Helsinki Travel Forum

Hi! My sister and her husband will be visiting Helsinki and Espoo for 37 days. Their accomodation has been taken care of as they are living with friends and family members. However, not to take advantage of their hospitality, my sister and her spouse have offered to buy groceries and to take them out for meals. Most of the time, they will be on their own exploring the area using public transport. They are unsure of the prices in restaurants and the prices of groceries in supermarkets or of an average meal at say, perhaps, McDonald's. Could somebody out there please help them to estimate how many euros they would need on an average per day. they will probably eat out for lunch or maybe at times pack sandwiches whch would be cheaper. please could you give us an idea of what the prices are over at Helsinki and Espoo so they can know how much to take along with them. At present, they are thinking of budgeting 100 euros per day for the 2 of them to cover transport and food. is that too much or too little? would appreciate any kind of advice. many thanks

I don't live in Helsinki, but much further North. I've visited quite a few times though. Helsinkians can add to (or correct if I get something wrong). I think 100 euros a day should be plenty (depending on for how many and how often they intend to buy meals/groceries of course, and what kinds of attractions etc. they plan to visit).

For transport, it's best to get monthly bus passes (it's about 40 euros/20 for a child), which gives them unlimited access to the public transport within Helsinki (or alternatively get one for Helsinki+surrounding for a bit more).

There are plenty of fairly inexpensive restaurants, for example pizza, kebab, hamburgers with meal prices ranging from about 6 euros to 10 euros per person. Many other restaurants are not that expensive either (meal per person starting perhaps from about 15 euros or little under). In addition, lots of restaurants have lunchtime specials, for example, Chinese restaurants. Their friends will probably know which ones are good, but there are also restaurant guides online.

In addition, they should probably budget a bit for entrance fees to museums (the fees are usually quite small though, just a few euros) and other attractions, and shopping of course. :)

Pupulainen, I am not a resident in Helsinki and I've always got a week or two-week bus pass when I visit... Perhaps it has changed? It's been a couple of years since my last visit. If they are available to non-residents though, it's definitely worth getting.

thanks both for replying the following that my sister has written on my visit to Helsinki in late June. Will take note of all the cheap places that has been given. Yes a cheap hot meal would really be needed. Someone wrote that "unicafe do not open during Summer? Is this correct? We were in Helsinki 5yrs ago but that was in winter. Not really interested in museums though but any interesting flea markets to go to or parks or gardens where we can go for walks? And any second hand book shops where they sell books in english too? thanks

The YTV travel card calculator gives the regional ticket price for non-local residents 138,4 euros (would be 100 euros for locals). Anyway, it's best to go for the travel card, so you can use trains and all the other means of transport as much as you want. Check the travel calculator here:
http://www.ytv.fi/ENG/transport/tickets_and_fares/prices_2008/calculator/calculator_2008.htm
The price of one day is only 3,75, so it will pay off.
You really don't need 50 euros per person for food. For example, a kebab in Itäkeskus shopping centre cost me 7 euros, a cheeseburger in McDonald's is 1 euro. Of course Pupulainen recommended you several places. There are many supermarkets in the city center - in Central Railway Station as well as nearby Kamppi shopping center / bus terminal.

I used the following:
Customer category: Adult
Travel zone: Region (YTV)
Municipality of residence: Other (general period ticket)
Duration 14 - 366 days: 37 Days

Thank you everyone for your time and advice. my sister is now addicted to virtual tourist all becos of u great guys and gals out there! WELL DONE!

hi I just found a great site for you to know more about Finland. The site is: http://iaestelc.tky.fi/guide/guide2004.pdf

Hello,
Welcome to Espoo, my home town. At the moment it is a bad thing that prices on food are on the rise. Not much and maybe not somethng to worry about but it's true nevertheless.
Like for a litre of milk I will have to pay 0.97 cents when it was at the beginning of the year a bit over 70 cents. Small things like that..
A meal at McDonalds is about 8 euro now.A cup of coffee there 1 euro, the same as in R-kioski (you will learn to find out these kiosks, you can charge your travel cards there).
If you're a smoker, a small packet of cigarettes (10 in the package) is 2 euro 10 cents.
The supermarkets have started their prolonged summer hours on Sundays, ie they are open from 12 til 21. The smaller shops are open on Sundays from 12 til 18.
(It's a relief to have these hours, and a funny thing to try and go to the supermarket in August just to find out it's closed...)
The new timetable books for summer are out, too, available at R-kiosks.
The cheapest place to buy food is LIDL chain, maybe internet gives you the addresses.
If you're in Puistola, it's a lovely place to be. It's quiet, and nature is near you as originally it was an area with private houses. With gardens, but the houses are disappearing. (I had a friend who lived there, and it really was a nice place). Trains are better to use to Helsinki than buses.
regards,Soili