Helsinki Questions? Glad to help!

[vkb2751]

Ok, the easy way out is just to take the shuttle bus into the city center and then stroll along the Esplanade Park to the Market Square, Senate Square and visit the Lutheran and the Orthodox cathedrals.

Walking distance would be 1.5 - 2 miles.

 

Most will add the Rock Church as well. This can be done by foot passing the main shopping area, the Railway Station and the Parlament House on the way. The total route would then be around 3.2 miles.

(I can write a detailed route draft if anyone is interested)

 

It is also popular to do a tour with the #3 tram that makes an "8" around the city. It takes about an hour to make a complete lap. Again the day ticket might come handy.

 

The more adventurous of you like to use the region transport for the trip to and from the ship as well, saving the costs of the shuttle.

 

Some will also visit the sea fortress. The day ticket is also valid for the ferry from the market. You need at least 2 hours to do that one. There are also harbour tours starting from the market.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

 

Map:

 

http://www.portofhelsinki.fi/passengers/international_cruise

 

 

Thanks for all your help. We plan to take the shuttle to town. We will be in Helsinki from 10:00 to 6:00 on August 29.

 

Can you please give us the route for walk along Esplanade Park to Market Square and how to get to Rock Church. We may take the ferry to Fortress after doing the walk and Rock Church. And also tram 3 if time permits.

 

Thank you.

Edited May 31, 2013 by vkb2751

[vkb2751]

Also can you please tell us how much a taxi will cost from LMA terminal to town. We are 4 friends and want to know if taking a taxi will be better than ships shuttle.

 

Thank you.

[Ultima Thule]

Can you please give us the route for walk along Esplanade Park to Market Square and how to get to Rock Church. We may take the ferry to Fortress after doing the walk and Rock Church. And also tram 3 if time permits.

 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Svenska_Teatern_by_night.jpg

 

The Esplanade Park starts at the back side of the theatre and leads straight to the Market Square. The Northern Esplanade (= left side, lower side) with its stores might be more interesting for a tourist then the Southern Esplanade (= right side, higher side) with its administrative buildings.

 

The order you suggest is a bit troublesome as the ferry goes from Market Square while the Rock church is far away. So an idea should be to do it in order Market - Fortress - Orthodox Cathedral - Senate Square - tram 3 to the Rock Church.- then you have different options with the trams, depending on time left, to do either a full or part of the routes or returning to the shuttle stop. I can give details if you want to.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Ultima Thule

[vkb2751]

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Svenska_Teatern_by_night.jpg

 

The Esplanade Park starts at the back side of the theatre and leads straight to the Market Square. The Northern Esplanade (= left side, lower side) with its stores might be more interesting for a tourist then the Southern Esplanade (= right side, higher side) with its administrative buildings.

 

The order you suggest is a bit troublesome as the ferry goes from Market Square while the Rock church is far away. So an idea should be to do it in order Market - Fortress - Orthodox Cathedral - Senate Square - tram 3 to the Rock Church.- then you have different options with the trams, depending on time left, to do either a full or part of the routes or returning to the shuttle stop. I can give details if you want to.

 

 

Thank you very much. Can you please give details when you get a chance. Do we have to take tram to Rock Church or can we walk to the church?

 

Also, will it be better/faster to take taxi or shuttle to town.

 

Thank you. Your time and help is much appreciated.

Edited May 31, 2013 by vkb2751

[Ultima Thule]

Thank you very much. Can you please give details when you get a chance. Do we have to take tram to Rock Church or can we walk to the church?

 

Also, will it be better/faster to take taxi or shuttle to town.

 

Thank you. Your time and help is much appreciated.

 

There is no problem going to the Rock Church. The total walking distance for the day, excluding the fortress, would then be some 3.2 miles. I have planned to write a walking route suggestion. But as you said you wanted to do the tram 3 route as well I included the trip to the Rock Church in that tram route as I guessed you might buy as day ticket (ferry to the fortress included).

After the Rock Church you could either

- continue the northern tram 3 loop clockwise ending up near the shuttle stop.

- continue doing both the north (clockwise) and southern (counterclockwise) tram loop ending up a few blocks from the shuttle stop

- or take the tram back to the market and do the southern loop (clockwise) ending up near the shuttle stop.

So you see there are lots of options.

But as you arrive on August 29. it is still plenty of time. ;)

[vkb2751]

There is no problem going to the Rock Church. The total walking distance for the day, excluding the fortress, would then be some 3.2 miles. I have planned to write a walking route suggestion. But as you said you wanted to do the tram 3 route as well I included the trip to the Rock Church in that tram route as I guessed you might buy as day ticket (ferry to the fortress included).

