|
Arrival and information
|
|
|
However you travel you arrive close to the city centre. The
ferry
lines Viking and Silja, and the Tallink hydrofoils, have terminals on the South Harbour, from where it's less than 1km to the centre. Other ferry lines, to Tallinn, Tallink and Eestin Linjat, use the terminal at the West Harbour. The
train station
is in the heart of the centre, next to one of the two bus terminals. Across Mannerheimintie and a short way up Simonkatu is the other bus terminal and the
long-distance bus station
. Helsinki's
airport
, Vantaa, is 20km to the north, connected by buses to the Finnair terminals under the
Inter-Continental Hotel
, halfway between the city centre and the Olympic Stadium, and at the central train station (every 15-30min; a?¬6).
The
City Tourist Office
at Pohjoisesplanadi 19 (May-Sept Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat & Sun 9am-3pm; Oct-April Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-3pm; tel 09/1693757,
www.hel.fi/tourism
) has free street and transport maps, useful free tourist magazines, including
Helsinki This Week
,
City
and
Helsinki Happens
. If you're staying a while, consider purchasing a
Helsinki Card
, giving unlimited travel on public transport and free entry to more than forty museums. The three-day card (a?¬35) is the best value, though there are also two-day (a?¬28) and one-day (a?¬22) versions. For information on the rest of the country, use the
Finnish Tourist Board
across the road at EtelA¤esplanadi 4 (May-Sept Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-2pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 09/4176 9300,
www.mek.fi
). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
Finland,
|