From Helsinki to Oulu

[p19]

Hi,

I'going to visit Finland in summer again and I want to stay in Oulu. I'm able to get to Helsinki relatively cheap, though, I need to get to Oulu as cheapest as possible. I have found just vr.fi, by train for 59€ by person.

Please write me your experiences and tips how to get to Oulu, if you have any (except hitch-hiking, we are 3 - one is child).

Thanks

[Amandine.K]

With Blue 1 (http://www.blue1.fi/eng) you can do Helsinki-Oulu for €49 depending on the date you'd be travelling.

Otherwise you can take the bus (www.expressbus.com) but it'll take ages and it'll probably be cheaper to go by plane or train.

[ambrablu]

Hi,
I have the same question: we're two adults traveling to Finland in August and we're looking to book a flight from Helsinki to Oulu. Are there any other companies except Blue 1 and Finnair? Or could you please tell me which of these flight companies is the more convenient? [Blue1 has a booking system that looks a little tricky]

As for the trains, are there any going to Oulu in less than 6 hrs?

Thank ya.

[zam]

Between Helsinki and Oulu there are only Blue1 and Finnair. Then again if you'll be flying from abroad to Oulu "directly" (i.e. with max. 24 hours in Helsinki), you'd better check the price for the entire journey XXX - HEL - OUL instead of buying tickets separately, might become cheaper. And especially in case of Finnair, check also online travel agents as their service charge might be cheaper than the online service fee in Finnair's own webshop (20 EUR/ticket with a credit card, 15 EUR when paying through Finnish banks' online services!). E.g. on Ebookers Finland the service fee is only 9 EUR. Travel (or booking) wise there's not any real difference on the two companies, except that on Finnair's domestic flights coffee/tea and a bread roll are complimentary and Finnair has comlimentary meals also on their European routes. On Blue1 you'll have to pay for everything. Blue1 is btw. a Finnish subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).

This summer and autumn there's a drawback with the trains: railroad works. Six morning trains have been replaced by buses between Seinäjoki and Pännäinen. Overnight and afternoon/evening trains will run normally (this bus journey has been taken into account in the train timetables and the train ticket is valid on the replacement buses). Anyhow all the information on train journeys in Finland is available on VR's website.

If you are coming here only for a holiday trip, you'd might want to consider also the VR Holiday Pass. About buses, just forget them. They will be waaay much slower and also more expensive than the trains!

[sinikala]

Not that I've ever used the route, but FYI ... FinnComm Airlines

http://www.fc.fi/

flies Helsinki - Kemi, which is about 100 km north of Oulu. The benefit of FinnComm is that if you strike lucky you can gets seats for a base price of €20 ... e.g.

Ti, 26.08.2008
Lähtö: 12:45
Tulo: 13:55 FC0373
Helsinki (HEL)
Kemi/Tornio (KEM)
Lentoaika: 1t 10min

Perushinta 20.00 EUR
Verot 18.97 EUR
Kokonaishinta 38.97 EUR

Then the trick would be how to get 100 km South to Oulu... the VR Train seems to be €15.60 per person, but you'd have to check if times were suitable.

[zam]

To benefit from Fincomm's cheap(er) fares, you'd then need to take an airport taxi from Kemi Airport to Kemi Railway Station (10€) as there are no bus services to/from the airport there. Then a train ticket to Oulu would be 15.60€ - 17.90€ depending on the train (journey time a bit over an hour). You can also travel from Kemi to Oulu by bus which will cost 17.70€ - 20.90€ depending on the bus service.

[sinikala]

To benefit from Fincomm's cheap(er) fares, you'd then need to take an airport taxi from Kemi Airport to Kemi Railway Station (10€) as there are no bus services to/from the airport there. Then a train ticket to Oulu would be 15.60€ - 17.90€ depending on the train (journey time a bit over an hour). You can also travel from Kemi to Oulu by bus which will cost 17.70€ - 20.90€ depending on the bus service.

I reiterate, Hel-Kemi-Oulu would not be my first choice route, but it is a possibility.

Taxis and trains still adds only €30 per person... making the whole trip less than €70 (not counting any credit card booking fees), and it should be checked if there is a suitable train after the flight lands in Kemi.

Anyway, €70 would still be no more expensive than the train (€72), and possibly far quicker (Hel-Oulu is over 6 hours by VR), and if they happen to know someone in Oulu that might be willing to collect them from Kemi it brings the price down further still.

[zam]

Yes, it defenitely is a possibility and I know that some people here use that. BUT: the FC flights between Kemi and Helsinki (and vv.) tend to be so crowded that it is really difficult to find the cheapest fares for those flights (FC's planes have only 48 - 68 seats, they fly with ATR 42-500, ATR 72-500 and EMB-145LU), so after all a Blue1 flight from Helsinki to Oulu costs often the same amount. And if you book early enough (or on one of the unconvenient early morning or late evening flights) you may get the HEL - OUL flight for 49 EUR...