Whether you’re spending time in Helsinki or just simply stopping through on your way to your next destination, exploring Helsinki is definitely worth it! Navigating the city of Helsinki is relatively easy and is totally possible during a long layover.
Here are some things to know:
Airport Transportation
Getting to and from the airport to the city center is straightforward by using the train.
Follow the signs to Rail Transportation, once you arrive, you’ll see platforms for the I and P train. These trains run in a circle clockwise and counterclockwise to and from the airport. If your goal is to get to the city center and the main Helsinki train terminal, you can take either train.
Signs and announcements on the train are all in Finnish and English which makes navigating it much easier.
There’s a machine located right next to the platforms where you can purchase your tickets using a credit card or cash. Alternatively, you can also download the HSL app to buy your train tickets. The app is one of the simpler city transportation apps I’ve used. The app allows you to buy multiple tickets after purchasing the first one. From the airport to the city center you’ll need to buy a ticket for Zones ABC which should cost around 4 euros.
If you don’t set the ticket to validate on purchase, make sure you validate it before getting on the train as they will come around and check to make sure you have a valid ticket.
An ABC ticket is good for 90 minutes and you can use the same one to continue taking the tram. The trams seem to go all over the city center so you’ll likely be able to take one from the main train station to your next destination.
Unless you’re arriving or leaving in the middle of night when the train isn’t running, taking the train is the best way to get to the city center because taxis/ubers are very expensive! Unfortunately the train didn’t start running early enough for us to take it on the way back to the airport and it cost us 50 euros via taxi compared to 8 euros.
Family Friendly
Helsinki airport is one of the most family friendly airports we’ve been to. This isn’t something we look for when we travel since we don’t have children, but it was noticeable at this airport.
The airport had a separate family security area so families aren’t dealing with the cranky less patient travelers (oh hi that’s us!)
In addition, in the FinnAir lounge there were highchairs for children to sit at the tables with their adult family members readily available. I wish I could have taken a picture of the tiny child barely old enough to walk wearing giant snow boots, sitting in a highchair with his dad eating a slice of cheese with his dad’s glass of wine right in front of him, but I’m not one to take pictures of strangers children because that’s creepy! Oh and illegal lol. The readily available high chairs is not something we’ve seen in lounges before!
I’m not sure if parents would appreciate this last option (or the lounge staff), but they did have small plastic toilet seats for toddlers in the FinnAir lounge bathrooms. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of this one either…but I didn’t want anyone thinking I was taking pictures of them in the women’s restroom!
Credit Card Payments
We obviously love to use credit cards anytime we can instead of using cash for various reasons. We found quite a few places to be credit cards only with contactless payment preferred. This is a huge perk especially given how expensive things cost in Finland. Although we had euros we never once used them and just used apple pay for everything.
If you’re only spending a few hours in Helsinki and don’t have euros, that shouldn’t be a problem here!
Christmas Markets
If you find yourself in Helsinki during the Christmas market it’s worth checking out. The market is not as decorative as the ones in Germany and France, but the craft goods make up for it. Helsinki seemed to have way more local items for sale as opposed to plenty of items we saw for sale in German and French markets that were imported from Asia.
Because these items are mostly local, they’re also on the more expensive side. The quality of the items makes up for the high price tags in our opinion.
The markets do close earlier than markets in other countries, likely because it’s just so much colder here! So keep that in mind if you’re short on time during your layover.
Visit Tallinn
A little more challenging but if you have extra time in Helsinki, consider taking a ferry service over to Tallinn Estonia. The ferry takes about 2 hours to reach the other port and there are 3 ferry lines that offer this option. Click here to view ferry options. This isn’t really feasible if you only have a few hours in Helsinki, but if you have a day or two you could have enough time to visit Tallinn as well.
If you’re still early in your planning process, another option would be to fly into Helsinki, take the ferry to Tallinn and then fly out of Tallinn to your next destination to save you some time. We didn’t realize how often the ferry service ran and how easy otherwise we would have added Tallinn to our trip to Helsinki as well instead of planning a separate trip.
Visit a Spa
No trip to Finland would be complete without at least one visit to a spa. If you’re spending the night in Helsinki, there’s a HIGH probability that your hotel will have a sauna. We’ve found sauna visits are typically free at hotels in Finland if you’re staying there. It’s perfectly normal to walk down to the sauna in your robe and slippers as opposed to changing when you get to the sauna.
If you don’t have a hotel stay in Helsinki, there are many day spa options available as well that you could visit for just a half hour to experience the Finnish sauna experience. We read there are even saunas available at the Helsinki airport but we did not see them during our time. If you see them, comment below and let us know!
The Helsinki airport is quite nice and just underwent a massive renovation with Terminal 2. With numerous direct flights to all over the world, this is an excellent starting point to reach Europe for those coming from outside the EU. It’s easy to take advantage of this connection and spend a day in Helsinki while you’re already there as opposed to just going on to your final destination.
