Helsinki Airport to the City Centre – Transport Guide

Helsinki Airport, also known as Helsinki-Vantaa, lies in the neighbouring city of Vantaa about 20 kilometres north of the centre, and getting from Helsinki Airport to the city centre is about as easy as it gets in the Nordic countries. The train leaves from a station right beneath the terminal and reaches Central Station in the heart of the city in around half an hour, and a ticket costs under 5 euros (around £4). Bus 600 runs the same route around the clock, and a fixed-price taxi costs about 35 euros (around £30).

For most people the train is the obvious choice, but here you’ll find all the options with prices, journey times and how to buy tickets, so you can pick the one that suits your flight and your hotel. I’ll also explain how to get on to the ferries to Tallinn and Stockholm and to the night train to Lapland.

Quick overview

• The train (I and P lines): 4.50 euros (around £3.80) in the HSL app or at the ticket machine, about 30 minutes to Central Station, with departures every few minutes for most of the day and night.
• Bus 600: the same ABC ticket as the train, about 40 minutes to Rautatientori by Central Station, and it runs all night.
• Taxi: a fixed price of 35 euros (around £30) to the centre with Taksi Helsinki, otherwise about 40 to 45 euros (around £35 to £40). About 30 minutes.
• Uber and Bolt: pick-up in the P2 car park by the arrivals hall, and you’ll see the price in the app before you book.
• Private transfer: from about 145 euros (around £120) for a car for up to eight people.
• Car hire: eight rental companies have desks in the arrivals hall. Unnecessary in the city itself, but handy for trips out into the country.

How to find transport from Helsinki Airport to the city centre

Helsinki Airport has two terminals, T1 and T2, which are in the same building, and you can walk between them indoors. When you come out into the arrivals hall, follow the signs with a train on them, and you’ll reach the lifts and the long escalators down to the railway station, which lies deep beneath the terminal. The ticket machines are down by the platforms.

The bus station for bus 600 and the long-distance coaches is just outside the arrivals hall in T2, and the taxi rank is also outside the arrivals hall. If you book an Uber, a Bolt or a pre-booked taxi, you’ll be picked up in the P2 car park, which you walk straight into from the arrivals hall. The car hire desks are in the arrivals hall itself. The airport operator Finavia has a full overview of transport from the airport if you’d like to see everything in one place.

1. The I and P trains from Helsinki Airport to the city centre

The train is the quickest and cheapest way into town. The airport sits on the Ring Rail Line, a circular railway on which the I train and the P train run in opposite directions, and both end at Helsinki Central Station in the middle of the city. The P train heads east from the airport via Tikkurila, while the I train heads west via Myyrmäki. HSL, which runs public transport in the Helsinki region, gives a journey time of 27 to 32 minutes depending on the direction, so in practice you just hop on whichever train leaves first.

Between them, the two lines run every few minutes for most of the day, but the trains stop in the middle of the night, when bus 600 takes over. Parts of the Ring Rail Line can also be closed for engineering works, so check the current departures in the HSL app or on HSL’s page about the airport train before a late arrival or an early flight.

Fares and tickets

The airport is in zone C and the city centre is in zone A, so you need an ABC ticket. An adult single costs €4.50 (around £3.75) in the HSL app and at the ticket machines, and €4.80 (around £4) if you pay contactless with your bank card or phone at the card reader. Children aged 7 to 17 pay €2.25 (around £1.90) in the app, and children under 7 travel free. The ticket is valid for 90 minutes and also covers trams, the metro and buses, so you can change to a tram at Central Station without buying a new one. All the fares are listed in HSL’s overview of single ticket prices, and they are usually adjusted at the turn of the year.

If you’ll be using public transport in the city afterwards, an ABC day ticket is often the best deal. A 24-hour ticket costs €12.80 (around £10.70) and covers both the journey from the airport and all trams, the metro and the ferry to Suomenlinna. You can buy multi-day tickets in the app, so you only need to buy once for your whole stay.

The biggest pitfall is that you can’t buy a ticket on the train. Buy it in the app, from the machine on the platform or with contactless payment before you board, because there are ticket inspections, and if you travel without a valid ticket you’ll be fined. Also be careful not to buy an AB ticket, which is only valid within Helsinki itself and doesn’t cover the airport.

Where should you get off?

Central Station: The terminus is right in the city centre, and this is where most people get off. From the station it’s a few minutes’ walk to Esplanadi and the shopping street Aleksanterinkatu, the metro runs from Rautatientori station beneath the building, and the trams stop just outside. Scandic Grand Central Helsinki is right next to the station, and if you’d like to walk straight from the train to your hotel, you can check prices for Scandic Grand Central Helsinki here.

