Historic and lively (Finland's second busiest) general aviation airport. This airport is under…read morethreat of destruction by the city of Helsinki.

I greatly enjoyed riding the train from Helsinki to Tampere and back later in the day especially…read moresince I did not have a similar experience in Estonia. Both the morning and afternoon departures arrived at their destination close to their scheduled arrival times. I enjoyed the opportunity to get a meal since hotel's restaurant was not yet open for breakfast. I got a club sandwich on the morning trip to Tampere and meatballs on the afternoon trip to Helsinki. For an extra euro, I got a small cup of coffee with my meatballs. Since I had upgraded to the restaurant car, the staff delivered the meatballs to my seat.

I booked comfort & business lounge. Below are my thoughts…read more Comfort class 7am ride- departed in comfort class. It was nice & quiet and only a few people. The cold breakfast was okay. No "free" hot food or alcohol in this class. Not really worth the price point but it was nice to have some quietness. At the basic fare price, you'll sit with the masses, the hoards of tourists are loud & active as the move about & without the best manners. Business lounge 4pm ride - I was really looking forward to this because my comfort experience went so well. The ticket includes hot food & alcohol. The food & dessert was a bit bland. The alcohol was nice after a long day of exploring. I didn't like the large number of people in business & the some of the loud passengers, lacking manners at the buffet. I thought there may be as much people if not less in business class, but people must want warm food after a long day. The ride was smooth with no issues. Service was nice. I liked the duty free shop but prices are comparable to market, so really not worth buying & lugging things around. Do book ahead for an easy experience.

At the end of the day, there's generally not a lot of variation in fairies. They transfer you,…read moregoods and potentially your car from one spot to another. This ferry from Helsinki over to Tallinn, Estonia It was pretty easily on the coolest one we've ever been on! This is not your standard ferry, like you see in Seattle. This is a straight up re-purposed cruise ship with something like eight floors to hang out on! There are a couple concentric areas with play rooms and lots of large benches and tables to spread out on. We hunker down on one of those, and near the playroom, for both the trip there and the trip back. The play room kept the kids busy for the entire two hour ferry ride, and had plenty of room for them to hang out in. There were a numberDifferent places to grab food as well as a number of bars if you felt like 9 AM drinking was in order. There were also spots to head outside And look at the ocean. Overall, this is really as good as a ferry can get this coming from somebody who is ridden the Seattle ferries for a long time! In addition, Estonia was absolutely awesome and it's a place you should definitely see if you have a chance. Overall, this is the way to travel by sea out of Helsinki

Great landmark of the city. Took the train from the airport to the city and it is located right in…read morethe downtown. Easy and clean station. Spacious and very well architecturally. Walking distances to hotels, places in downtown. Wishing the station, plenty of quick bite/drink places as well as sit down dinning. Also there are stores and shops too. This is the main station so plenty of destinations to choose. For me, easy place to go and get to. Enjoyed it a lot.

Came into the Helsinki main train station the other week and it was a quick and easy experience…read more The train took me directly from HEL directly into town in ~40 minutes with numerous stops. There are a few eateries inside the main train station. The metro is a couple blocks away and the tram is merely outside the front doors.

Best view of the city! This place is an absolute must see for anyone visiting Helsinki! You have…read moreto take an elevator from the hotel to the top floor, and then walk up a spiral staircase to get to the cafe/bar. Once there you will see that it is quite small inside, but there are two spacious balconies with several tables and wonderful views. And they have blankets for you to bundle up in if you get chilly. The cocktails here are quite good and there is free wifi! Unfortunately, they do not take American Express (as I found many places in Helsinki do not) but this place is great! There are even spectacular views to be seen from the bathroom! At night the rooftop tower lights up and sparkles. It can be seen from all over the city. Love it!!

My favorite hotel in Helsinki - great location, awesome roof top bar and the history of the hotel !…read more Situated downtown a minute walk from shopping streets and Stockman department store, the Torni is in the heart of the action - pubs, restaurants etc. As one of the oldest hotels in the city, I always ask for and old style room / Art Deco design - the hotel roof top bar is quite unique and provides with great views of Helsinki. The hotel has had some famous guests. Can't wait to get back to the Torni!

Used this terminal twice- to get to Tallinn, Estonia, and bac again via the Viking XPRS ship. When…read moredeparting from this terminal, they have everyone line up in a large terminal room with insufficient seating and then open the flood gates, allowing everyone to spill onto the ship to try and scout out the primo seats. It's an old fashioned land grab when they open the doors 20 minutes before departure. They don't have sufficient wheelchair services. It's difficult to find a porter with a wheelchair, and things aren't labelled very well. They do offer elevators to get up to the upper decks of the loading platform, but it's a pain to walk up those big ramps with suitcases in tow. There is a cafe here past "security" where they inspect your tickets, but prices were high, and the only stuff they seemed to be moving was beer and coffee. They offer some pre-departure entertainment, with the Viking Cat who comes out and dances to a Finnish version of The Village Peoples' "In the Navy." The dancers who weren't in costume seemed to be half asleep going through the dance routine. In the terminal, there are large signs warning you to watch for pick pockets, and not to bring wild boar into Finland. Take heed! Getting to/from this terminal is easy, as there are taxis right out front, and the streetcar station is across the street from the terminal.

Used the terminal twice. First experience was from Helsinki to Tallinn for a day trip. Second…read moreexperience was the overnight ferry to Stockholm. Helsinki to Tallinn. Complete chaos in the waiting area prior to boarding. They hold everybody in the waiting area until...maybe 20 minutes before departure time. Then they let the floodgates open. OMG the amount of shoving, jostling to get on board was very stressful. It was also extremely hot in the waiting area with all those bodies. Helsinki to Stockholm. Much better boarding process. You got to board as you arrived to the terminal so there is not a mass crowd of people in the waiting area. A 1 star experience and a 5 star experience - averaged it out to 3 stars

I arrived at Vantaa Airport to be welcomed by beaming ladies from the US-Finland Fulbright…read moreWelcoming Committee, thank you Tarja. We were dropped at Hotel Scandic Paasi which was near the train station and surrounded by lush trees and nearby markets and restaurants. The Hotel is a 3/4 star rated and they had wines and crackers at the table, as we entered a dimly lit and small welcome and check in counter. I was assigned at the second floor and to my surprise, I had a huge bathtub and while we are saving water in California, they seem to have plenty in Finland. After all, they shared that they're surrounded by lakes and rivers, located all over the country. The room was well decorated, sheets smelled really great and the room was perfectly prepared. Knowing that we have two hours of free time, I filled the bathtub and soaked like a king, the water was perfectly warm and all the elements of a well- supplied bathroom was present. Yay! The hotel didn't serve breakfast so we have to meet at a nearby restaurant or order a special from their canteen. However, wine was readily available at their wine room? So, if you happen to visit Finland on a business or to do research, Hotel Scandic would be a perfect abode for a few nights. I assure you, the water is plenty, staff were absolutely Finnish-pectful and nice. Kiitos (Thank you in Finnish)!

While I could not see any fault with the service received at Scandic Paasi, I just thought he…read moreentire hotel was charmless and cold: yes, they were trying to make it interesting by putting a playful theme/spin onto it, but to me that made it look more cheaply and boring. (I was face-timing with my other half in the evening and I gave a tour of my hotel room. His comment was: "Eew...this is worth team IKEA." It's an ok place and the price is also quite reasonable; the wifi is strong; the shower water heats up quickly; and the bed is comfortable. But that's already it...I have nothing else to add to it...boring.