband.
As of 2021, an all-day wristband costs 42 Euros.
Given that each ride costs 9 Euros, I strongly recommend the wristband if you want to ride
multiple attractions.
You either purchase or redeem these wristbands at the ticket booth across from Taiga.
Linnanmaki has a circular layout around that aforementioned water tower.
There’s a main midway and some smaller sections that break off the main path.
It can be a little tricky to locate a few rides given the park’s density and elevation
changes, but the park’s small size means you can navigate this park quickly.
And if you do get lost, you can always ask staff members.
Linnanmaki’s staff is super helpful and friendly.
It always impresses me when a park can balance efficiency and friendliness like this.
Before 2019, Linnanmaki’s coaster lineup- while unique- was lacking.
It had a lot of rare coaster models, but it had no standout coaster.
That all changed in 2019 with Taiga.
This Intamin multi-launch coaster is incredible and it’s the best coaster in Finland.
Taiga offers a diverse layout combining decent launches, hangtime filled inversions, and
several airtime moments.
The elements alone are great, but they’re accentuated by the breakneck pacing, flawless
transitions, and unique placement.
Taiga is one of those rides built on the side of a hill and the coaster dives down the hillside
at multiple points during the layout giving sudden speed boosts.
Taiga is the main reason Linnanmaki should be on the radar of enthusiasts and I go into
more detail on this exceptional ride in a separate review.
Taiga is built over a one-of-a-kind coaster in Tulireki.
This was the prototype Mack E-Motion coaster and it’s the only one left.
The gimmick with this coaster is that the train is able to rock both side-to-side and
back-and-forth.
While the added motion sounds like a plus on paper, the execution is very flawed.
Rather than being smooth and fluid like an Arrow suspended coaster, the limited motion
just makes the ride feel rough.
The ride rumbles down the track and the ride experience feels comparable to an old jackhammering
wood coaster.
That alone is bad, but the coaster also has atrocious pacing due to several mid-course
brake runs that bring you to a near stop.
I go into more detail in a separate review, but this is a wretched coaster.
Another prototype at this park is Kirnu, the first Intamin ZacSpin.
This was the first fourth dimension coaster to have free spinning cars and it’s an intense
experience.
Unlike the S&S free spins where you rotate around each rider’s center of mass, Kirnu
rotates you around a central point on the train.
This results in more violent and forceful flipping.
This can cause some discomfort as you’re thrown into the lap bar, but the motion is
more natural unlike the neutered Green Lantern First Flight that used to run at Six Flags
Magic Mountain.
I love the freefall sensation on the first raven turn and the final element is crazy.
You get a pop of airtime combined with a flip.
The ride is short, but it’s a fun thrill for the reasons I go into in a separate review.
Ukko is a rare Maurer SkyLoop.
This ride has some freaky hangtime on the upside-down lift hill and barrel rolls.
You also get some strong positive Gs passing through the station.
The restraints are awkward since they hug your stomach, but the ride is a short but
fun blitz of forces.
Salama is another Maurer coaster.
This one is a spinning coaster.
I love how this ride is built above the river rapids ride.
And it also starts strong with a good drop and horseshoe turn.
However, the rest of the ride’s helical layout is just ok.
You hold your speed well, but there wasn’t as much spinning as I anticipated nor any
exciting elements.
Vuoristorata is Finland’s oldest operating roller coaster.
This is a rare scenic railway that still operates with a brakeman on-board.
While the ride oozes history, it’s not very intense.
The brakemen were super conservative, so there was only 1-2 spots of airtime.
Even worse, you would come to a near stop on several of the turns.
You went so slowly that the brakeman actually had to propel the train at points with his
foot.
I do really appreciate this ride’s history and how smooth it is given its age though.
For families, you have Pikajuna and Linnunrata eXtra.
The latter is an indoor roller coaster in that giant cylindrical water tower in the
center of the park.
And once inside, you’d have no clue it was a water tower given the space theming.
The ride itself isn’t too wild, but if you ride in the back, there are two drops after
each lift with some good whip.
The ride doesn’t have a high top speed, but it feels faster than it actually is due
to the darkness.
Then Pikajuna is a Mack powered coaster.
This one offers some neat views of Taiga, but the ride itself isn’t particularly noteworthy.
It’s the park’s best starter coaster for younger guests.
But Linnanmaki is about more than just the coasters.
You have a few dark rides.
My favorite was Taikasirkus, a clown-themed dark ride.
The infectious theme song is still stuck in my head and it complimented the zany scenes
perfectly.
The most shocking was a scene towards the end where a bunch of clowns were cleaning
up these giant elephant poops.
That’s something you’d never see on a ride back home in the United States.
Next door is Kammokuja, a permanent haunted walkthrough.
There are no live actors.
Instead, this one has 2D blacklit artwork and some triggered effects.
I strongly recommend moving through this attraction slowly, as many of the effects were delayed.
But some of the floor tricks and air blasts caught me off-guard.
Another walkthrough is the Pellen Talo fun house.
This ride looks like your average traveling fun house because it is.
While Linnanmaki works to build a new permanent fun house, this ride was temporarily brought
to the park.
The multi-level fun house had no shortage of effects and they were all working.
Lastly, you have Kyopelinvuoren Hotelli, which is a traditional haunted house.
This one was very dark and it had some unique scares coming from all directions.
The ride’s animatronics were pretty good and I liked the clever integration of modern
effects, including some air blasts that came through a screen.
For flat rides, you have a strong mix of spinning and pendulum rides.
One of the most notable flats is Magia, which is a really rare Technical Park spinning ride.
This ride pulls some serious positive Gs as you rapidly rotate in a circle.
The ride is pulsed and has a lot of dead spots, but the centripetal force at the ride’s
max speed is matched by few rides.
And this is one of the best parks in the world for drop towers.
You have two for kids and two adult drop towers.
And those two adult towers offer stunning views.
Kingi is the better of the two.
This Moser Rides drop tower stands 230 feet or 70 meters tall, but you can see for miles
since the ride is atop that aforementioned hill.
The ride rotates on the way up to ensure you see everything and the drop is thrilling too.
I floated the entire way down.
Alternatively, you can get blasted up on Raketti, the S&S space shot.
This one was just ok.
The initial launch was solid, but you only get weak floater airtime at the top.
If you want to take in the sights without the thrills, the Rinkeli ferris wheel or Panoraama
observation tower are your best options.
The park doesn’t have too many water rides given the cooler climate of Finland, but you
do have a solid Intamin river rapids ride in Hurjakuru.
This ride has rather weak rapids, but it compensates with some Viking themed tunnels, ornate sprayers,
and a massive waterfall towards the end.
I touched on it earlier, but Linnanmaki has a large mix of kiddie rides.
There isn’t one central kids area.
Rather, Linnanmaki sprinkles them throughout the park.
So do I recommend Linnanmaki?
Absolutely!
This is the best amusement park in Finland for all ages.
You have a large collection of thrill rides anchored by Taiga.
And then you also have a deep lineup of family and kiddie rides.
So there really is something for everyone.
There is plenty to fill an entire day and I would recommend a full day due to the crowd
levels this park can see.
The one last thing I want to mention is parking.
Linnanmaki strongly recommends that guests arrive using public transportation.
There are some paid lots around the park, but they are not very big.
Your best option is to arrive very early or book a hotel nearby that includes parking.
I did the latter and it made the arrival experience a lot less stressful.
So those are my thoughts on Linnanmaki, Finland’s most famous and popular amusement park.
What are your thoughts about this Helsinki park?
Have you been there?
I would love to hear your thoughts about this park down in the comments.
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