Helsinki in Finland is one of the best connected cities in the world. You can reach it in as many ways possible. You could fly to it, or you could sail; you could drive to it, or reach it by rail. Every possible mode of transport can take you to this quaintly modern capital of Finland.

Helsinki is served by a single airport called Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport. A compact yet uber modern airport, the Helsinki-Vantaa airport is located at a distance of 15 kms to the north of the city of Helsinki. Both international and domestic flights operate out of this airport, and though the terminals for international and domestic travel are different, they are connected by a walkway which makes it convenient for transit passengers.

As many as 30 airlines fly in and out of Helsinki on a daily basis, connecting around 110 destinations around the world to the Finnish Capital. Both scheduled and charter flights operate out of the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Originally built to cater to the tourist inflow for the 1952 Summer Olympics, the Helsinki-Vaanta airport was also chosen as the best airport in the world, in a survey conducted by IATA in 1999. The airport is well equipped with restaurants, pubs and shops and even boasts of an ultra chic wine bar.

The Helsinki airport serves as the operating base of the national airlines of Finland– Finnair, for both international and domestic operations. Amongst the main international airlines which fly into and out of Helsinki on a regular basis are names such as British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Aeroflot, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Qantas Airways and Northwest Airlines amongst others.

All these aviation majors have daily flights out of Helsinki to various destinations across the globe. Chief domestic flights include Aero Airlines, Finnair, Blue1, Finncomm Airlines and Air Aland (Nordic Solutions).

If flying is not your thing and you’d rather sail your way into Finland, you will be happy to know that Helsinki is pretty well connected by ferries to different parts of Europe. Stockholm in Sweden and Talinn in Estonia are regular ferry routes from Helsinki. St. Petersburg in Russia, and certain destinations in Northern Germany are also connected by ferry to Helsinki, however the service to these centers is limited.

There are three main terminals in Helsinki which are used for docking of ferries. The first two Katajonakka and Olympic terminals are located at the South harbor next to the Market Square in Helsinki, and the other is in the West Harbor where most large liners from Talinn need to dock. Some prominent ferry operators in Helsinki are Viking Line, Linda Line and Solja line.

In addition Helsinki is well connected to Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia through trains. And long distance trains to other parts of Finland also originate from Helsinki, run by Valtion Rautatiet, Finland’s official national rail company. The company also conducts three train journeys to and fro Russia on a daily basis.

If you are the adventurous sort and would like to make your journey into Helsinki by road, the city has expressways which connect Helsinki to Porvoo and St. Petersburg in the east, Turku in the west and Tampere and Lahti to the north. Buses connect Helsinki to Russia and Sweden and Norway. The Finland transport major, Matkahuolto, operates daily buses from Helsinki to other parts of Finland.

If you will be visiting Helsinki in the near future, you could choose any of the methods mentioned above to travel to Helsinki. No matter what mode of transport you adopt, we are sure that the journey will be a memorable one.