How to go to Finland from St. Petersburg on your own. How to get to Finland by train, car, ferry? Traveling to Finland by plane

The territory of Finland and Russia is separated by a narrow strip of the border line, which can be crossed by all means of transport and even on foot. Today we have to figure out the question of how to get to Finland, which route will be the fastest and most profitable for the average Russian tourist.

From Moscow

If Moscow is the starting point of your trip, we advise you to consider the most profitable flights, among which there are both budget and direct ones. In particular, the cheapest offer in this direction will be from the Baltic carrier AirBaltic, by which you can get to Helsinki Airport for only 6,600 rubles. Travel time will be only 3 hours 20 minutes, and a change in Riga can only slightly spoil the impression of the flight, because it will take only 30 minutes. The company's plane takes off daily from Sheremetyevo at 22:00. There are also day flights, but they will require more time for the flight.

If you don’t want to waste time on a transfer and are ready to overpay a little for speed, we advise you to consider the offer of the domestic carrier Aeroflot, whose aircraft make several day and night flights daily. The journey will take only 1 hour 50 minutes, and a one-way ticket will cost 11,270 rubles.

From the regions

If you start from other regions of Russia, we advise you to take a closer look at the offers of Aeroflot, as well as the European airline Finnair (it makes two flights from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, and the travel time is only 55 minutes!). From Yekaterinburg to Helsinki, you can also get on the planes of both mentioned companies.

Train

From Moscow

You can also get from the Russian capital to Helsinki by train. At the moment, one high-speed train "Lev Tolstoy" runs between the cities. The train departs daily (except Saturdays) from the capital station. Please note that from December 13, the schedule will change. If today the train starts at 23.10 Moscow time, then from December 13, the train will leave the platform at 19.53. A ticket for a first class carriage will cost almost 100 euros, while for more comfortable seats in the second class you will have to pay 45 euros more.

How to travel around Europe cheaply by train - read our life hack.

From Saint-Petersburg

From St. Petersburg, it is faster to get on the Allegro high-speed express train, which began to run more frequently since October 25 this year. In particular, you can leave the northern capital of Russia at 6.40, 11.25, 15.25 and 20.25 local time. And it only takes 3 hours to get there!

Now let's talk about the cost of the speed train. As elsewhere, the cost of tickets will differ dramatically depending on the class of the carriage, as well as an additional set of services. So, passengers who are not whimsical in terms of comfort will be able to ride with a “breeze” in a second-class carriage for only 59 euros one way! For a ticket in the first class, you will have to pay almost the same amount - the fare will be 102 euros!

Please note that the train also provides special seats for passengers with animals. For the right to take a pet with you, you will have to pay 74 euros one way.

You should also take into account some of the nuances. Firstly, booking a ticket in advance sometimes allows you to save a lot. Therefore, we recommend that you follow the promotions and special offers of the company. For example, in the "low" season, the fare on trains is reduced by an average of 20%.

We have discussed in detail in our article.

By ferry and boat

You can also get to Helsinki by sea. In particular, from March to December, the ferry Princess Maria departs from St. Petersburg daily, and in the winter period of the year it is replaced by the ferry Princess Anastasia. You can find out the cost of a ferry ticket on the St.Peter Line website (www.stpeterline.com). In particular, for November-December of this year, the fare starts from 34 euros per person. But when buying a ticket for the cruise season (tickets can be purchased today!), You can save up to 72%!

Bus

You can also get cheap and fast from St. Petersburg to Helsinki by bus. One of the best will be the offer of the Lux Express carrier, on whose buses you can get to Helsinki in just 7.5 hours! The fare will pleasantly surprise you, because prices start at 500 rubles. Buses are equipped with the latest: there is a toilet, sockets and all passengers are offered hot and cold drinks.

An alternative bus departs from the St. Petersburg hotel "Oktyabrskaya" (opposite the Moscow railway station). The fare will cost at least 800 rubles, although during the promotion period you can buy a ticket with a small discount.

Now you have information on how to get to Finland. In addition to the proposed ways to get to this country, you can also use your own car, by crossing the border at one of several checkpoints.

Which offers trips at the price of a local taxi. And then more budgetary methods will be considered.

Finlyandsky railway station is located in the center of the city, not far from the Arsenal embankment. You can get to the station building in one of the most convenient ways:

By public transport;
Use taxi services;
By private car.

