Getting in and visas for Finland

Finnish foreign ministry has a page on Entry documents required of foreign nationals. Finland is signatory to the Schengen treaty, see the article on the European Union for details.

By plane

Finland's main international hub is Helsinki-Vantaa Airport near Helsinki. Finnair , Blue1 Air Finland and Finncomm Airlines are based there, and around 30 foreign airlines fly to Helsinki-Vantaa. Ryanair's Finland hub is in Tampere, with flights around Europe. Other airlines have limited regional services to other cities, mostly just to Sweden, and, in the winter high season, occasional direct charters (especially in December) and seasonal scheduled flights (Dec-Mar) to Lapland. It may also be worth your while to get a cheap flight to Tallinn and follow the boat instructions below to get to Finland.

By train

VR [3] and Russian Railways have two direct train services daily from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg and one daily to Moscow in Russia. There are no direct trains between Sweden or Norway and Finland (the rail gauge is different), but the bus over the gap from Boden/Luleå (Sweden) to Kemi (Finland) is free with an Eurail/Inter Rail/Scanrail pass, and you can also get a 50% discount from most ferries with these passes.

By boat

Inside a Silja passenger ferry One of the best ways to travel to and from Finland is by sea. The boats to Estonia and Sweden, in particular, are giant, multi-story floating palaces and department stores, with cheap prices subsidized by sales of tax-free booze: a return trip to Tallinn including a cabin for up to four people can go as low as 50€. If travelling by Inter Rail, you can get 50% off deck fares. The best way to arrive in Helsinki is standing on the outside deck with a view ahead. Estonia and the Baltic states Helsinki and Tallinn are only 80 km apart, making this the busiest route in the country. Viking [4], Eckerö [5] and Tallink [6] operate slow but cheap and full-service car ferries all year round (around three hours, although some travel overnight and park outside the harbor until morning). Tallink Autoexpress [7], SuperSeaCat [8], Nordic Jet [9] and Linda Line [10] offer fast services that complete the trip in 1.5 hours, but charge quite a bit more, have comparatively little to entertain you on board and suspend services in bad weather and during the winter. If the weather is looking dodgy and you're prone to sea sickness, it's best to opt for the big slow boats. There are no scheduled services to Latvia or Lithuania, but some of the operators above offer semi-regular cruises in the summer, with Riga being the most popular destination. Germany Finnlines [11] operates from Helsinki to Travemünde near Lübeck and Hamburg, taking 27 hours one way. Superfast Ferries [12] runs ferries from Helsinki to Rostock. Poland Polferries has terminated its services to Gdynia. Russia Scheduled services to Russia are stop-and-go, being at the moment (August 2005) stopped once again. Kristina Cruises and Silja Line still offer cruises from Helsinki. Sweden Silja Serenade leaving Helsinki Both Silja [13] and Viking [14] offer overnight cruises from Helsinki and overnight as well as daytime cruises from Turku to Stockholm, usually stopping in the Åland islands along the way. These are some of the largest and most luxurious passenger ferries in the world, with as many as 14 floors and a whole slew of restaurants, bars, discos, pool and spa facilities, etc. The cheaper cabin classes below the car decks are rather Spartan, but the higher sea view cabins can be very nice indeed. Note that, due to crowds of rowdy youngsters aiming to get thoroughly hammered on cheap tax-free booze, both Silja and Viking do not allow unaccompanied youth under 23 to cruise on Fridays or Saturdays. (The age limit is 20 on other nights, and only 18 for travellers not on same-day-return cruise packages.) In addition, Silja does not offer deck class on its overnight services, while Viking does. In addition to the big two, Seawind [15] operates car ferries on the Turku-Stockholm route, and FinnLink [16] offers the cheapest car ferry connection of all from Naantali to Kapellskär (from €60 for a car with driver).

By car

Sweden Norway Russia