The grandest commercial street in Helsinki, running east-west across the city centre between the central railway station and the harbour. Built up in the second half of the nineteenth century with banks, insurance houses, department stores, and the Stockmann store at the western end. Aleksanterinkatu is what locals mean when they refer to "Aleksi".
In winter the street is decorated with the famous Helsinki Christmas lights — the oldest continuously running Christmas illumination in northern Europe. The tram line that runs the length of the street is the easiest way to grasp the geography of the centre on a first visit.