Cheapest/easiest way to go from london to helsinki?

Kad · Post by **Kad** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:15 am

I am currently in Sydney and need to get from London to Helskini on approx 2/7 and back again approx 28/7. As I'm travelling on my own with no real time constraints, what is the cheapest and relatively easiest way to travel?

If i catch a bus or something i don't mind so long as any stops are worth while and the price is alot cheaper then flying.

Also if i do fly, is it better to buy my ticket once I get to london or before hand?

Is anyone able to give me an approx on what a good/average/bad prices are?

Thanks in advance

**Sponsor:**

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 9:39 am

Fly with SAS/ Blue 1. You can take Ryanair, but you'll end up in Tampere. A bus from Tampere to Helsinki will cost the same as the flight though...

PeterF · Post by **PeterF** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 9:56 am

We checked about a year ago and there appeared to be zero bus companies doing the UK/Finland direct route then.
It might be possible to take a bus from London to Brussels and then find a Bus going to Copenhagen...Then another Bus to Stockholm..but it would be big task to plan connections etc.
I would surf the internet a check if there are any cheap flights with Blue One.. FinnAir and British Airways work together to keep UK/Helsinki prices high.
As Hank says Ryan Air fly into Tampere, but that is 2 hours north of Helsinki.

Post by **neil** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:00 pm

Hank W. wrote:Fly with SAS/ Blue 1. You can take Ryanair, but you'll end up in Tampere. A bus from Tampere to Helsinki will cost the same as the flight though...

If time is no issue then go with Ryanair from Stanstead to Tampere or with Easyjet from Luton to Tallinn.

This is without doubt by far the cheapest option.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:04 pm

And Tallinn - Helsinki theres several boats sailing across daily (and Tallinn's worth the visit anyhow)

PeterF · Post by **PeterF** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:48 pm

I tried playing with this tool and I found that SAS came out the cheapest on a couple of random date selections.
http://www.ebookers.com/travel_resource ... sinki.html#

kultary · Post by **kultary** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:01 pm

According to the Ryanair webpages, it would cost approx. £80 to fly from London to Tampere and £60 to fly back (on the days you specified). The train from London to Stansted is about £20 each direction. The Expressbus between Tampere and Helsinki cost 20€ each way, but it takes approx. 3 hours with all of the stops.

Ryanair has bus service between the airport and the train station in Tampere (I don't know how much that costs) and the trains cost 20-30 € (depending on the train).

-Ry

Post by **neil** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:20 pm

Sheez - I stand corrected. The prices have gone up a fair bit since I last flew with Ryanair. I seldom fly with budget airlines due to the reduced luggage allowances, inconveniences, extra busses/trains/taxi's and restricted carry on baggage allowances. The savings just arent worth it unless you get one of those 50p flights and even then, its hassle (unless you dont mind flying to Ryanair's 15 'regional' airports i.e. London Prestwick)

If you book on the BA website you can get LHR > HEL for ~150GBP (inc. tax).

A standard open return to/from Stanstead from London Liverpool St is 24.50GBP and the to/from Tampere/Hki is 20EUR return.

mossman · Post by **mossman** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:54 pm

Bus journey Dover (UK) to Stockholm costs £100 single one way by Eurobus , change Brussels, Hamburg, and Copenhagen, same trip is available from London, connecting times are quite tight, then ferry to Heslinki or Turku, which you need, as sleep is almost impossible on coach time span,( can only relate to actual journey taken last May).
Left Dover 14.00 Thursday arrived Turku 20.00 Saturday.

As Hank says fly, take Ryanair from Stanstead ( around £ 39 all in) arrive 2 1/2 hrs later at Tampere 21.30 , connecting coach direct from aiport to Helsinki ( €20), arrive before midnight.
Note Ryanair fares are special offers which require pre booking.
As for the bus trip, at least you get to see France, Belgium, Holland,German ( watch out for their customs officers

, Denmark, Sweden and of course one of the most enjoyable ferry trips you'll ever experience. Your choice

khu · Post by **khu** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:10 am

A bus is no way to see those countries, I say.

I did a Helsinki-Duesseldorf ferry/train ride straight one time. Took about 36 hours. Wasn't worth it. Fly, fly fly. Save your energy and time for actually doing something, not sitting in a crawling bus!

mossman · Post by **mossman** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:36 am

Totally concur about bus trip, it's no way to visit these countries ( plus a lot of the journey is at night ) as for slow, overall maybe, but those drivers have schedules to keep and they do, despite the traffic

Was really just pointing the change of scenery as against the back of the sweating head in the aluminium clowd hopping claustraphobic smelly fear ridden noise vibrating air contaminated oh so fast, aircraft

Kad · Post by **Kad** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 4:46 am

i just booked!

Thanks for all the advice.

i ended up booking with BA for approx 160 pounds. which when i checked with SAS, is about the same. so i guess this was a good price.

steev · Post by **steev** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:34 pm

Kad wrote:i just booked!

Thanks for all the advice.

i ended up booking with BA for approx 160 pounds. which when i checked with SAS, is about the same. so i guess this was a good price.

I reckon that's about as good as you'll get with a nice balance between cheap/convenience.

BTW everyone - Ryanair bus from Tampere to Helsinki is now 25E each way

That's a big price hike - barstards!

becca · Post by **becca** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:00 pm

steev wrote:Ryanair bus from Tampere to Helsinki is now 25E each way

voi helveti!

I usually travel Ryanair, and when I last came over a month ago it was only 4 quid!

Last year my brother came over and him and his good ladyfriend shared a taxi with a couple of other people from the airport. The cost: 25E total. So screw Ryanair and get a taxi, even if you are by yourself it's still got to be better, and there are usually affable English speakers hanging around waiting for the bus.

RSH · Post by **RSH** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 12:07 pm

As pointed out earlier, the Ryanair fares are not so cheap anymore, I have been paying 79.99 for the last year and only rarely lucky to get the cheap seats (and I am able to fly at any time of the week). In addition to the extra costs of transport to Stansted (note there is a coach now for £8 from Victoria) there is also the cost of luggage. From Stansted they are getting very strict on the 15kg luggage allowance (£4 per kg over) plus Michael O Leary has made it pretty clear he wants to charge for all cargo full stop some time this year. Tallin with Easyjet is often much cheaper as Easyjet offer a lot more special fares, however the last time I flew with them, their schedule was only a v early departure from Stansted which means a night bus from London and a sleep at the airport. Eurolines http://www.eurolines.com/ offer a bus from London to Tallinn, it takes three days.

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