Public transport

The urban transport network is represented by a large number of bus, trolleybus and tram routes:

Bus number 28 (follows from the bus stop Belorusskaya St. to Lenin Square (station));
Bus number 37 (also departs from the bus stop Belorusskaya St. to Kondratievsky Ave.);
Bus number 49 (departs from the Obvodny Canal embankment to the final stop of Lenin Square);
Tram number 6 (goes from Vasilyevsky Island to the final stop on Lenin Square);
Tram number 20 (follows from Culture Avenue to the final stop on Lenin Square);
You can also get to the station by trams number 23 and 30;
Trolleybus No. 38 (goes from Suzdalsky Prospekt to Lenin Square);
Trolleybus No. 43 (departs from Khasanskaya St. to the final stop near Finland Station).

You can also get to the station by taxi:

K37 (follows from the Ladozhskaya metro station to the final stop on Lenin Square);
K106 (goes from the city car market to the final stop on Lenin Square);
K137 (directed from the metro station "Ulitsa Dybenko" to the Finland Station);
K177 (follows from the metro station "Narvskaya" to the station);
K178 (connects the metro station "Parnassus" with the station);
K191 (directed from Demyan Bedny Street to Lenin Square);
K212 (connects Repin Square and Lenin Square);
K262 (goes from Prospekt Prosveshcheniya metro station to Lenin Square).

The metro can be called the fastest way to get to the station. High speed and lack of traffic jams allows you to get to the station in a matter of minutes. The nearest metro station to the station is Lenin Square (Red metro line connecting the Devyatkino microdistrict and Veteranov Avenue). The fare in the subway is 45 rubles.

Taxi

You can also get to the station by taxi. There are many official carriers in the city that provide this service. Passengers can choose a suitable car from economy to premium class, equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable trip: an air conditioning and heating system, a large luggage compartment, a child seat for passengers with children, etc. The minimum cost of a taxi ride from the city center to the station is from 250 rubles (economy class car). The average cost from the station in the city is 400-1500 rubles. A number of major carriers offer to order a taxi online. To do this, you need the official page of the carrier on the Internet, enter the address where you want to deliver the car and the address of the point, select the class of the car. The system will automatically calculate the approximate cost of the trip.

Personal transport

You can also get to the station building by private car. If you are moving from the side of the city center, you need to go to Liteiny Prospekt, then drive along Academician Lebedev Street and follow the signs to turn towards the station. For passengers with personal vehicles, a parking complex is equipped on the territory of the station, where you can leave your car from several hours to several days.

You can get from Finlyandsky to the city center, other railway stations and airports of the city by any of the listed methods. The simplest is the metro, since there are 1-2 stations near each of the stations.

In the article we will tell you how to get to Finland from St. Petersburg and what transport to choose: car, bus, plane, train or ferry.

From St. Petersburg you can quickly reach three countries of the Schengen zone: Latvia, Estonia and Finland. Most often, the choice falls on the country of a thousand lakes, since there are favorable conditions for obtaining a visa for residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. In addition to the need to roll back a visa, there are 7 more reasons to come to Finland.

Why go at all

Relax in nature.
It is more pleasant to spend a vacation in Finland than in any sanatorium in the Leningrad region. On the other side of the border, the infrastructure is cleaner and better, although vacations are more expensive.

Go sailing on a ferry
The most popular flights: to Helsinki, Helsinki + Stockholm, 4 capitals (Helsinki, Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn).

Buy European products
The choice in the border shops is poor, but this does not stop anyone. Tourists sweep away everything: disgusting licorice sweets, tasty fish, useless Chinese souvenirs, thermal underwear and deer figurines.

See Santa's home
An analogue of the Russian Santa Claus lives in Lapland. In addition to meeting a bearded wizard, you can go skiing and reindeer sledding there.
Use Helsinki Airport
Low-cost airlines fly from the capital of Finland: AirBaltic, AirBerlin, Norwegian, Vueling. Sometimes it is cheaper to get from St. Petersburg to Helsinki than to fly directly.
Fun to spend the weekend
Hundreds of people go every weekend to Finnish border towns. A good vacation option for those who have already traveled all the suburbs, and vacation is still far away.
Try the local cuisine
I recommend trying all fish dishes: sandwiches, soups, caviar and so on. This is the main delicacy. Personally, I tried venison for the first time in Finland. But it seemed dry to me.

