Finland Travel Guide - Getting There

Finland's national airline is Finnair (AY) (website: www.finnair.com).

From London to Helsinki is 3 hours, and from New York is 8 hours.

Helsinki (HEL) (Helsinki-Vantaa) (tel: 0200 14636; website: www.helsinki-vantaa.fi) is Finland's principal international airport, 19km (12 miles) north of the city (journey time - 25 minutes). To/from the airport: Finnair City Bus and the airport bus operate to the city regularly (journey time - 30 minutes). Taxi services are available. Some Helsinki hotels run courtesy coaches. Facilities: Banks/bureaux de change, duty-free shops, hair salon, car hire, hotel reservation service, VIP lounge, a multimedia centre, conference rooms, restaurants, cafes and bars.

Other international airports include Turku (TKU), 7km (4 miles) north of the city; Tampere (TMP), 15km (9 miles) from the city; and Rovaniemi (RVN), 10km (6 miles) from the city (website: www.finavia.fi).

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Main ports: Helsinki (website: www.portofhelsinki.fi), Turku (website: www.port.turku.fi), Mariehamn (Åland) and Vaasa (website: www.vaasa.fi/port). Car ferries sail daily from Stockholm and other Swedish ports, as well as from Tallinn (Estonia). International ferry companies include Viking Line (tel: 0600 41577; www.vikingline.fi) and Silja Line (tel: 0600 174 552; www.tallinksilja.com). There are also ferry services to Finland from Rostockand Travemünde (Germany).

Several major cruise lines call at Finnish ports.

Rail-sea links to Finland exist from northern Europe via Copenhagen and Stockholm to Helsinki or Turku. There are daily trains from Helsinki to St Petersburg and Moscow.

InterRail: offers unlimited first- or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries for European residents of over six months with two pass options. The Global Pass allows travel for 22 days, one month, five days in 10 days or 10 days in 22 days across all countries. The One-Country Pass offers travel for three, four, six or eight days in one month in any of the countries except Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Travel is not allowed in the passenger's country of residence. Travellers under 26 years receive a reduction. Children's tickets are reduced by about 50%. Supplements are required for some high-speed services, seat reservations and couchettes. Discounts are offered on Eurostar and some ferry routes. Available from Interrail (website: www.interrailnet.com).

Eurailpass: offers unlimited first-class train travel in 17 European countries. Tickets are valid for 15 days, 21 days, one month, two months or three months. The Eurailpass Saver ticket offers discounts for two or more people travelling together. The Eurailpass Youth ticket is available to those aged under 26 and offers unlimited second-class train travel. The Eurailpass Flexi allows either 10 or 15 travel days within a two-month period. The Eurail Selectpass is valid in three, four or five bordering countries and allows five, six, eight or 10 travel days (or 15 for five countries) in a two-month period. The Eurail Regional Pass allows four to 10 travel days in a two-month period in one of nine regions (usually two or more countries). Children receive a 50% reduction. The passes cannot be sold to residents of Europe, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia or the Russian Federation. Available from The Eurail Group (website: www.eurail.com). 

ScanRail pass: allows unlimited travel within Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Valid for five or 10 days in two months or 21 consecutive days. Available from Scanrail (website: www.scanrail.com). It is more flexible if you purchase it outside Scandinavia.

There are eight official border crossing places between Finland and the Russian Federation, six between Finland and Norway and 10 between Finland and Sweden. The most frequented borders are at Vaalimaa (from the Russian Federation), Karigasniemi (from Norway) and Tornio (from Sweden). This route through Sweden to the north end of the Gulf of Bothnia avoids the need to cross the Baltic by ship but is much slower.

Coach: There are coach services from many European cities, including direct services from London to Stockholm (Sweden) or Tallinn (Estonia). From both cities there are frequent crossings to Finland. There are also routes from Norway and the Russian Federation.