International travel

Helsinki is easily reachable by air, sea and land. So, stop making excuses and travel to Finland! =)

Air travel

Helsinki is nowadays easily reachable at affordable prices on budget airlines. The situation with these airlines develops rapidly, so it is possible that all of the information presented below is not accurate. Always consult the airline for accurate pricing, schedule and destination information.

The Helsinki-Vantaa airport is the main airport in Finland and in the Helsinki area. It is located roughly 10 km from the party place. Regular bus and taxi shuttle services connect the aiport to the center of Helsinki. The party place is easy to reach by any local train from the Central Railway Station.

The Tampere airport is located in the city of Tampere, which is located roughly 200 km from Helsinki. You can get to Helsinki easily by train from Tampere.

A wide variety of international "regular" airlines offer air travel to Helsinki. The national carrier is Finnair. As always, you can expect to pay significantly more for a "regular" airline instead of budget airline. However, Finnair has also reasonable rates on certain routes if you can travel outside of the busiest hours.

Sea travel

Helsinki lies by the Baltic sea and there are plenty of routes to and from the city. The main routes are between Helsinki and Stockholm, Helsinki and Travemunde and Helsinki and Tallinn.

Helsinki-Stockholm

The Helsinki-Stockholm route is known as the "party line" and the ferries resemble more floating casinos than traditional ships. Partying is more part of the experience than the actual travel (quite a lot of people are known to take the return trip cruise without setting foot on foreign soil at all). If you haven't ever travelled on these ferries, it wil be quite an experience =).

The best known companies operating this line are

• Viking Line (somewhat cheaper, younger folk on board)
• Silja Line (perhaps a little bit more conservative action here)

Check out the prices on the company websites.

Helsinki / Hanko - Rostock

There is regular ferry traffic between Helsinki and Rostock. Superfast Ferries also connects Hanko and Rostock. The voyage takes roughly 1,5 days. The best known companies operating this line are

• Superfast Ferries (Hanko - Rostock - note: there is several hundred kilometers to Helsinki from Hanko - recommend that you take the train)
• Silja Finnjet (Helsinki - Rostock)

For pricing, please check the company websites.

Helsinki-Tallinn

There is plenty of ferry traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn. The fastest ferries cross the Finnish gulf in less than an hour, while the older ships take roughly 2-3 hours for the same trip. You can find below some of the operators on this route:

• Tallink
• Silja Line
• Nordic Jet Line
• Eckerö Line

The prices for the ferries correspond to the speed of the ferry: the older and the slower the ferry, the cheaper the cost. For details, check the company websites.

Land travel

Depending on where you are coming from, you have the following alternatives to reach Helsinki

• Driving through Denmark, Sweden and taking the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki
• Driving through the Baltic and taking the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki
• Driving through the Baltic and taking the long way around by traveling via St. Petersburg and then to Helsinki

For more information about Finland, check out Virtual Finland.