Do I Need A Visa For Changing Planes At Helsinki

Helsinki, the Finnish capital, remains a slightly enigmatic Nordic (note: non Scandinavian) urban center, more under the radar than neighboring Stockholm or Copenhagen. But people are beginning to discover its virtues, notably that it combines the best of a city—boggling architecture and design, great museums and restaurants—with unadulterated nature, including thick forests right in its center. One of the best things about Helsinki is its vibe: laid-dorsum but engineering science-frontwards, with a very creative spirit. It is the habitation of Nokia, Angry Birds, and Marimekko. And it's just a little quirky. You only accept to see the Finns' fascination for tango to get an idea.

Helsinki was too tailor made for a layover. Helsinki-Vantaa International airport (HEL) is a hub serving some 140 destinations and it'southward quick and like shooting fish in a barrel to zip out of the airdrome into town for a sauna and some ice swimming, a bowl of outstanding salmon soup, or a bracing walk in an urban woods.

Just if you lot're still not convinced that you want to venture out, or don't have the layover hours, the airdrome has plenty to proceed y'all busy—from resting on chic Nordic designer chairs to to inventive dining; Airport eateries included the largest Ajisen Ramen restaurant in the world or ones that serve reindeer charcuterie, and pretty much everything in between.

• VISA REQUIRED: No
• MINIMUM Connexion Time, INTERNATIONAL TO DOMESTIC: 40 mins
• MINIMUM CONNECTION Time, INTERNATIONAL TO INTERNATIONAL: 40 mins
• MINIMUM Time TO LEAVE THE AIRPORT: 6 hrs

Visa info for Finland

Finland is in the Schengen Area so U.s. citizens do not need a visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day catamenia.

Minimum layover times in Helsinki

To make an international to international connection: forty mins

Passengers coming from the US and connecting onward to elsewhere in Europe will have to pass through immigration first; there is a fast track for connections.

To brand an international to domestic connectedness: xl mins

Passengers coming from the United states and connecting onward to another airport in Finland will have to pass through immigration showtime. All the same, if you're coming from the Schengen Area yous won't have to do so, and the minimum connection time volition dip to 35 minutes

To exit the airport and explore for function of the day: 6 hours

Again, this depends if you're already in the Schengen Area or are only arriving. If it's the latter, you'll need a flake more time. Merely if you're coming from, say, Norway and laying over in Finland on your manner habitation, you'll already be in the Schengen Area, so connecting will accept slightly less time.

Either way, vi hours minimum is a rubber bet. This will allow yous a few hours in the metropolis plus fourth dimension to go through immigration entry and get out procedures and then ample time to get back to the airdrome, go through security, and get to your gate.

• thirty-45 min to deplane and go through immigration and customs
• 30 mins to transit to downtown
• ii.5 hours to explore
• 30 mins to return to airport
• ii hours to go dorsum through security, get to your gate, and board the aeroplane

Getting from the Helsinki aerodrome to the urban center center

• TRAIN: 25 mins
• BUS: 30 mins
• TAXI/UBER: 25 mins
  

Getting from the HEL drome to the urban center eye is incredibly easy.

Trains leave every x minutes, have virtually 25 minutes and cost €5 Euros. Get down to the railroad train level and hop on a B or F train. You tin purchase tickets in the station or on the HSL app. Y'all can also take a Finnair passenger vehicle to town for €8 or take a taxi, though this is past far the most expensive pick at effectually 45 euros.

How to spend a curt layover at the Helsinki drome

At Vantaa, you can view art (Art in the Airport gallery is near Gate 37); have a massage, or nap in one of the airport's napping pods (endeavour GoSleep Pods in Terminal 2, third flooring Airside). In the Not-Schengen area, passengers can hang out in the Olohuone Maja, an airport living room that gives you a set thought of great Finnish design. In that location are excellent dining options with vegan restaurants and other eateries offering Finnish specialities likewise as the standard drome chains.

How to spend a short Helsinki layover outside the airport

The train takes you to Helsinki Central Station, an Fine art Nouveau building designed by famed Finnish-American designer Eero Saarinen. The beautiful design of the station has made it a tourist attraction in itself, and much of what the culturally-inclined visitor might want to check out is inside minutes of the train station. The Ataneum Museum is just across the street, and offers a comprehensive look at Finnish Art through the centuries.