By bus

Bus tours

Petersburg has a separate caste of townspeople. Its adherents travel to Finland from St. Petersburg every weekend. Not for business. Not for shopping. Just so you can relax. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, for locals, it is easier and cheaper to make a multiple-entry Schengen visa. Secondly, the cost of one-day bus tours to a neighboring country starts from 700 rubles. There are many travel companies in this area. Sometimes some are bent, but then others appear. The last few times I have used Marina Travel. Almost every company has a loyalty program. Something from the series "10 trip as a gift." To be honest, I never got it. Too lazy to keep this piece of paper.

Shuttle Buses

Many firms travel from St. Petersburg to Finland. I use the famous international bus company Lux Express. There are often promotions. The cost of a trip from St. Petersburg to Helsinki is from 690 rubles.Departure point: bus station or square near metro station Baltiyskaya. Buses are large, sometimes there is Wi-Fi and multimedia tablets. In addition to the capital of Finland, you can go to Kotka, Lappeenranta, Imatra and Porvoo. In addition to them, other companies also travel to Finland. Check out the website for cheap tickets to Helsinki.

By car

By personal car

The road to Finland from St. Petersburg goes through one of 3 border points: "Cowberry", "Torfyanovka" or "Svetogork". Sometimes a lot of cars accumulate at one checkpoint, and no one is at other points. True, according to the sensations, this happens rarely and there is no logic here. It's hard to guess. Sometimes the situation with queues is reported on car radio stations and on special websites: nagranitse.ru.

Before the trip, read materials about customs restrictions and requirements for cars. Briefly, this can be done in the article " ».

By taxi

The minibus will pick you up from your home and take you to your destination in Finland. To the nearest cities the cost is from 1200 to 2000 rubles. More details can be found, for example, on the website Scan Tour . Great for transfers to Helsinki airport. From it you can sometimes fly cheaper than from St. Petersburg or Moscow. So I flew to Barcelona and Paris. True, he did this before the crisis and the fall of the ruble. Now I focus on Riga.

By train

By train Leo Tolstoy

The train runs daily on the Moscow-Helsinki route. In St. Petersburg it stops at the Ladoga railway station. The cost of a coupe is from 3000 rubles. Travel time is just over 7 hours.

On the Allegro train

The Allegro high-speed train departs daily from St. Petersburg to Helsinki. Ticket prices start from 1800 rubles. Travel time will be 3 and a half hours. The train departs from Finland Station 4 times a day.Allegro is the main way to comfortably travel to Finland from St. Petersburg. Fast. Relatively cheap.

You can ask for train tickets to Finland at.

By plane

The fastest way to get to the capital of Finland from St. Petersburg is by plane. The net flight time is about an hour. Tickets cost from 5 thousand rubles. You can buy tickets on the website. Suitable for those who value speed. Very important. In most cases, the train is more convenient and cheaper.

Finlyandsky railway station is located in St. Petersburg on the Vyborg side. Suburban trains depart from it, which follow in the Vyborg, Sestroretsk, Priozersk and Ladoga directions, and distant ones, going to Helsinki.

Let's take the subway

Subway station pavilion () "Lenin Square" of the red line is located in the station building. From the metro you can get to the station without going outside. If there is a subway station near the starting point of your journey, then this is the fastest and most reliable way to get to the station, apart from the rush hour period.
Address: St. Petersburg, Lenin Square, 6

Ground transport

Bus

bus number 28 follows from Belorusskaya street from the east to the final stop near the station. The route passes along Revolution Highway, Metallistov Avenue, Kondratievsky, Arsenalnaya Street and Arsenalnaya Embankment reaches the final destination. Travel time is about 1 hour.

Bus 37 goes along a similar route, but Polyustrovskiy Prospekt and Kalinin Square pass to Kondratievskogo Prospekt.

From Dvinskaya street to the station building can be reached by bus 49 . The bus passes the Obvodny Canal embankment, passes Staro-Petergofsky Prospekt, along Sadovaya Street it reaches the Lebyazhya Kanavka embankment, crosses the Troitsky Bridge, then Sampsonievsky Bridge and along Botkinskaya Street gets to Lenin Square (terminal).

There are routes from Piskarevsky Prospekt to Lenin Square (terminal) 106 And 107.

