Helsinki harbour, Finland
© 123rf.com / Andrei Nekrassov
Travel to Finland
Flying to Finland
Finland's national airline is Finnair (AY) (www.finnair.com), or there are flights with many other European airlines. Budget airline Blue 1 (KF) (www.blue1.com) operates as part of the SAS Group, with international connections to neighbouring Nordic countries and airports across Europe.
From London to Helsinki is 3 hours, and from New York is 8 hours.
Included in ticket price.
Travel by rail
There are rail-sea links to Finland via Copenhagen and Stockholm and several trains run daily from Helsinki to St Petersburg and Moscow. Contact VR (tel: 0600 41902, within Finland only or (9) 2319 2902 from elsewhere; www.vr.fi) or visit www.seat61.com/finland.htm.
InterRail: offers unlimited first- or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries for travellers who have been residents of Europe for more than six months. The Global Pass allows travel for 22 days, one month, five days in 10 days or 10 days in 22 days across all countries. Travellers under 26 years receive a reduction, but you cannot buy a pass for your home nation. Children get a discount of around 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 (www.interrailnet.com).
Eurailpass: There are four types of Eurailpass offering unlimited first-class train travel within the countries of Europe. The Eurail Global pass allows continuous travel for 15 days to three months, or 10 to 15 days in one two month period, in 21 European countries. The Eurail Select pass 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 three to 10 travel days in a two-month period in one of nine regions - the Scandinavia Pass covers Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Children aged 4 to 11 receive a 50% reduction; there are also discounts for under-25s. Eurail passes cannot be sold to residents of Europe and some other nations. Available from The Eurail Group (www.eurail.com).
Getting to Finland by boat
Helsinki (www.portofhelsinki.fi), Turku (www.port.turku.fi), Mariehamn (Åland; www.visitaland.com) and Vaasa (www.vaasa.fi/port). Car ferries sail daily to Finland 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). Note that many locals use the international ferries for overnight 'booze cruises' and they can be noisy and crowded at weekends. There are also ferry services to Finland from Rostockand Travemünde (Germany). Several major international cruise lines call at Finnish ports.
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