In the last weeks I have been taking a lot the ferries between Tallinn and Helsinki and I have had all kind of bad surprises, so here’s a long post about everything I have learnt until now. This would be of use to anybody wishing to make this trip.

The ferry traffic between the capitals of Finland and Estonia is quite important. In the first quarter of 2005, the port of Tallinn has seen 1.2 million passengers! There is only 80 km separating the cities, and many Finnish spend the weekend in Tallinn. Also business ties between the countries are very strong too.

Type of ferries

Since the Baltic sea is frozen during winter time, the traffic varies a lot between summer and winter. In winter there are only the big and slower boats, which take about 3 hours. During summer fast boats can operate. They are smaller and faster, reducing the duration to only 1.5 hours.

The list of ferries operating currently can be found on the port of Tallinn web site. This list can change anytime, or might even not be up-to-date. This is especially true at the beginning or the end of the ice season for the fast boats.

The difference between slow and fast boats is not only on the speed, but also on the comfort. Slow boats are mainly a bunch of restaurants, bars, music places on a boat. They target the Finnish tourist spending the weekend in Tallinn. They have very few normal seats (some have none at all) and you generally have to seat in bar. If you don’t want to buy something on the boat, there is generally a cafeteria where it is possible to seat without buying.

Fast boats are more comfortable, targeting more the business user. I find them more relaxing, although they move more, so they are not for ones getting easily sea-sick.

The prices are pretty cheap. For slow boats, a one-way ticket is generally 15-17 Euros. Fast boats tickets start at 20 Euros (with NordicJetLine when ordered and paid online).

Cars

On almost all ferries, it is possible to transport cars and it can be a very good solution financially. A one-way ticket for a car is 12-15 Euros on slow boats, and 13 Euros on some of the NordicJetLine ones (more on others). It is interesting since in Finland:

• Parking next to the port in Helsinki will cost you about 25-30 Euros for 48 hours;
• Train and bus tickets aren’t cheap in Finland, count 25 Euros for a Helsinki-Turku (less than 200km);
• Gas is 50% cheaper in Estonia than in Finland, 20 Euros can easily be spared on a full tank.

However, while it’s normally possible to get adult tickets on the same day or a few days before, car tickets have to be booked or bought (depending on the company) well in advance. This is especially true for weekends, where 3 weeks in advance seems a minimum.

Booking

Booking these tickets is a real pain sometimes, especially when you have to do it often. Some ferry companies have an Internet booking system (like NordicJetLine). It works well, except that it lets you buy tickets for boats that don’t actually go. This is very much the case at beginning and end of the winter. Call them the day before your trip to see if the ferry wasn’t cancelled.

But most companies only have a phone booking system. Waiting time is generally ok, but it takes longer than online, and errors happen. Last Friday I arrived at the terminal to take SeaWindLine ferry and they told me they don’t have my reservation (while I’m sure I had made it). Since at such a day all car tickets are sold out, I had to go to Tallinn without car, leaving it on an expensive parking.

Boarding

The trip duration can also vary quite a bit. Generally delays are rare and small, but when many people are traveling, passport control can take some time (up to 30 min). Estonia is not yet in Schengen unfortunately.

If you travel with a car they ask you to be there one hour before the ferry leaves. Experience shows that 45 minutes is ok, but 30 minutes is playing with fire. Note also that if you are the last one to go on the boat, you are also the last one to leave the boat and will have to wait at passport control (passport control goes slower for cars than for people).

My solution

Personally, as someone living during the weekend in Tallinn and working in Salo, 120 km from Helsinki, the most interesting solution in term of price, comfort and time I have found is:

• To travel with my car, as taking the train Salo-Helsinki would cost 20 Euros and I can take cheap gas in Estonia too.
• From Helsinki to Tallinn on Friday evening to use SeaWindLine, a slow boat leaving at 20:30, but that has the advantage of having a lot of comfortable chairs. With their 10-trip offers, it is the cheapest solution with a car, 21 Euros per trip for 1 adult and a car.
• From Tallinn to Helsinki on Monday morning to use NordicJetLine, a fast boat leaving at 8:00, which allows me to be in Salo at 11:00. The other advantage is the special price they have for cars for the 8 o’clock one, only 13 Euros, which makes the trip for 1 adult and a car at 33 Euros. Unfortunately this solution only works in summer. In winter one has to take a slow boat on Sunday evening or Monday morning.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 12th, 2005 at 9:19 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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