Tram

From Vasilyevsky Island to Lenin Square there is a tram number 6 .
From the north from the stop on Prospekt Kultury, tram number 20 .
From Solidarity Avenue in the southeast to the Finland Station there is a tram number 23 .
From the Ryabovskoye highway from the east to the Finlyandsky railway station you will be taken by a tram under the number 30 .

trolleybus

Trolley number 38 walks from Suzdalsky Prospekt from the north to Lenin Square.
Trolley number 43 follows from Khasanskaya street to a stop near the Finlyandsky railway station.

Shuttle taxis

K37- from the metro station "Ladozhskaya" (Ladoga railway station) to Lenin Square (final)
K106- from the Car Market to Lenin Square (terminal)
K107- from the railway station Piskarevka
K137- from the metro station "Ulitsa Dybenko"
K177- from the metro station "Narvskaya"
K178- from the metro station "Parnas"
K191- from Demyan Bedny street
K212- from Repin Square
K262- from the metro station "Prospect Enlightenment"

How to get to Finlyandsky railway station from Pulkovo-1 airport

From the building of the airport "Pulkovo-1" there is a bus under the number 39 and taxi K39 to the metro station "Moskovskaya". By metro you can get to the station "Lenin Square", from which there is an exit directly to the station building.

How to get to Finlyandsky railway station from Pulkovo-2 airport

You can get to Moskovskaya metro station by bus no. 13 or taxi K213.

This article opens up the prospects for tourism to Finland for a Moscow traveler.

Welcome to Finland!

How to get to Finland from Moscow?

You can get from Moscow to Finland by car. True, the path is not short - about 1000 kilometers only to the border, and this is at best about 15 hours on the road, as well as the time to pass the border. Add here the very significant expenses for fuel and a green card, and you also get a significant amount that a car traveler will have to spend. However, having a car will make it easier to travel to different regions of Finland. Therefore, going by car will be a good idea for those who want to see several cities in different parts of the country at once.

What to do in Finland?

There are several dozens of cities and towns in Finland, each of which can offer the traveler an interesting time. But as part of the first trip, you should focus on the key centers of the country.

Helsinki

The main city of Finland is a relatively young metropolis, architecturally similar to St. Petersburg, with several suburbs. There is no historical center that would fit the description "old town" in Helsinki. The city received the capital status only at the beginning of the 19th century. At the same time, the main architectural ensemble of Helsinki, Senate Square, began to take shape. Perhaps the most famous landmark of the Finnish capital is located here - the snow-white Cathedral. Although the temple also belongs to the Lutheran church, it was consecrated in honor of the Russian emperor - Nicholas I. Therefore, one should not be surprised that the cathedral is sometimes called Nikolsky. Already in the second half of the 19th century, a monument to Alexander II was erected in front of the temple, which in Finnish history was marked by the restoration of parliamentarism.

On the right hand of the Russian Tsar is the University of Helsinki, which is considered the oldest in the country. The main Orthodox shrine of the city is Assumption Cathedrallocated a stone's throw east of Senate Square on the Katajanokka peninsula. Unlike the temple of the same name in the Kremlin, this red-brick building is only 150 years old. It is he who, with his gilded domes, meets the guests of Helsinki, who come to the city by ferry. Even with complete indifference to religion, it is worth coming here at least for the sake of the rich decoration, made in the Byzantine style.

Helsinki's main alley is the lime park Esplanade, which stretches from the Market Square and the Presidential Palace towards the central street of the city - Mannerheim Avenue. The locals call this green area the short word Espa.

Mannerheim Avenue was regularly rebuilt, changed its appearance, and now it is a cluster of shops and shopping centers. However, there was also a place for cultural objects on the main street. For example, the Swedish Theater - one of the oldest in Helsinki, the Kiasma Museum, rich in masterpieces of modern art, the building of the Parliament of Eduskunt and much more.

It is worth devoting a few hours to the Sveaborg Fortress, a system of fortifications in the archipelago near Helsinki. It can be reached by a small ferry from the Market Square. Sveaborg is a whole nature reserve with several museums of varying degrees of interest.

Helsinki is the best city in Finland in terms of shopping. In the capital of the country there are shops for every taste and for almost every budget. The advantage of shopping in Finland is the ability to issue Tax Free, which allows you to return 10-16% of the cost after crossing the border. In addition, the cost of the goods themselves is often lower than in Russia, and even more so in Moscow. This is due to the reduction of various costs, in particular, transport. For clothes, head to the department stores of the central part of the city - Sokos, Forum, Stockmann and Kamppi. Electronics and household appliances of all stripes are sold in Musta Porssi, Gigantti and Expert stores. As for household goods, the local Ikea can often boast of lower prices than in Russia.