Pasila: This large station north of the centre is handy if you’re staying in Pasila, or if you’re continuing on a long-distance train towards Turku, for example. For the city centre, it’s easier to stay on until the end of the line.

If you’re staying in Kamppi, it’s a 5 to 10-minute walk from Central Station, and for Kallio, Katajanokka, the Design District and Töölö you can take a tram or the metro onwards on the same ticket. If you’re not sure which neighbourhood suits you best, read my guide to where to stay in Helsinki, where I go through six areas and hotels in several price ranges.

2. Bus 600 to Rautatientori

Bus 600 is HSL’s trunk bus line between the airport and Rautatientori, the square right next to Central Station. It stops at the bus station outside the arrivals hall in T2, and according to Finavia the journey takes about 40 minutes. The big advantage is that the bus runs around the clock, so it’s the answer if you land in the middle of the night when the trains aren’t running.

You need the same ABC ticket as for the train, so it also costs €4.50 (around £3.75) in the HSL app. Buy it in the app or from the machine at the bus station before the bus arrives, board through the front door and show your ticket to the card reader or the driver. During the day the train is faster and more comfortable with suitcases, so I’d only choose the bus if you’re staying along the route or arriving when the trains aren’t running.

What about the Finnair City Bus?

Many older guides mention the Finnair City Bus, which ran between the airport and Elielinaukio by Central Station. It no longer appears in the airport’s own transport overview, so don’t count on it. The train and bus 600 cover the same route, and both run on a standard HSL ticket.

3. Taxis from Helsinki Airport

The taxi rank is outside the arrivals hall and is divided into several lanes where the companies with an agreement with Finavia wait. Screens at the end of the lanes show each company’s prices, so you can compare before you get in. The journey to the city centre takes about 30 minutes without traffic.

The cheapest taxi is usually Taksi Helsinki, which charges a fixed price of €35 (around £30) for 1 to 4 people from the airport to the city centre when you take a car from the company’s lane 2. The price applies to direct journeys to the central postcodes and is listed in Taksi Helsinki’s price list from the airport. For groups of five or more, the company charges by the meter.

With the other companies that have an agreement with the airport, you should expect to pay around €40 to €45 (around £35 to £40) to the city centre, according to Helsinki’s official tourism site MyHelsinki. Taxis without an agreement are allowed to wait in P2 and set their own prices, and the journey can be much more expensive there. If the fare will be more than €40, the driver must tell you before you set off, so always ask the price to your address before you get in. If there are four adults, four train tickets cost €18, so the difference compared with a fixed-price taxi isn’t that big, and the taxi takes you right to the door.

4. Uber and Bolt

Both Uber and Bolt operate in Helsinki, and at the airport you’re picked up in the P2 car park, which you walk straight into from the arrivals hall. Follow the signs to the pick-up point, and only book the car once you’ve collected your luggage so the driver doesn’t have to wait.

You see the price in the app before you book, and it can be lower than a regular taxi, but it rises when demand is high, for example when several large flights land at the same time or when it’s snowing. So always compare it with Taksi Helsinki’s fixed price of €35 before you tap book. The fixed taxi fare is often just as good and involves no waiting in the car park.

5. Private transfer

A private transfer is a pre-booked car with a driver who waits for you with a name sign in the arrivals hall and takes you straight to your hotel. It’s a stress-free option, but in Helsinki it’s expensive compared with a fixed-price taxi. On GetYourGuide, prices start at around €145 (around £120) for a minibus for up to eight people, so it only really makes sense for large groups, families with lots of luggage or if you want to be completely sure someone will be waiting for you after a late flight.

Book a private transfer from Helsinki Airport here.

Enter your flight number when you book so the driver can keep track of any delays, and check how many people and suitcases the price covers. The transfer must be booked at least 10 hours in advance, so it’s not something you can sort out while standing in the arrivals hall.

6. Car Hire from Helsinki Airport

Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz, National and Sixt all have desks in the arrivals hall, and you collect the cars from the P3 car park, according to Finavia’s page on car hire. You can compare prices on car hire at Booking.com before you travel. Finland has no road tolls, and the motorway from the airport towards the city is easy to drive.

In Helsinki itself you don’t need a car: the centre is compact, the trams go everywhere, and parking in the centre is expensive and hard to find. A car makes sense if you want to head out to the small wooden town of Porvoo, Nuuksio National Park or the summer cottages by the lakes, and you’ll find many of those trips in my guide to things to do in Helsinki. In winter, winter tyres are compulsory in Finland, but the hire companies supply the cars with the right equipment. My advice is to take the train into the city and only pick up the car on the day you leave Helsinki.

