Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport
IATA Code: HELLocation: The airport is situated about 12 miles (20km) from Helsinki city centre.
Time: Local time is GMT +2.
Contacts: Tel: +358 200 14636 or (0)9 82 771.
Transfer to the city: Regular bus services to Helsinki City and the Tikkurila railway station to the airport. From the city centre, catch bus #615 and from Tikkurila bus # 61. Both journeys take around 30 minutes. Bus transfers from the airport to local hotels and parking areas is free of charge. The Finnair City Bus also transfers passengers to downtown Helsinki. Taxis to the city centre cost around EUR30 and take half an hour. Five car rental companies operate; their service desks can be found at Arrivals Hall 2 in the corridor between terminals. For the rental car parking area go to the ground floor of car park P3.
Taxis: Taxis are available at ranks outside the Arrivals hall of both domestic and international terminals. Expect to pay around EUR30 for the 30 minute journey into the city centre.
Car rental: Avis, Budget, Hertz and Europcar are represented at the airport. Service desks are located at Arrivals Hall 2.
Facilities: The airport has several banks with exchange facilities, and there are ATMs throughout the airport. Numerous restaurants and cafes are available in the terminals, as well as duty-free shops and three shopping areas with a variety of retail outlets. Travel agencies, pharmacy and luggage storage are also available. There are several Internet kiosks and wireless Internet access is possible throughout the terminals.
Parking: Long and short-term parking is available.
Departure tax: None.
Website: www.helsinki-vantaa.fi
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Helsinki
The mean annual temperature in efficient, elegant Helsinki hovers around 43°F (6°C), but this does not mean visitors need expect a chilly welcome. The funky Finns, known for their hip and happening sense of style, design and association with high technology, know how to warm hearts and minds in their modern, cosmopolitan capital.
The city, spread across a cluster of promontories and peninsulas, is 450 years old, its clean, wide avenues lined with buildings echoing centuries of architectural excellence from Gothic through Art Deco to cutting-edge contemporary. It all fits together in total harmony with nature, which invades the urban environment with green spaces when it is not blanketed in snow. Trees, flowers, hares, squirrels, pheasants and even the odd elk are often spied in the myriad parks in the centre of the city, the whole surrounded with crisp, unpolluted air and the bright blue waters of the Baltic Sea.
Despite the cold climate, the invigorating outdoors beckons in Helsinki even in the middle of winter. Recreation takes the form of ice skating, skiing, ice-fishing, sailing, cycling, soaking in saunas, or during the short-lived summer, sunbathing. After action, sit tucked in a rug outside one of the many street-side bars sipping hot 'gloggi' (spiced wine) and watch the wintry world go by. The city is also ideal for walking, the sights all concentrated in the central area beneath the towering cathedrals.
The great outdoors is also the setting for Helsinki's numerous festivals and fairs, like the May Day Carnival, October Herring Festival, the Helsinki City Marathon, annual Samba carnival and the midsummer festival, to name but a few. Events do move indoors when it comes to the city's rich cultural life, featuring some of the world's finest orchestras and choirs, rock concerts, film festivals, the Finnish National Opera and Ballet performances, and the output of countless theatre and dance troupes.
Whether visited as a snowy winter wonderland or scenic sun-splashed cityscape with almost permanent daylight, Helsinki is a unique destination that will delight the heart of any traveller.
