Helsinki Travel Forum

we arent staying in helsinki for long and booked a hotel SOKOS HOTEL HELSINKI thinking that it would be convenient to get to the harbour to catch fast ferry to tallinn for the day

now we find out that there are actually lots of ferries that run from different ports in helsinki
and we need to find out which one is the closest to our hotel- no sense in going cross town when we made the effort to find a hotel close to the harbour we thought wed be using

so
what is the harbour round the katajannoka area called - i cant make it out on the google map
and which ferry lines depart from there

i know this has been asked and so i know that you can actually just turn up to get a ticket
but we will be arriving in helsinki late in the afternoon and by the time we get settled the harbour ticket sales may not be operating????
i didnt want to rush in the morning and actually wanted to get as much sleep as possible being our first night on the ground so i thought pre-booking might be best - even if we do it from australia through our agent just to have peace of mind

but im nervous
my agent doesnt seem to realise there are different lines and i think he was talking to tallink and im not sure they depart from that harbour we are close to
i think we need to book the viking express ferry
am i right?
what other fast options do i have?
and does anyone know how i can find out when the ferry ticket sales close for the evening?
if we miss out - how early do we need to be at the harbour to buy tickets for the first departure?
thanks people

ok i have done a bit more research - nothing like doing it myself lol

but this is what is disconcerting for the inexperienced

we are staying on Kluuvikatu 8 which makes Katajanokka convenient as a departure point for tallinn but it seems when i look at the timetable for viking line ferries the first departure is at 11 30 which would put us into tallinn 2 or 3hrs later - doesnt leave much time to explore if we have to get the 6 pm ferry back to helsinki?

what other options are there
i was so hoping i had coordinated hotel and ferry well - maybe i have to go to another port
the nordic jetline uses kanava port - is this far from our hotel?
was hoping itd be just a 10 min walk max
dont want to be getting a taxi or bus or be getting up at the crack of dawn

the time table for nordic jetline isnt showing up for may

You make things sound complicated, which actually they are very simple.
From that hotel actually Olympia terminal is closer but I am not sure if they still run the Tallinn ferries from there. In any case, Helsinki is not London or Paris, from that hotel to any ferry will take 5-10 minutes by public transportations.
You can buy the tickets on the day usually in the terminal, but if you want in advance, just book it online.
And, then you want to sleep late in the morning and have full day in Tallinn? How about sleeping late at home and while travelling maybe you should make the effort and wake up early and use your time better then just sleeping?

Viking Line departs from "Katajanokan Terminaali".(http://www.vikingline.fi/index.asp?lang=en)
Tallink Silja departs from "Länsisatama".(www.tallinksilja.com) The tickets can be bought online.

A little more info on your trip would make it easier to provide you some information, like when are you coming (date of travel), budget, possible schedule (how much time you have in HEL and in TLL) etc. At summertime between Helsinki and Tallinna there operates also speed boats, which does not operate during the winter.

Welcome to Finland!

thanks for your reply
it is good to know that it is more simple than i imagine

l will take note
of the harbour i need to get to and look it up on the net

now about the sleeping
you made me laugh


i will probably not sleep at all but was hoping to catch a few zeds

we will be on a super long flight - we aussies tough it out- i think only the poor new zealanders have to put up with a couple of more hours in the air

we unfortunately are leaving at 10 pm and then getting hoiked off the plane at 5am or so in hong kong for four hours before catching the helsinki flight
that is not going to be pleasant

i do so hope we can get sleep but i doubt it and i wish we didnt have tallinn on our brains - wouldve been nice just to chill out that first day in helsinki

Zen lady
thanks
for your offer of help

we have only two nights in helsinki
it wasnt a real destination as we are going to russia and are travelling finnair - hence the stop in helsinki

our time is limited
we arrive in helsinki from hong kong at about 3pm having left australia at 10 pm the previous night

we will be tired no doubt

but we are determined to see tallinn

now we figure that it could well be about 5 0r even 6pm that we get into our hotel in helsinki
it may be too late to go to the harbour to get tickets for the next morning - maybe they are open til later which would be great

i have read that if you get tickets on the morning of departure you still have to get to the harbour an hour or more to buy them
this i wanted to avoid
not because i want to loll in bed but if we want the early ferry ( say theres one at 8 am ) then that would mean wed have to be at the harbour at 630 - 7am...

that would mean for me to get up at 545am or so
not great after a long day travelling from australia
see?
but it is the only chance we will have - we leave for moscow the next morning

as for budget
i wouldnt consider a helicopter( hate them anway unless theres one rescuing me from the ocean hahaha)
we are nt on such a stringent budget that we wont fork out for a dearer option
the best time- efficient ferry would be the one we would choose

i couldnt get to the ferry timetables ( other than the viking ones) - seems it is too early in the season

wish we had time to stay and explore both tallinn and helsinki but we have made our decision now and unfortunately have to make the best of it
if we cant get to tallinn - so be it
we will explore helsinki a bit more
thanks again Zen lady!
so i thought if we could buy the ticket ahead of time then we could just have an unrushed morning

we will be in helsinki in the last few days of may

i realise that some ferries dont run in winter but that wont be the case for us

we want to travel to tallinn on thursday 28th may

There is no longer a helicopter service between Helsinki and Tallinn, unfortunately.
The cheapest of the fast ferries is Linda Line (http://www.lindaline.ee/index.php?lang=eng&sess=87517e2ea3b65b022197a2c27d891b02). I have only once had a problem getting on this at the last moment (in hundreds of crossings), and it was the first Saturday morning of the season. You can book in advance on the website and in past years there has been a discount for doing so. You may not be able to book so far ahead yet, though.
Basically there are so many ferries that you needn't worry about getting on. Since you have so little time, I'd recommend you don't use anything slower than Viking's 2-hour service.

thank you John the Finn
we were planning on the 2hr crossing but it seems the viking line only goes at 1130 am and comes back 6pm
thats not good value
there must be an earlier crossing but i cannot find it on the viking timetable

Take the Linda Line, for instance. That sails nice and early and gives you a full day in Tallinn. Have a leisurely breakfast on board, and you're pretty much there by the time you've finished eating.

thanks
havent heard of Linda line
is good to know such things

will have a look at the timetable close to the time we leave and try to book something online just to save the hassle in the morning