Onwards to the Ferries to Tallinn and Stockholm

Lots of people fly to Helsinki and carry on by sea, and getting from the airport to the ferries is easy. Take the train to Helsinki Central Station and a tram onwards on the same ABC ticket, and allow just under an hour in total. The most important thing is to know which of the city’s terminals your ferry leaves from, as they’re in different parts of the harbour.

West Terminal 2 (Länsiterminaali) in Jätkäsaari: Tallink and Eckerö Line sail from here to Tallinn. Trams 7 and 9 run from Kaivokatu, right in front of the Central Station, out to the terminal, and Uber and Bolt have a dedicated pick-up point to the right of the exit from the arrivals hall. Clarion Hotel Helsinki is a few hundred metres from the terminal and has a rooftop pool, and if you’re catching an early ferry, you can see prices for Clarion Hotel Helsinki here.

Katajanokka Terminal: Viking Line sails from here to both Tallinn and Stockholm. Tram 5 runs directly from the Central Station to the terminal, and tram 4 stops at Vyökatu, about 400 metres away.

Olympia Terminal in the South Harbour: This is where Tallink Silja Line’s overnight ferries to Stockholm depart. Trams 2 and 3 stop at the terminal and run to the Central Station.

If you take a taxi from one of the terminals, a surcharge of 3.20 euros (around £2.70) is added to the starting fare, and you can see all the connections to each terminal at Port of Helsinki. If you’re heading on to Estonia, you can read my guide to where to stay in Tallinn. If you’re sailing to Stockholm, I also have a guide to where to stay in Stockholm, and one on getting from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm if you’re flying home from there.

Onwards to Lapland by Plane or Night Train

If you’re heading on to Lapland, the quickest option is a domestic flight from the same airport. Finnair flies from Helsinki to destinations including Rovaniemi, Kittilä near Levi and Ivalo, and if you’re on the same ticket all the way, you simply stay in the airport and change planes.

The more atmospheric alternative is the night train. VR runs night trains from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, Kolari and Kemijärvi, and a private cabin costs from 59 euros (around £50), while a cabin with its own bathroom costs from 74 euros (around £60). You can also take your car on the train. From the airport, take the P train to Tikkurila and change to the night train there, so you don’t have to go all the way into the Central Station. You’ll find timetables and tickets at VR, which runs the Finnish trains, and in winter the cabins sell out well in advance. In my guide to where to stay in Lapland, you can see which town suits your trip.

Getting Back to the Airport

Both the I and P trains run from the Central Station to the airport, and the signs on the platforms clearly show which trains go there. Once again you’ll need an ABC ticket, and the journey takes around half an hour. Allow extra time for the long escalators up from the railway station to the terminal, and for walking between T1 and T2.

If you have a very early flight, check the first departures in the HSL app the evening before. If the trains aren’t running yet, you can take bus 600 from Rautatientori or book a taxi. The alternative is to spend your last night at the airport. Clarion Hotel Helsinki Airport is just a few steps from the terminal and has a very high guest rating, and you can see prices for Clarion Hotel Helsinki Airport here.

Which Option Should You Choose?

Here’s my recommendation based on where you’re going and how you’re travelling:

Kluuvi, Kamppi and the city centre: Take the train to the Central Station for 4.50 euros (around £3.80). You’ll be there in about 30 minutes and can walk to most hotels from there.

Kallio, Katajanokka, the Design District and Töölö: The train to the Central Station and a tram or the metro onwards on the same ticket. Buy an ABC day ticket if you’ll be using the trams for the rest of the day.

If you land in the middle of the night: Bus 600 runs all night to Rautatientori. If you’d rather go straight to the door, Taksi Helsinki’s fixed price of 35 euros (around £30) is the safe choice.

3 to 4 adults with lots of luggage: A fixed-price taxi doesn’t cost much more than four train tickets, and it takes you right to your hotel.

Catching a ferry: The train to the Central Station and tram 7 or 9 to West Terminal 2, tram 5 to Katajanokka or tram 2 or 3 to the Olympia Terminal. Always check which terminal is printed on your ticket.

Onwards to Lapland: Change to a domestic flight at the airport, or take the P train to Tikkurila and the night train from there.

Trips out of the city: Pick up your hire car at the airport if you’re driving straight out into the countryside, and otherwise on the day you leave Helsinki, so you avoid paying for parking while you’re in the city.

Travel ressources & websites I use all the time 👇

• Booking.com has the best offers on hotels and unique places to stay
• GetYourGuide is the best place to book tours & activities with free cancellation
• Welcome Pickups is the best & safest place to pre-book airport transfers

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