Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting Downtown:
In addition to the public transit and/or walking op-
tions outlined later, many cruise lines offer a
shuttle bus
into downtown
(likely €8 one-way, €12 round-trip; especially worth considering if you arrive
at the farther-flung West Harbor). This bus usually drops you off across the
street from Stockmann department store (near the corner of Mannerheimintie
andLönnrotinkatu).ToreachthetopoftheEsplanade,crossthebusyManner-
heimintie boulevard and proceed down the street between the huge, red-brick
Stockmann and the white, round Swedish Theater (Svenska Teatern). Anoth-
er option is to take a
hop-on, hop-off bus tour;
these meet arriving ships at
Hernesaari terminal, and are easy to find around the South Harbor (for details,
see “Tours in Helsinki,” earlier).
West Harbor (Länsistama/Västra Hamnen)
This ugly industrial port is about a mile and a half west of downtown. From
either of the two cruise ports here, it's about a €15-20 taxi ride into town.
Hernesaari Terminal (Ärtholmen in Swedish):
The primary cruise port
for Helsinki sits on the eastern side of West Harbor. It has two berths (Quay
B, code: LHB; and Quay C, code: LHC) and a handy TI kiosk where you can
pick up free maps and brochures, buy a day ticket for public transit, or use the
free Wi-Fi. It's a five-minute walk to the stop for
bus #14,
which takes you
downtown: Head through the parking lot, turn left at the street, take the next
right, and look for the bus stop (3-6/hour). From here, ride bus #14 to Kamppi
(a 10-minute walk from the train station area and the Esplanade) or contin-
ue to Kauppakorkeakoulut (near Temppeliaukio, the Church in the Rock—get
off the bus, walk straight ahead one block, then turn right up Luthernikatu to
find the church). In summer, there's also a
ferry
that goes from Hernesaari to
Market Square (€7 one-way, €10 all day, only 3/day starting at 9:30, late June-
early Aug daily, early-late June and early-late Aug Sat-Sun only, 30 minutes,
mobile 040-736-2329,
www.seahelsinki.fi
)
.
West Terminal (Länsiterminaali/Västra Terminalen):
From the cruise
berth at Melkki Quay (code: LMA), you'll walk 10 minutes through dull
shipyards (follow the green line on the pavement) to the Länsiterminaali
building, with ATMs and other services. From right in front of this terminal,
