Day Trips from Helsinki

Don't miss the opportunity to explore beautiful Helsinki, one of the most liveable cities in Europe. Helsinki lies across the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn: an easy day trip by ferry to stroll around Helsinki’s historical city center and to try local food in cozy nice cafes and restaurants. Secure your place on the ferry with a convenient crossing time. Cruise across the Gulf, and enjoy seven hours to explore Helsinki independently. Tickets include entry on board and seating. You can spend your time on board visiting one of the restaurants, shopping at the Traveller Superstore, or enjoying the scenery of the archipelago passing by. It is about a 10-minute tram ride from the West Harbor Terminal to the city center of Helsinki. Depending on the chosen departure times you will have up to 10 hours to explore the city. Choose to upgrade to comfort class or the business lounge at booking. With comfort class, travel comfortably and enjoy the sea view. The upgrade price includes snacks, coffee, tea, other refreshments, daily newspapers, and free Wi-Fi. Travel in style and luxury in the business lounge, including food and drinks from the exclusive buffet, newspapers, magazines, and free Wi-Fi.

Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, lies across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki: an easy day trip by ferry for those keen to experience its medieval charms. Secure your place on the ferry with a convenient crossing time. Cruise across the Gulf, and enjoy up to 10 hours to explore independently. Delve into Tallinn’s UNESCO-listed Old Town and enjoy the museums, shops, and restaurants. Tickets include entry on board and seating. You can spend your time on board visiting one of the restaurants, shopping at the Traveller Superstore, or enjoying the scenery of the archipelago passing by. It is about a 20-minute walk from the Tallinn D-terminal to the old town, or you can take a taxi from the terminal building. You can also visit different museums like the KUMU art museum or the baroque architecture of the Kadriorg Palace. Depending on the chosen departures you will have up to 10 hours to explore Tallinn.  Upgrade your experience and and book into the Comfort Class or Business Lounge. Comfort Class: • Travel comfortably while enjoying the sea view. The upgrade price includes snacks (with ingredients to make sandwiches), coffee, tea, refreshments, daily newspapers, and free WiFi Business Lounge: • Travel in style and add some luxury to your journey. The upgrade includes food and drinks at the Business Lounge buffet. Newspapers, magazines, and free WiFi available

If you’re planning a visit to Helsinki, be sure to include a half day for a trip to Nuuksio National Park, located within the boundaries of greater Helsinki. It takes about an hour and a half by public transportation to reach the park from the city center. You’ll be met in the center of Helsinki, and travel by commuter train to Espoo center and then take a local bus to the park entrance. The park is ranked among the top 10 nature attractions in Finland and is a must-see. To get the most from your visit, it’s best to let an experienced guide and professional naturalist lead the way. Enjoy the scenic beauty of the tall coniferous or mixed forest, with trees growing around enormous primeval rocks, in an area that’s rich with mosses and ferns. You’ll come across numerous small forest lakes, and you can stop to enjoy a swim. The forest is inhabited by various animals, including such rare species as the Siberian flying squirrel, found in Europe only in Finland and Estonia. With your biologist guide you’ll trek through the tall forest, learn about the natural features of Finland, enjoy scenic views, and hopefully spot some wildlife.

Dating from the 14th century, Porvoo is one of Finland’s oldest towns. With its wooden houses and cobbled streets, it has preserved the spirit of medieval times. Porvoo’s natural setting makes the town particularly attractive, and includes a winding river, hills with centuries-old pines, and primeval rocks. Admire the mosaic of colorful houses along the river bank and hill slopes. Just 50 kilometers from Helsinki and connected by regular bus service, Porvoo can be reached in less than an hour. The guide will meet you in Helsinki center to travel with you by bus on this 5-hour excursion. When you arrive in Porvoo you’ll take the most interesting and picturesque route to see the major sights and to get the best overview of the town. During the tour you’ll have an opportunity to stop for coffee, tea, or lunch in one of the town's charming cafés or restaurants, and to visit the shops of local manufacturers if you like. Some of the most famous national poets and artists chose to settle and create here. Russian Tsar Alexander I, probably charmed by the town during his visit, granted Finland autonomy!

