Russia borders on only four states that are members of the European Union: Poland; the former Soviet republics of Latvia and Estonia, as well as Finland, with which transport links are best established. In 2017, citizens of the Russian Federation crossed the Finnish border more than 6 million times, and this figure is growing. Therefore, the question "how to get from St. Petersburg to Helsinki" is very popular.
Why go to Finland and Helsinki?
For several decades now, Finland has remained one of the friendliest European countries to Russia, good-neighborly relations have developed between states, Russian tourists are welcome guests here. A fair share of the tourist flow is made up of residents of the Leningrad Region and St. Petersburg, who receive a Finnish visa under the simplified regime. In addition, you can usually get from St. Petersburg to Helsinki in just a few hours, the distance between cities is about 400 kilometers. What attracts Russians to Finland?
- Sights. First of all, travelers are attracted to Helsinki. The abundance of historical and architectural monuments, picturesque beaches and islands, museums and parks, majestic cruise liners against the backdrop of sunsets turn this city into one of the most beautiful capitals in Europe. However, small Finnish cities are also interesting to visit.
- Ecotourism. Finland is called the country of lakes and forests. The protection of nature is elevated to the status of state ideology, and violators are strictly punished. For Finns, environmental friendliness is a scrap, a brand. Authorities everywhere introduce “green” technologies, clean rivers and lakes, protect forests from the harmful effects of humans, efficiently recycle garbage, and promote the use of bicycles. In 2016, Finland took first place in the global environmental performance rating, overtaking Sweden and Iceland.
- A memorable weekend. Since getting from St. Petersburg to Helsinki is quick and easy, residents of the Northern capital often have an unusual weekend: they go to the Finnish capital for a couple of nights just to change the atmosphere, plunge into the atmosphere of a foreign country, forget home care and routine for a while, try local food such as venison or black caviar.
- Shopping In Finnish shopping centers you can always find branded clothes and shoes at discounts, and twice a year (on the twentieth of June and December) begins the time of grand sales with huge discounts. In addition, people go to Finland for European products, which have recently become scarce in the Russian Federation.
What do you need?
Before traveling, you need to thoroughly prepare. Finland is a member of the Schengen area, so you must get an appropriate visa to enter it. In addition, a Russian who crosses the Finnish border must have a valid passport, medical insurance, as well as a driver’s license, registration certificate and car insurance if he enters Finland by car.
How to get from St. Petersburg to Helsinki: the main options
It is forbidden to cross the Finnish border on foot, so one way or another you need to choose a vehicle. Fortunately, the choice is very rich. You can get to Finland at:
- Personal car.
- Taxi or travel companion found on the Internet.
- The bus.
- By plane.
- The train.
- The ferry.
- A bike ride.
Car
A trip to Finland by personal car is a comfortable and quick option. No need to depend on anyone, the driver is his own boss, leaves at a convenient time for himself, arrives at the desired destination. The distance from St. Petersburg to Helsinki by car is only 390-400 kilometers, depending on the chosen customs border point. The roads are in good condition, so the pure travel time will take 5-6 hours.
To avoid problems with border guards, it is advisable for the motorist to read or refresh the requirements for the car and customs restrictions before traveling. It is also reasonable to fill the tanks with fuel before entering Finland, where a liter of gasoline costs around 1.5 € (1 euro is about 75 rubles). There may be delays when crossing the border: queues on the St. Petersburg - Helsinki highway in the area of border crossings are observed in the morning and especially on weekends and holidays, when you can lose several hours due to waiting in traffic jams.
Taxi or car travel services
Minibus taxi is a convenient and affordable way to get to Helsinki, especially for traveling a large company that can rent a whole car. Some minibuses depart from a certain place and follow a specific route, others collect passengers in St. Petersburg at the indicated addresses and transport them to the right places in Helsinki, which is an undoubted advantage. One-way fares for different carriers vary between 1000-2000 rubles.
The cheapest way to get to Helsinki, apart from the option of a bicycle, is to use the online service to find drivers who are ready to take a fellow traveler for a certain fee. For example, the BlaBlaCar service offers quite a lot of experienced drivers with good reviews, who will take a person or group of people from St. Petersburg to Helsinki in 6-7 hours and for 700-800 rubles.
Buses to Helsinki from St. Petersburg
The advantages of regular buses for traveling to Finland are:
- Big choice. Between the countries there are buses of several companies that provide passengers with a different choice of services, prices, routes.