Turku

The first capital of Finland is a much more ancient city with numerous sights. Abo Castle is the largest and most monumental building in Turku, built in the 13th century. It was constantly rebuilt and the castle acquired its modern look only during the reign of Gustav Vasa - in the 16th century. The fortification lost its military significance with the development of artillery. Narrow embrasures did not allow the installation of modern guns. Nevertheless, these walls have seen enough to house an interesting museum of the history of Turku inside.

One of the key dominants of the city is the Cathedral. It was laid on the left bank of the Aurijoki River in the 13th century, but it was gradually expanded and completed. Today, the temple, restored in 1827, appears before the parishioners and tourists.

In that fire, not only the main cathedral was damaged, but almost the entire city. Only the Luostarinmäki area has survived, where wooden houses are still preserved. Today it houses the Craft Museum. 18 quarters of the complex are dedicated to various ancient professions. The museum found a place for a carpenter's house, a sailor's hut, a watchmaker's workshop and many others.

One of the most visited museums in Turku is Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova. It was opened in the mid-1990s as a place for exhibiting contemporary fine art. However, during the restoration, the remains of a medieval settlement were found in the garden. As a result, the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova museum combined the memory of the past centuries and examples of the work of famous contemporary artists.

Tampere

The second largest city in Finland is located 180 kilometers north of Helsinki. Tampere was heavily destroyed during the war, and therefore a significant part of the historical center has not survived to this day. However, to some extent, this was precisely what benefited him, since now thousands of tourists flock to Tampere every year to appreciate the beauty of modern architecture. For example, to look at the Kaleva Church, a Lutheran cathedral built in the 1960s. Least of all, this monolithic structure looks like a Christian shrine. The church is considered one of the best creations of the Finnish architect Reim Pietil, a supporter of functionalism and organic architecture.

For more than 15 years, the only espionage museum in Europe has existed in Tampere. Thousands of exhibits are located within its walls, which were used by the best intelligence services of the world a couple of decades ago. Everything from listening devices and hidden cameras to cipher machines and invisible pens. Moomintroll has long been considered one of the main symbols of Tampere. It is in Tampere that the Moomin Valley Museum is located. Tove Jansson not only wrote but also illustrated her fairy tales. You can see them all, as well as get to know the world of Tove Jansson in Tampere.

The equally popular Tampere Museum is dedicated to dolls and costumes. The oldest exhibits date back to the Middle Ages - puppets and figurines of the 12th century. A separate exhibition of the Museum of Dolls and Costumes is devoted to the technique of creating dolls: from straw and wooden to mechanical ones. The museum also operates a puppet theater, however, performances in it are exclusively in Finnish.

Related material

How to get to Finland (choice of transport)

It is best to go to Finland from St. Petersburg. The distance between St. Petersburg and Helsinki is 384 km, which allows using various types of transport: planes, trains, ferries, buses and even minibuses.

Rovaniemi and surroundings

The main city of Lapland ─ Rovaniemi is popular with Finns and foreign tourists during the winter season. This is where the famous Santa Claus Village is located. You can talk and take pictures with him in person, and at the local post office they will offer to order a letter from Santa to any address in the world. In addition, the shops sell souvenirs for every taste, and the local cafes will satisfy your hunger.

Lapland is the best place in Finland for an active winter holiday. Long winters and hilly terrain are a great help. For example, it is worth a look at the Ylläs resort - the largest in the country. 63 slopes for skiers of different skill levels, 29 ski lifts, many kilometers of cross-country skiing trails, as well as a lot of surrounding cottages and hotels for every taste, make Ylläs one of the most popular winter recreation centers in Lapland.

Reindeer have been bred in northern Finland for hundreds of years. Today Lapland is one of the world leaders in the number of farms of these animals. You can get acquainted with deer in any of the nurseries. For example, in Sierijärven, one of the oldest farms in the country. It offers tourists not only banal excursions, but also walks in a reindeer sleigh. Dog sledding safaris are also popular. For the sake of this entertainment, many go to Lapland, in some areas of which huskies are one of the means of transportation. One of the longest dog safari starts from a farm in the Arctic town of Muonio and takes three days. Sometimes such winter trips are fraught with many adventures.