Prepare to travel over breaking ice and snow as you explore deep into the frozen archipelago in a hovercraft. This day trip from Helsinki includes all the gear you need to experience the arctic waters warmly and safely. Complete your trip with a Finnish lunch. The trip starts with morning pickup in Helsinki. After a 30-minute drive, reach Gumbostrand, the hovercraft departure pier. Here you will be provided with warm clothing for the day and safety equipment together with a short safety briefing. The Hovercraft features a heated cabin and room for up to five passengers. Feel secure traveling with one to two experienced crew members and guides during the whole trip, depending on the number of passengers. Depart the pier to start the drive through the archipelago winter landscape. Experience the empty, deep, frozen, and beautiful landscape as you travel between the islands over ice and open water on the way to an empty island. Spot summer cottages, scenic landscapes, and potentially a seal, eagle, or other animals. Stop can be made on the way to take pictures on the thick and solid ice or to have a walk and listen to the complete silence. Upon arrival at the base camp island, enjoy a warm non-alcoholic welcome drink as you prepare for a walk around the island. Next, enjoy a guided walk along a typical archipelago nature trail. Learn about summer cottages and saunas, the birth of the archipelago after the Ice Age, and daily life in the archipelago. There will be dry toilets available to use on the island. After the nature trail walk, optionally try out a unique experience floating around between ice rafts in a survival suit while staying completely warm and dry. The suits are well insulated to keep you perfectly warm and dry during the whole swim. There is a heated cabin ready for you to change into these special suits. An experienced crew member will be assisting you the whole time while a second member acts as a safety officer on the shore side. You can stay as long as you want in the water; a typical duration for the swim is 15-45 minutes. If you choose not to swim, you can also stay ashore and take pictures of the other swimmers. After the swim, enjoy a campfire lunch to get a taste of Finland. At the campfire, there is seating, roof protection, and big windows giving protection from the wind, rain, and other elements of nature, yet still providing beautiful scenery of the sea. After the tour, ride back to your hotel or the airport.

Enjoy a day trip from Helsinki to Tallinn with a 3-hour guided tour in the city. Board a ferry to Tallinn from Helsinki’s port at 9:00 AM and reach your destination at about 11:15 AM. You’ll be greeted there by your local guide, who’ll take you from the harbor to explore the town. See the highlights of the city, like its main square, Tallinn Town Hall, Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral, Toompea Castle, and much more. Tallinn, Estonia’s capital on the Baltic Sea, retains its walled and cobblestoned Old Town, which is home to cafes and shops as well as Kiek in de Kök, a 15th-century defensive tower. The Old Town, dating from around the 15th century, is Estonia’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the city at your own pace. When your tour is finished, you’ll be transferred back to the Port at around 5:30 PM to prepare to embark for Helsinki. On the way back, you can relax and enjoy the services before arriving at Helsinki at around 9:00 PM.

Try a unique experience on your visit to Helsinki as you float among ice rafts in a survival suit. Slip on a neoprene survival suit and feel totally warm and dry in the dangerously-cold water. Learn about sea rescue and what to do in a real survival situation with qualified instructors. Get comfortable entering the water from a shallow beach and plunge in when your confidence levels are high enough. Relax while floating on the water or try jumping around the ice rafts if you're feeling more sporty. Close your eyes, breathe and lose yourself in the silence, even in the heart of Helsinki.

Walk under water, get up close to sharks, and touch a starfish as you dive into this adventure beneath the waves. Marvel at 50 aquariums, 100 species, and over 1500 sea creatures in their natural habitat. Watch their daily feedings and hear fascinating animal facts from your guides. Walk through an ocean tunnel and be wowed by panoramic views of the sea bed. See schools of colorful fish, and get to know a sea urchin. Reach out and touch starfish and crab at the touchpool. Learn about conservation and climate change at the laboratory and conservation cove.

Depart from Helsinki and explore the vast archipelago located east of the capital. Discover some of the 170,000 islands by boat as your guide provides more information about local nature and wildlife. See the beautiful island of Villinki with its unique channel surrounded by majestic cliffs and summer villas. Near the outskirts of the archipelago, reach the recreational island where you will disembark the boat and go ashore. Explore the island on a short walking tour and learn more about local flora and fauna. Over an open campfire, hear more about how the archipelago developed after the last ice age. Then, enjoy a hearty BBQ lunch of traditional meats with homemade traditional salmon soup, served with dark rye bread. After lunch, enjoy some free time to explore the island. Visit the public sauna for a bath, swim in the sea, or enjoy the peace and tranquillity of your surroundings. Finally, hop back on the boat for the journey back to Helsinki.

Escape the hustle and bustle of Helsinki on a half-day hike of the Sipoonkorpi National Park, and learn more about Finnish nature from a biologist guide. Transfer from Helsinki to Sipoonkorpi (just 25 kilometers from the city center) by public transport. On arrival, hike in wild coniferous forest, following a professional biologist guide who will tell you about Finnish nature and take you to curious geological formations hidden in the depth of the forest. Established to protect endangered animal and plant species of the taiga forest, Sipoonkorpi National Park also features traditional farmlands from the 13th century, numerous forest types, mires, bogs, and several small lakes. Hike the rugged terrain for approximately 3-3.5 hours as your guide explains how it was formed by the Ice Age thaw. In primeval times, the area was covered by sea and glaciers that ground the rocky shores to form unusual rock formations, now completely hidden in the wild forest. Hear about - and see - the “Trolls” or “Giants' Kettles.” Go to some of the park’s picturesque lakes, and more.