Helsinki: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Helsinki is the capital of Finland (Uusimaa), 26 m (85 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL), 17 km (11 mi) from the centre. It has a dozen or more railway stations on record, including Helsinki Central Railway Station. It is a port city: Port of Helsinki. Our booking partner lists 884 places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Helsinki runs from about 5 h 56 min a day in late December to 19 h 3 min in late June (computed for 60.17° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Helsinki is served by 2 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL), 17 km (11 mi) from the centre, whose 11,483-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport (TLL, 84 km).
Flights to Helsinki: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Helsinki Central Railway Station, Pasila railway station, Malminkartano railway station, Oulunkylä railway station, Huopalahti railway station, Ilmala railway station. Trains to Helsinki
Buses to Helsinki · Driving and car hire · Ferries
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 884 places to stay in Helsinki. Of the 559 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (333), and 19 are five-star. Across 194 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.6 out of 10. Guests have left 374,375 reviews in total.
Hotels in Helsinki: the full picture, and book
Our booking partner lists 13 hostels in Helsinki, out of 884 places to stay of every kind — 1.5% of everywhere it lists in the city, around the middle of the range for the cities we hold figures for. Across 9 hostels with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.1 out of 10, 0.5 below the 8.6 its hotels average. Guests have left 30,607 reviews across them.
Hostels in Helsinki: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Helsinki Central Library Oodi | 3,150,454 | 2019 |
| Shopping Centre Ruoholahti | 3,100,000 | 2015 |
| Korkeasaari Zoo | 498,266 | 2019 |
| Ateneum | 410,173 | 2014 |
| Military Museum of Finland | 66,430 | 2014 |
The busiest is Helsinki Central Library Oodi at 3,150,454 visitors in 2019. At that volume, anything with a gate is worth a timed ticket or an early start.
UNESCO World Heritage in the city: Suomenlinna.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Helsinki
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Saint Petersburg, 300 km (Russia) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · ferries · tours
- Stockholm, 396 km (Sweden) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Riga, 362 km (Latvia) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · ferries
- Tallinn, 82 km (Estonia) — buses · car rental · tours
- Espoo, 16 km — tours
- Tampere, 160 km — flights · buses · car rental · tours
- Vantaa, 15 km — tours
- Pskov, 326 km (Russia) — buses · car rental
- Turku, 150 km — flights · buses · car rental · tours
- Jyväskylä, 234 km — flights · buses · car rental · tours
Twin towns and sister cities: Prague, Saint Petersburg, Nuuk, Sofia, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Reykjavík, Kyiv, Tórshavn, Beijing, Tallinn, Berlin, Guadalajara.
Common questions
Which airport serves Helsinki?
Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL), 17 km (11 mi) from the centre, plus 1 other airport with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Helsinki?
About 658,864 people live in Helsinki, across 214 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Helsinki in?
Europe/Helsinki, currently UTC+3.
What currency is used in Helsinki?
The Euro (EUR). Traffic drives on the right.
Are there hostels in Helsinki?
13 of them, bookable on this site. Hostels in Helsinki.
How many hotels are there in Helsinki?
Our booking partner lists 884 places to stay in Helsinki, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Helsinki?
Saint Petersburg (300 km), Stockholm (396 km), Riga (362 km), Tallinn (82 km), Espoo (16 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.