There're direct trains to the Central Railway Station. Just hop on either the I- or the P-train and get off at the last stop. The Helsinki main station is right in the city centre, near the University's City Centre Campus and the conference venue.
The entrance to the train station is located in the corridor between the T1 and T2 terminals. You'll have to buy a regional ABC-ticket before getting on the train as tickets aren't sold on the train. Tickets are available from:
When using the ticket machine, please select the option "ABC" (4.60€ for a one way ticket) for journeys between the airport and Helsinki. The Central Railway Station is the final stop. Tickets and fares
The bus stops for both arriving and departing buses are located in front of Terminals 1 and 2.
A taxi from the airport to the city centre takes about 30 minutes. The taxi stands are located right outside the arrival areas of the terminals.
Single tickets as well as day tickets (valid for 1-7 days, 24h a day) are sold in ticket machines (that you can find on all the metro and railway stations) and R-kiosks. The AB-ticket is in most cases sufficient for traveling inside Helsinki but you will need a ABC-ticket to get to the airport. The tickets are valid in all forms of public transport (tram, metro, bus, train, ferry) but if you prefer to move around independently you may also consider taking a city bike (10€ a week). Click here for more information about the tickets and pricing.
The easiest way to find transportation and timetables is to check the route from HSL journey planner.
The Töölö Towers (UniHome) is a visitors' residence located in Töölö, co-owned by the University of Helsinki and Aalto University. If you wish to stay at Töölö Towers, please email us at ec-conference@helsinki.fi and we will make a reservation for you. The fares for single rooms are from 117€ a night.
For more accommodation options you may visit the My Helsinki website, but to help you start off your search please have a look at the suggestions below. They are all just a short walk away from the University of Helsinki's City Centre Campus and the conference venues:
There are also plenty of AirBnb apartments near the conference venues. The most central and convenient districts for staying are: Kluuvi, Kruununhaka, Kaisaniemi, Hakaniemi, Siltasaari and Kallio.
For the international conference guests that are coming from far away: you might want to extend your trip to other nearby destinations, since Helsinki has good connections to many surrounding cities. From Helsinki, you can easily travel to Tallinn, Stockholm and St. Petersburg even only for short trips. Especially for guests coming from across the Atlantic, the new stopover service offered by Icelandair might be of interest.
There are many boat companies offering day-trips to Tallinn for 15-25 euros. There are several options here. For example, you can take a cruising boat at 9am and return back to Helsinki at 9pm (travel time approx. 2 hours). The boats depart from downtown Helsinki.
Need some tips for Tallinn? See for example Visit Tallinn, Guardian's travel tips or the Eternal arrival blog
There are direct flights and cruise boat connections from Helsinki to Stockholm. You can find a return flight to Stockholm for only 100€ and the traveling time will be approx. 1 hour. The cruise boat takes one night to reach Stockholm. Check also for some flight- or cruise-hotel packages from the booking sites.
Flying to Stockholm: many companies fly to Stockholm from Helsinki-Vantaa, but Norwegianair often offers the cheapest fights.
By boat: If you take a cruise to Stockholm, you will spend two nights in a boat and have one day to spend in Stockholm. You may also book only one-way trips and stay for some more nights in Stockholm. The boats depart from Helsinki downtown.
There is a straight train connection (3 hrs) to St. Petersburg from Helsinki railway station. Please note however, that for travelling to Russia one needs a visa. You may apply for it autonomously or through a travelling agency. The embassy will need to hold your passport for the time that it takes to make the application (this process may take even 3 weeks) so we suggest that unless you are planning to stay in Finland for a long period of time, make sure to get the visa in your home country.
For the visa application you will need:
- original passport
- the visa application form
- a recent passport-size photograph, not older than 6 months
- travelling ensurance
Tourists and persons without citizenship or relevant visa may take a boat cruise to Russia without Russian visa for the period of 72 hours. This visa-Free journey can last up to 3 days and the reservation has to include a hotel/hostel reservation due to pass as a visa-free tourist trip. The St. Peter Line boats depart from Helsinki downtown.
Example route: Departure from Helsinki on Wednsday. Arrival to St.Peterburg on Thursday, 2 nights in St.Peterburg (hotel/hostel reservation is obligatory). Departure from St.Peterburg on Saturday, arrival to Helsinki on Sunday.
Icelandair has launched a new stopover service to their cross-Atlantic flights. If you fly Icelandair across the Atlantic, you can stopover in Iceland at no additional airfare. With this service, you may visit Iceland without adding to your ticket price for up to seven nights.