I was in Helsinki for a few days in Feb 2006, so it's been a while and I imagine it's a different place when it's not the dead of winter, but I recall a few highlights. I can't help with lodging or food really, I stayed in a cheap hostel and ate either cheaply or while drunk.
Suomenlinna Island was really cool, it's an old fortress/village across the harbor from the center of town that is full of little shops, museums, and park space. Pretty interesting place as well as a good spot to relax for a bit.
The National Museum was interesting, definitely learned a lot about the history and culture of the country there. The Kiasma modern art museum was one of the highlights of my trip, had a lot of the typical modern art, but a few of the things had that sort of dark humor twist that I found prevalent in Helsinki. The sno-globes depicting people falling through thin ice and other morbid scenes were particularly bizarre.
As for bars, I remember getting absolutely destroyed at a place called 'On the Rocks' which I beleive was off the main square by the train station. I generally stuck to the old school rock bars around town, which there were a few of, and found them to all be pretty fun but quite expensive. There's a bar/music venue called Tavastia (next door is a smaller palce called Semifinal) that hosts some pretty popular bands, might be worth checking out what's going on there. I caught a Finnish folk singer/Comedian one night, no idea what was being said but I laughed anyways.
One big recomendation I'd have is to take the ferry across to Tallinn, Estonia if you have the time. That city is absolutely amazing. Still my favorite place in the world.
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