Besides opposite the train station is the Töölönlahtia, an upscale neighbourhood of greenish space and lakes, as well as a great array of top tier cultural offerings. These include the buzzy, innovative new Oodi Public Library, Museum of Gimmicky Art Kiasma, and Finlandia Hall, designed by legendary modernist Alvaar Aalto. You can also take a brisk walk around the lake. It'south a great style to sample the manner city life and nature coexist seamlessly in the metropolis. If you are a real Aalto fan, have lunch at the Savoy restaurant on the stylish artery of the urban center, Esplanadi. The Aaltos designed the classic eatery some 80 years agone. The famous Aalto Savoy lamps got their name from the restaurant and still lights upward its interior.

Another option is to make your fashion to the harbor to see ferries crossing to Tallinn or Stockholm, the local sailboats adoring the shore, or, in winter, the mighty and fascinating icebreakers clearing the mode for ships. Next to the harbor is Market Square ("Kauppatori"in Finnish) and the recently restored historic Quondam Market Hall for a fantastic assortment of Finnish foods.

How to spend an overnight layover in Helsinki

In the summertime it's light almost round the clock and there's a very festive atmosphere among the local population who have endured the long and dark wintertime months (you lot can join in the party vibe, drink champagne on a cafe terrace, or enjoy ice cream from the many ice cream kiosks that popular up on metropolis streets in summertime).

Have a sauna; you lot can't really come to Finland without experiencing i. (In that location are near as many saunas as people in the country). You can observe saunas in the about unexpected places. There'southward even one in a Burger King. Merely 1 of the all-time options is at Allas Sea Pool, a year round outdoor swimming and sauna circuitous by the harbor built right into the Baltic. While doing laps you lot come almost olfactory organ to nose with passengers on Ferries on their way to Stockholm. There's a large and expansive restaurant and deck to arctic in the sun with a beer and a burger.

Walk and shop effectually the Design Commune and check out the neighborhood'southward very absurd Jugendstil architecture (Helsinki has more Fine art Nouveau buildings than Barcelona or Budapest). From the harbor take a fifteen minute ferry ride to Suomenlinna, a UNESCO Heritage site. It'south an outdoor museum that tells the fascinating armed services history of Finland which was part of Sweden for 500 years then Russian federation for another century before becoming contained in 1917.

Every bit the world's uppercase for heavy metal music, Finland is habitation to some of the world'south best metal artists and more underground metal bands than any other country. Cheque out Helsinki's legendary Tavastia Order, or head to Bar Loosister in the hipster Kallio commune. Finns also dear Karaoke. Karaokebar Pataassa in the Kruununhaka area is a classic karaoke bar with music, microphones and drinks. It's cheesy but fun.

Need to Know

• CURRENCY: Euro
• LANGUAGE: Finnish and Swedish
• Safe: A+
• Toll: $$$ (out of $$$$$)
• All-time Fourth dimension TO Become: April–October

Currency in Finland

Finland uses the Euro. It's easy to change money at the airport or withdraw greenbacks from an ATM. ATM's are widely available in the urban center (and normally offering a favorable rate.) That said, Finland is very much a cashless society. Credit cards are accepted and used almost everywhere even at small ice foam stands.

Cost in Helsinki

Like almost Nordic countries, Helsinki tin be pricey. But the upkeep-minded traveler tin can even so get by very nicely. The urban center center is a good place to base yourself, and Solo Sokos Hotel Torni is a good hotel option with prices starting at about €157. (And insider note: A public restroom on the top floor has one of the best views in the urban center. People come here just to use it.)

You'll find drinks lean toward the expensive; a one-half liter of beer rings in at around €6.75. A mid-range meal out can toll from €25 up. A adept choice is Hello Stranger, offer dandy international cuisine that won't deprive you of then many Euros. You tin besides endeavour sapas (Finnish tapas) at the excellent casual chic restaurant Juuri. But if y'all are determined to endeavour New Nordic cuisine, the good news is that the pinnacle notch Scandinavian eateries that accept earned Michelin stars in Helsinki are easier to get into and typically less expensive than their Danish, Norwegian or Swedish counterparts. Grön and Olo are ii such restaurants worth the splurge.

Weather & Best Time to Become to Helsinki

Each season has its own charms. Summer is really something special in Helsinki. Days are warm (typically in the mid-70s), and the midnight sun is non a myth. Come out of a restaurant or bar at 11 pm and you'll feel similar it'south the eye of the afternoon, the sun is shining and so brightly.

