The compact district south of the central railway station that Helsinki has anointed as its design district. Streets like Annankatu, Korkeavuorenkatu, Uudenmaankatu, and Iso Roobertinkatu are lined with independent fashion boutiques, antique shops, galleries, ceramic studios, and the city's densest concentration of third-wave cafés.
The Design Museum sits on the southern edge of the district. The streets are walkable, mostly pedestrian or near-traffic-free, and the architecture is mostly late nineteenth-century stone apartment buildings with high ground-floor shop fronts. Allow a half day for proper browsing.