Helsinki Travel Guide - Getting There

By air: Helsinki can be reached by direct flights from most major cities in Europe. In addition, there is a daily direct service is available from Boston and New York and from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Osaka, Singapore and Tokyo. Approximate flying times are as follows: from New York, 7 hours; from Toronto, 8 hours 40 minutes; from Los Angeles, 16 hours; from London, 2 hours 55 minutes; and from Sydney, 27 hours 30 minutes.

By train: there are three main rail lines that arrive in Helsinki: from Turku in the west, from Tampere in the north and from Lahti in the north-east. Trains from St Petersburg and Moscow pass through Lahti.

By road: most road links with other parts of Scandinavia and continental Europe involve a ferry connection to Finland. The quickest and most direct routes to Finland from western Scandinavia are the E3 and E4 from Stockholm, connecting with the lengthy (14-16 hour) ferry on to Helsinki.

A high-speed, year-round car ferry connects Germany to Helsinki, with the ferry journey taking 22 hours. Domestically, approximate driving times to Helsinki are as follows: From Rovaniemi, 11 hours; from Turku, 2 hours 15 minutes; and from Vaasa – 4 hours 30 minutes. Travelling from Russia, the trip from St Petersburg takes around 5 hours.