Travelling between Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia)

If you are looking for the nearby sightseeing place of Finland, Tallinn is good alternative. Tallinn is a capital city of Estonia where is not far from Finland. Just take cruise about 2-2.30 hours traveling between Helsinki and Tallinn. Probably taking the one way or round trip. I stayed at Tallinn one night. Tallinn is not a big town but interesting especially the old town.

I will describe about the detail of traveling first, and the day trip in Tallinn next article. You can travel by airplane or cruise. I chose cruise because I would like to have experience travelling by cruise and the price was cheaper. 

Three cruise ships

1. Eckerö Line: I bought the ticket directly (Helsinki to Tallinn) from the website about 1 month in advance and got very cheap ticket (10 euro per ticket). The original price should started from 20 euro (one way) approximately. Price varies by season and the promotion. Travel duration is 2 hours 15 minutes. I paid the fare by credit card. The e-ticket and receipt was sent to email. I printed and showed it to the staff with my passport. 

Booking on website https://www.eckeroline.com/

Eckerö Line Website

Timetable 2019

	Helsinki		Tallinn	Tallinn		Helsinki
Mon-Sat				06:00	→	08:15
Every Day	09:00	→	11:15	12:00	→	14:15
Every Day	15:15	→	17:30	18:30	→	21:00
Sun-Fri	21:40	→	23:50

*18:30-21:00 (2 h 30 m)

No traffic: 

24 December 2019 at 15:15 until 26 December 2019 at 06:00
26 December 2019 at 21:40
27 December 2019 at 06:00
31 December 2019 at 21:40
01 January 2020 at 06:00


2. Tallink Silja Line:  the most popular cruise. Tallink does not only offer the trip between Helsinki and Tallinn, but also other routes such as Helsinki - Stockholm, Helsinki Riga, Turku - Stockholm and etc. I would like to choose this one but the price of Eckerö Line attracted me. The price starts from 25 euro (one way). The price is not stable and vary by travel time. I noticed that the morning travel time is often cheaper than other travel time. Friday, weekends and in summer the price are expensive. Travel duration is 2 hours.

Booking on website https://www.tallinksilja.com/book-a-cruise

Tallink Silja Line

Timetable (25 Mar - 18 Dec 19)

Helsinki → Tallinn

Departure	Arrival	Weekday	Ship
07:30	09:30	every day	Star
10:30	12:30	every day	Megastar
13:30	15:30	every day	Star
16:30	18:30	every day	Megastar
18:30	22:00	every day	Silja Europa
19:30	21:30	every day	Star
22:30	00:30	Mon, Wed-Sun	Megastar
23:30	01:30	Tue	Megastar

Tallinn → Helsinki

Departure	Arrival	Weekday	Ship
07:30	09:30	every day	Megastar
10:30	12:30	every day	Star
12:30	16:00	every day	Silja Europa
13:30	15:30	every day	Megastar
16:30	18:30	every day	Star
19:30	21:30	every day	Megastar
22:30	00:30	Mon, Wed-Sun	Star
23:30	01:30	Tue	Star

There are some exceptions on some routes. You can check on website.

3. Viking Line: The fare is average, cheaper than Tallink Silja Line. Travel duration is 2 hours 30 minutes. I have few information about this cruise. You can check the timetable here.

Booking on website https://www.sales.vikingline.com/cruise/eng/en/find-travel.vl?new

How can I get the cheap ticket?

- Check promotion on website.

- Choose the morning travel time.

- Buy the round trip ticket. For example, the one way fare is 27 euro but the round trip ticket is 50 euro. Average 25 euro per trip.

- Using the credit card promotion 
- Comparing the approximate fare on website https://www.directferries.com/
- Klook also sells the ticket of Eckerö Line. If Klook has promotion, you may get the cheaper ticket than buying directly on Eckerö Line website. Click here for more detail.

Where can I take the cruise in Helsinki?

Tallink Silja Line and Eckerö Line have the same port. You must go to the West Harbour Terminal 2. Taking the tram no. 7, 6T to the Länsiterminaali station (terminal station).

Helsinki: West Harbour Terminal 2

Viking Line:

Tram 4 Katajanokka Terminal–Centre–Munkkiniemi daily. 150 m walking distance from the terminal to tram stop "Vyökatu/Gördelgatan".


Tram 5 Katajanokka Terminal–Centre daily in connection to boat departure and arrival.

Where can I take the cruise in Tallinn?

Eckerö Line and Viking Line:: Tallinn Port Terminal A

Tallinn Port Terminal A

Tallink Silja Line: Tallinn Port Terminal D

Tallinn Port Terminal D

Where are Tallinn Port Terminal A and Terminal D?

Google Map

Tallinn Port Terminal A is about 1 km. from Terminal D or takes 15-20 minutes walk. I stayed at hotel near the port Terminal D. You can walk between this two port or take the bus no. 2. You can also take the bus number 2 or taxi to the city. If you take the taxi, you may use application Bolt (formerly Taxify).

The bus no.2 timetable

Terminal A to City
https://transport.tallinn.ee/#bus/2/b-a/en

City to Terminal A

https://transport.tallinn.ee/#bus/2/a-b/13601-1/en

Bus fare starts at 1 euro, click here about the ticket

Taxi rate

The maximum rates in Tallinn are
Starting fare 5,50 €
Per-kilometre fare 1,10 € (slightly higher rates apply from 11 pm to 6 am)

Waiting charge 24,20 €/h (only used when the taxi is standing)

You can ask the driver for approximate cost before boarding.

Buying the ticket of Eckerö Line and Tallink Silja Line, you can follow my instruction as follows:

Get off at West Harbour Terminal 2. The check-in closes 30 minutes before the departure. You should arrive here before that  at least 1 hour. The Tallink Silja counter is on the left side and Eckerö Line  on right side. 

The self check-in kiosks are also available. I checked in at counter, showed the e-ticket and passport. The staff gave me a ticket (hard paper) for boarding. The free toilet is near Tallink Silja Line self check-in kiosk. 

Tallink Silja Line Self Check-in Kiosk

Next, take the escalator up. You can have something to eat, take a photo and waiting in this area. I went to the corridor for taking cruise photo but stayed only few minutes because I did not like the smell of smoking.

Show the ticket for boarding. If you have the luggage, I recommend you to come earlier. This is the waiting area.

The luggage storage are available at luggage room on Deck 6, lockers on deck 6&7. When you enter, it's already deck 6.

Eckerö Line Luggage Storage

After I was on board, I looked for the available seat. If the ferry already departed or nearly departed, the seats were full or almost full. Toilets: decks 7,8,9, every floor next to the stairs.

Eckerö Line Directory: Eckerö Line Website

The deck 9, People smoked a lot here so I went back to the other floors.

Some passengers sleep near the stairs.

The seats around here was quickly fulled so I moved to the other area.

I sat in this area. You can order the drinks or buy some snacks and drinks from other room and sit here. There is buffet room. If you buy the buffet ticket on website, you will get cheaper price than on board. Free-Wifi is slow so I used my cellular data but also slow.

The live music on board.

Shops on deck 7 (if I'm right) and the lower floor also has shops.

After 2 hours and 15 minutes, I arrived Tallinn. Passengers were queued at the exit gate before arrival time. If you have the luggage, you may wait for while to let the big group of passengers exit in order to avoid crowd.