After the Rock Church you could either

- continue the northern tram 3 loop clockwise ending up near the shuttle stop.

- continue doing both the north (clockwise) and southern (counterclockwise) tram loop ending up a few blocks from the shuttle stop

- or take the tram back to the market and do the southern loop (clockwise) ending up near the shuttle stop.

So you see there are lots of options.

But as you arrive on August 29. it is still plenty of time. ;)

 

Thanks. I just wanted to know if we can walk. It depends on the weather and how tired we are at that point. We will get the day ticket and decide once we are there. We will be there on August 23, my mistake. Look forward to seeing your walking route. I am sure other cruisers will use it too. Thanks, again

[Ultima Thule]

Also can you please tell us how much a taxi will cost from LMA terminal to town. We are 4 friends and want to know if taking a taxi will be better than ships shuttle.

 

http://www.taksihelsinki.fi/en/node/205

 

So 5.70 e + 1.78 e/km

Some 2.8 km to city center, 3.4 km to Market Square means approx 10.70 e - 11.80 e.

[Subarctic]

http://www.taksihelsinki.fi/en/node/205

 

So 5.70 e + 1.78 e/km

Some 2.8 km to city center, 3.4 km to Market Square means approx 10.70 e - 11.80 e.

 

And no tipping is required in taxis. All cost the same (unlike in Stockholm for instance) and will absolutely not screw you.

[cruise_alot123]

Thanks. I just wanted to know if we can walk. It depends on the weather and how tired we are at that point. We will get the day ticket and decide once we are there. We will be there on August 23, my mistake. Look forward to seeing your walking route. I am sure other cruisers will use it too. Thanks, again

 

Just got off the Emerald Princess 3 days ago and forget about walking from the port to rock church. Way too far and all the street signs all look alike impossible to pronounce. We took the bus # 14 outside the port paid 8 euro for the day pass and went to Rock Church. However, when we got there at 9:15 it was not open til 10 AM so we walked to the Sibelius Monument and that took 25 minutes.

 

After visisting then we walked back to Rock Church and took a few pictures of the church. We then took the tram 3T to the market square with the help from the local lady. Walked about an hour at the market did not buy anything since everything is so inflated ($8 USD for a quart of strawberry which we pay 2 bucks here) . We then took the ferry by the market to Suomenlinna sea fortress which runs by the top of hour and every 20 minutes. Nothing exciting here just like a walk in the park and it was very windy but cool. Took the 2 PM ferry back to the market square and tried to walk back to the ship and got lost. Showed the map and asked the local for directions and no one seems to know where to direct us to go. Luckily, we found the Princess shuttle 2 blocks from the esplanade park and got on the bus back to the ship.

 

There's nothing exciting about this port IMHO.

 

One more note: takes 45 minutes to walk to the king's gate at the entrance of the fortess so plan your time accordingly. The ferry rides takes 10 minutes one way.

Edited June 6, 2013 by cruise_alot123

[Sinppu]

Way too far and all the street signs all look alike impossible to pronounce.

 

 

Walked about an hour at the market did not buy anything since everything is so inflated ($8 USD for a quart of strawberry which we pay 2 bucks here).

 

They are very easy to pronounce if you know how :D

 

They are not inflated. Finland is and has always been, expensive.

Plus we have to import our strawberries about 10 months of the year ;)

 

You have all been warned! :p

[cruise_alot123]

They are very easy to pronounce if you know how :D

 

They are not inflated. Finland is and has always been, expensive.

Plus we have to import our strawberries about 10 months of the year ;)

 

You have all been warned! :p

 

I should have taking the strawberries from the ship and sell them in the market to pay for my bus fare :rolleyes:.

[Sinppu]

I should have taking the strawberries from the ship and sell them in the market to pay for my bus fare :rolleyes:.

 

Or stay on the ship -no charge! :D

[MarGG]

We are planning to do Helsinki in the DIY mode. I am trying to get the maps of all the places we are going to, but for some reason I can not find a nice one of Helsinki. Will there be one available on board the ship (we are on Celebrity Eclipse) or in the docking area?

[Sinppu]

We are planning to do Helsinki in the DIY mode. I am trying to get the maps of all the places we are going to, but for some reason I can not find a nice one of Helsinki. Will there be one available on board the ship (we are on Celebrity Eclipse) or in the docking area?

 

I doubt they have them on board but that might be a question you can ask on the Celebrity board.

There are maps available in Tourist Information Center just off the Market Square.

Or you can take a look at this one and consider printing it.

 

http://www.visithelsinki.fi/sites/visithelsinki.fi/files/files/Esitteet/EN/printable_helsinki_map_2012.pdf

[Alaskanb]

I doubt they have them on board but that might be a question you can ask on the Celebrity board.