- Low cost. On average, a one-way ticket will cost in the region of 1000-1500 rubles, and if you buy a ticket in advance and keep track of promotions, you can get to Helsinki for 600-700 rubles.
- Convenience and safety. Oversized cargo and volume luggage can be transported in the luggage compartment; passenger seats are more convenient than minibuses; Buses from St. Petersburg to Helsinki are driven by professional drivers who know the road perfectly and have crossed the border dozens of times.
- Efficiency A passenger bus, as a rule, is inferior in average speed to passenger cars, however, it can catch up with the border crossing, when queues of cars accumulate on them. Regular buses are privileged and skipped out of turn. Usually the travel time is 7-8 hours.
Airplane
Direct air communication between St. Petersburg ( Pulkovo Airport) and Helsinki (Vantaa Airport) is provided by the Finnish company FINNAIR. Three direct flights depart from St. Petersburg during the day. Ticket price - 10,000-15,000 rubles, flight time - 55 minutes. In addition, flying to Helsinki should take into account that Vantaa Airport is 20 kilometers from the Finnish capital, so you will have to pay 5.5 € for a bus or train, a taxi will cost 45-60 €.
Several airlines make flights from Pulkovo to Helsinki with one change, but this option seems unreasonable: too much time and money. Significantly cheaper and easier to get to Helsinki by high-speed train.
The trains
Five St. Petersburg - Helsinki trains depart daily: the Lev Tolstoy company train operating on the Moscow - St. Petersburg - Helsinki route, and four high-speed Allegro trains. “Leo Tolstoy” is especially convenient for people traveling to Finland from Moscow, as there is no need to make transfers. From St. Petersburg, the train leaves at 6 am and arrives in Helsinki at 13:30, the price for a coupe from St. Petersburg starts at 5,000 rubles and above.
High-speed train St. Petersburg - Helsinki "Allegro" seems to be the best option for a quick and comfortable trip to Finland. Its advantages:
- Speed. Allegro sometimes rushes at a speed of 200 km / h, the travel time is only 3.5 hours, that is, you can get to the center of Helsinki from the center of St. Petersburg on it even faster than by plane, if you take into account the time for check-in , waiting for departure, baggage claim, trip from Vantaa.
- Flexible schedule. Four “Allegro” leave daily from Finland Station: one in the morning, two in the afternoon, one in the evening. If desired, the traveler can arrange a tour of St. Petersburg - Helsinki for a day: arrive in the Finnish capital by train at 10 am and leave back that evening.
- Crossing the border. Border control takes place directly in cars without train stops.
- Price. Undoubtedly, traveling by high-speed train is more expensive than by bus or minibus, but much cheaper than by ferry or plane. The cost of tickets for Allegro St. Petersburg - Helsinki is in the region of 5,000-7,500 rubles.
Ferry
A ferry trip combines romance, practicality and convenience. For many tourists, sea swimming with a view of the waves, islands and fjords is exotic and will certainly be remembered better than trivial trips by bus or train. The ship has a special deck for transporting cars. And most importantly - modern ferries resemble floating cities, where you can find everything for comfort and entertainment: restaurants, shops, saunas, children's clubs, cinemas, discos.
Princess Anastasia ferry runs from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, which can carry 2,500 passengers and almost 600 cars. The ferry runs on two routes. First: St. Petersburg - Helsinki. Prices start at 60 € excluding port and fuel surcharges. Second: cruise St. Petersburg - Helsinki - Stockholm - Helsinki. Cost - from 150 € excluding fees.
The ferry goes to Helsinki 13 hours, but the passenger must appear in the port a few hours before departure to pass all the necessary customs procedures, who are late for boarding are not allowed. Travelers on a motorcycle or car must draw up a package of documents for the vehicle and pay for its transportation.
Bike
Clean nature, safe roads, hospitable residents, many cycling routes make Finland a very attractive country for cyclists. In addition, when riding a bicycle, it is easier and faster to cross the border: a minimum of documents is required (visa and passport); no traffic jams; no need to spend money on gas and tickets.
You can go on an independent trip, having reached the border by car, and then travel in Finland by bicycle. And you can use the services of travel agencies that organize a variety of bicycle tours, for example: a one-day tour of the border towns for 2000 rubles, a difficult route with overnight stays in the Finnish islands or a multi-day tour of national parks with a stop in Helsinki.