Public Transportation in Finland
Traveling in Helsinki and other Cities by Bus, Train and Other Means
Apr 7, 2009
Most larger cities have decent local transport based on buses and sometimes even trains, but smaller towns usually offer few departures and the last one of the day may be as early as 10 or even 8 PM.
Traveling by Train in Finland
Trains are generally the best way to travel between cities in Finland. They're clean, safe and reliable and usually on time. There are different types of trains: local commuter trains, InterCity trains and the superfast Pendolino trains. You can also take a train from Helsinki to Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia on daily basis.
InterCity and Pendolino trains have a restaurant car and some feature a trolley that sells food and drinks. Trains to Lapland have sleeper cars and sometimes it's even possible to take your car with you - they travel on the roof of special car trains.
It's easiest to buy train tickets from vending machines on the stations or online at the VR website. It is worth noting the tickets are bought for a specific departure and cannot be used freely on any train, as used to be the case.
If a train connection isn't available, long-distance buses are a good option too. The prices are similar to trains, but in buses the age limit for child discount is 12 years and in trains it's 17 years, so for those traveling with teenaged children trains may pose a cheaper option, when available.
In general discounts are few and far between - there are no discounts for groups or e.g. during holidays. Many Finnish cities, including Turku, Tampere and Oulu have airports, but trains and buses are generally much cheaper, even though all long-distance public transportation is fairly expensive in Finland.
Public Transport in Helsinki
The Helsinki area has a pretty good public transport that includes buses, trams, ferries, local trains and a subway/metro. The subway is small, consisting of one line, so it is very simple to use.
The subway, most train stations, some trams and most buses are wheelchair-accessible (and easily accessible for baby carriages), but most trains are not. WLAN (wifi) Internet is freely available in some buses.
The Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is located about 15 km from the Helsinki city. Several buslines service the airport, 615 being the main one. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the city center. Late at night you may still have to get a cab.
There are three types of tickets: a local area ticket for each city (Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo/Kauniainen), a whole region ticket that covers all of them, and an extended region ticket that covers some other towns as well. There is also a tram ticket which is slightly cheaper than other tickets. With the other tickets you can use the transport of your choice. With all tickets you're entitled to change into another vehicle within 1 hour or 1 hour 20 minutes.
Children younger than 17 travel for half the price and those under the age of 7 for free. You can buy tickets in trams, buses, trains, by sending an SMS and in advance from kiosks and vending machines, which is slightly cheaper. Tourist cards contain unlimited travel for 1, 3 or 5 days.
During the night (2 AM to 5 AM) you need a more expensive nightfare ticket. Generally night buses are only available weekends (Fri-Sat and Sat-Sun) and during some holidays. On other occasions the buses and trains stop traffic at between 1 and 2 AM. The subway and most trams cease traffic at about 11 PM.
Route Planners
Luckily for foreigners Finland has several very good free online journey planners for planning public transport connections, which are available in English. They can also be used with an Internet-enabled mobile phone.
In the Helsinki area use Journey Planner. For trips elsewhere Matka.fi covers all the long distance transport in Finland as well as the local transport in the biggest cities.
See Also
Flamingo Waterpark and Wellness Spa, Finland
 |