There are maps available in Tourist Information Center just off the Market Square.

Or you can take a look at this one and consider printing it.

 

http://www.visithelsinki.fi/sites/visithelsinki.fi/files/files/Esitteet/EN/printable_helsinki_map_2012.pdf

Just back--we were given maps after we disembarked. You can also request them via mail from Visit Helsinki.

We had a great time in Helsinki thanks to everyone's input on CC-- used our chip + pin credit card to get the day pass transportation tickets from the machine outside the cruise terminal-- took the tram to Market Square for coffee and cake then the ferry to Suomenlinna sea fortress. The lilacs were blooming everywhere! We were at Suomenlinna early so cafes etc were not open but we had an enjoyable walk. On return to Market Square we took the #3T tram and rode through the city --the line to see the Rock Church was very long so we stayed on the tram. Back at Market Square again we had lunch from one of the stands -- a truly delicious dish of grilled whole fresh salmon with sautéed potatoes and veggies -- at 10 euro it was a bargain and one plate fed the two of us. Had a visit to the town hall for toilets and came across terminals with free wifi access -- just ask for the code at the visitors desk. (It is a service of the Helsinki library). A walk back to the railway station and tram #9 took us back to the ship.

[suerich42]

I doubt they have them on board but that might be a question you can ask on the Celebrity board.

There are maps available in Tourist Information Center just off the Market Square.

Or you can take a look at this one and consider printing it.

 

http://www.visithelsinki.fi/sites/visithelsinki.fi/files/files/Esitteet/EN/printable_helsinki_map_2012.pdf

 

Thanks for the great map. We are looking forward to Helsinki at the end of July with Celebrity. We have a 3-4 hour tour booked when we arrive that will end by mid afternoon. Given that we sail out at 18:00, do you think there will still be time to catch the ferry to Suomenlinna, have a short walk around and get back to the ship in time? I know we won't have enough time to see all the sights there, but just to enjoy the ferry ride and take some photos? Thanks.

[Sinppu]

Thanks for the great map. We are looking forward to Helsinki at the end of July with Celebrity. We have a 3-4 hour tour booked when we arrive that will end by mid afternoon. Given that we sail out at 18:00, do you think there will still be time to catch the ferry to Suomenlinna, have a short walk around and get back to the ship in time? I know we won't have enough time to see all the sights there, but just to enjoy the ferry ride and take some photos? Thanks.

 

You're welcome. I think you need to plan carefully. The ferry ride itself is nice, takes about 10-15 minutes and they run every 20 minutes so if you have time to walk from 20 to 40 minutes, you'll see at least some of the island.

But do check your schedule... rather be safe than sorry, right? :)

[suerich42]

You're welcome. I think you need to plan carefully. The ferry ride itself is nice, takes about 10-15 minutes and they run every 20 minutes so if you have time to walk from 20 to 40 minutes, you'll see at least some of the island.

But do check your schedule... rather be safe than sorry, right? :)

 

That sounds good - as long as the ferry schedule is reliable!! Thank you for all the wonderful information you have provided. It will definitely make our Helsinki experience more enjoyable. Now if you could just make sure the weather is perfect!!!:D

[Ergates The Ant]

We were on the May 25th Eclipse cruise. We got a map at the terminal as we disembarked, and advice from the lady distributing them, on the best walking route into town. We passed the tram stop at the ferry terminal as we walked out of the port. The map we were given was far superior to the handout provided by the ship.

[johnnyd]

Does anyone know where the NCL Star will dock in Helsinki on August 11th. The port of Helsinki website doesn't even list the ship. Thanks.

[isutru]

With regard to the map, Amazon has one for $11 by International Travel. Great fold out map, scale is 1:10,000, details include tram routes. IMO Borch maps are the best, but they do not have one for Helsinki.

[Ultima Thule]

Does anyone know where the NCL Star will dock in Helsinki on August 11th. The port of Helsinki website doesn't even list the ship. Thanks.

 

Norwegian Star 2013-08-11

West Harbour (Hernesaari) quay LHC. 07:00-17:00

 

Its listed all right but you have to scroll down past the South Harbour list to the West Harbour list

 

http://www.portofhelsinki.fi/passengers/expected_cruise_ships#lsatama

[johnnyd]

thank you thank you!!!!

[fourpines]

I was told there is an interesting synagogue near Market Square. Does anyone have any information about this?

 

Many thanks

[wowmusic]

Hi, we will arrive Helsinki via Norwegian Star (West Harbour). We have 4 adults and 2 kids. Wanted to have some local food for lunch, buy some souvenirs for friends, and some easy sightseeing. Any suggestions on our route, and possible transportation option?