In winter, of course, it'southward the contrary, with little sunlight (about four or 5 hours effectually the winter solstice) and temperatures that hover around the freezing marker. Only there are saunas to warm up in, and java to drink in cozy cafes. There'south even a take chances of seeing the Northern Lights. And in December, a lovely Christmas market in Senate Foursquare draws scores of locals. Spring and autumn are great times for exploring the surrounding islands.

Condom in Helsinki

Republic of finland is 1 of the safest countries in the world. The visitor should experience secure in most neighborhoods of Helsinki, on the streets or in the subway. Of course, equally anywhere, some caste of awareness of surroundings is a skilful idea. There are e'er going to be people stumbling out of bars late at night a little overquenched. Helsinki is no exception.

Transport in Helsinki

The streetcar is a pride of the city. Efficient, mannerly and easy to navigate, it's the best way to go effectually. Its eleven lines are made up of both vintage and new trains. (Slap-up for photo ops). You lot can become a day pass at the airport or pay for an individual ticket. A single tram ticket, valid only on the streetcar, is slightly cheaper than a Metro ticket (which is valid on both forms of transportation.

The Metro arrangement is as efficient, and easy to understand. It has merely ii lines but they go throughout the metropolis and well into suburbs. It costs €2.ninety. A bit of trivia: Helsinki'south hole-and-corner is the northernmost Metro organization in the earth.

Food & Drink in Helsinki

Finnish nutrient is fresh, salubrious and succulent. It's based on fresh fish, herbs, berries and sustainable meat.  In summer months, everyone goes berry picking, and countless varieties of berries are abundant in shops and markets. In autumn, it'south the same with mushrooms.

Sample traditional Finnish nutrient at the very adept, if somewhat touristy, Savotta (traditional can mean bear or reindeer meat, but there's too fresh caught fish for the less audacious). The eating house overlooks the landmark gleaming white Helsinki Cathedral.

Don't miss salmiakki, the salty licorice in i of its forms: ice foam, chewy candies or a liqueur that is a national obsession (Chances are you will exist repulsed by the salty care for. Finns expect you to be and love laughing at the look on visitor's faces after they've tried salmiakki.) If you lot do take a liking to it, you can stock up on this and other items—like jars of herring, or tins of reindeer meat—at the historic and recently restored Old Marketplace Hall. While in that location, stop at Story restaurant for a succulent basin of salmon soup, an iconic Finnish dish, served with first-class Finnish rye staff of life.

The Finns are too huge java drinkers. Coffee shops are everywhere and few are bad. Endeavor a korvapuusti (cinnamon bun) with your cup of joe.

Language

Finnish and Swedish are the official languages. Don't endeavor to primary very difficult Finnish beyond hello ("hey") and goodby ("hey hey"). And if you learn to read signs that say ravintola (eatery), kahvila, (cafe) and baari (bar), you'll never become hungry or thirsty. Merely, really, everyone speaks English. They might even exist insulted if you ask if they exercise.

Don't Miss

Helsinki has some boggling architecture including some unique mod churches. Tempelliaukio—the Church in the Rock—is carved out of bedrock, and looks like a crashed UFO. Amos Rex is a new cloak-and-dagger art gallery that is the talk of the boondocks. Löyly, an architecturally-designed sauna on the edge of the bounding main, is the place to effort both a traditional and smoke sauna. When you go too hot y'all tin can jump in the Baltic to cool downward. Or, try the old school Kotiharjun Sauna in the gentrifying Kallio neighborhood. Merely look for the towel-wrapped blank chested men sitting on the steps exterior the sauna enjoying a beer and sausages between sauna sessions.

Take in a hockey game. Finland is one of the countries that supplies players to the NHL and hockey is a near religion here. Enjoy a game, but don't make whatever superior NHL remarks. Finns are insanely proud of their national and local teams.

Don't Bother

The SkyWheel at the port expanse is Helsinki's answer to the city ascertainment wheel. And even if it has a specially Finnish twist—one of the cars is a functioning sauna—it's expensive and not actually worth the time. Yous also take to reserve in advance.

The Pattern Museum is another spot to skip if you're brusk on cash or time. Although it'southward housed in a wonderful quondam building, design enthusiasts might be disappointed with the museum's curatorial offerings. And if you're not into design this museum isn't likely to win you over. (It has a neat souvenir shop though.) Instead: take a walk around the Design District where the museum is located and peek into the unique shops.

>> Read our tips for booking a flight with a long layover or get more ideas for your first trip to Europe.

Source: https://scottscheapflights.com/guides/the-layover-guide-to-helsinki

Posted by: laforestoulds1946.blogspot.com

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