Helsinki Card Review - Is the Helsinki Card Worth Buying?

If your travels are taking you to Helsinki Finland, we recommend that you take a look at getting a Helsinki Card.

This is a sight-seeing card that offers free and discounted entry to a number of attractions across the city, as well as travel on all the local public transport options in the city.

We’ve used the Helsinki Card on various trips to Helsinki, and based on our experiences using the card, we wanted to share a full Helsinki Card review so you can decide if the Helsinki Card is worth buying.

We’re going to go through everything you need to know, including the benefits of the card, where to buy a Helsinki Card, how much the Helsinki Card costs, and our experiences buying and using the Helsinki Card ourselves.

What is the Helsinki Card?

The Helsinki Card is a sightseeing pass for Helsinki that gives you free entry to more than 30 of the most popular attractions in Helsinki.

It also includes discounts for a number of other attractions and restaurants, as well as unlimited public transport within the city limits, a free sight-seeing bus tour, a Hop of Hop off bus tour (seasonal), and a free guidebook to the city.

What’s Included on the Helsinki Card?

The Helsinki Card includes over 20 of the major attractions in (and around) the city. Some of the top attractions which are included are as follows:

Suomenlinna Sea Fortress
Hop on Hop off Bus Sightseeing Tour
Canal Route Cruise
Temppeliaukio Church (Rock Church)
Finnish Nature Centre Haltia
HAM Helsinki Art Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma
National Museum of Finland
Amos Rex

As you can see, this list has a lot of different attractions, from sight-seeing tours to museum entry.

The card also includes unlimited public transport inside the Helsinki city limits and various discounts on other major attractions in the city.

These discounts are varied, but cover a great many excellent activities and sights. These include the Tallink ferry to Estonia (a great day trip from Helsinki), discounts on the Helsinki Skywheel, Zoo and aviation museum, and discounts at a number of restaurants and shops.

You can see a complete list of included attractions and discounts, plus buy your Helsinki Card on GetYourGuide here.

What’s Not Included on the Helsinki Card?

The Helsinki Card includes a lot, but it doesn’t cover everything. For example, whilst it offers discounts to the Skywheel and the Korkeasaari Zoo, these are not free with the card.

In addition, while the Helsinki Card does include many of the city’s museums, there are some notable exceptions, like the Botanical Gardens and the Natural History Museum.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that not all Helsinki attractions are open year-round. For example the Hop on Hop off bus tour and Canal cruise only operate from May – September, and a number of the museums in Helsinki, especially those on Suomenlinna island, are not open in winter either.

In addition, whilst this isn’t relevant to the card inclusions, it’s worth being aware that many museums in Helsinki, and Finland in general, are closed on Mondays.

We have used the Helsinki Card in both winter and summer, and found it to have value at both times, but it is definitely worth being aware of which attractions are operational when, so you can make a decision for yourself.

We recommend taking a look at our detailed guide to things to do in Helsinki, which also has information on which things are open when.

Types of Helsinki Card

The Helsinki Card is offered in a number of different versions, which cover the age of the user and the duration of the card. There’s also an option to increase the region covered by the public transport part of the cart. I’ll walk you through the options.

The main thing you have to choose is how long you want the card to be valid for, with cards available in 1 day, 2 day and 3 day durations.

There is also an adult (age 17+) and child (age 7 to 16) version of each pass available. Children under age 7 travel for free within Helsinki using public transport, and many attractions are also free for children under 7.

The standard Helsinki card includes public transport in Helsinki city, which includes Trams, Buses, the Metro, local trains and the ferry to Suomenlinna.

It does not include transport from the airport, but in our experience, unless you plan on visiting a lot of sights outside the city, it will suffice for most journeys.

There’s also the option to purchase a Helsinki Card Region. This upgrades the transport part of the pass. It covers all the same attractions, but includes public transport to and from the airport, as well as public transport in the Espoo, Kauniainen, and Vantaa regions.

All the variants of the Helsinki Card offer the same attractions, discounts, and other benefits, the only difference is the duration of the card, age of the user and area covered by the transport component.

How Much Does the Helsinki Card Cost?

The price of the Helsinki Card varies depending on the duration of the card. The latest pricing (as of January 2024) is as follows, but you can check the latest prices online here.

1 Day Pass: €56 for adults, €28 for children
2 Day Pass: €67 for adults, €34 for children
3 Day Pass: €82 for adults, €41 for children

The regional version of the card can be bought online on GetYourGuide here, or in person at various locations across the city. Pricing (as of April 2023) is as follows.

1 Day Pass: €61 for adults, €31 for children
2 Day Pass: €72 for adults, €36 for children
3 Day Pass: €87 for adults, €44 for children

Honestly, we think most travellers will be fine with the standard card as it covers the majority of the city.

Where to Buy the Helsinki Card?

The easiest place, and our recommended way for buying the Helsinki Card City, is on the GetYourGuide website, where you can choose between the Helsinki Card City version here and the Helsinki Card Region version here.

It’s always worth comparing the price between the official site and GetYourGuide as sometimes one is better value than the other. We usually recommend GetYourGuide as it includes free cancellation up to 24 hours before you are due to collect the card, however it is of course up to you.

When you buy, you can choose to pick it up at one of four locations in Helsinki. The city centre Holiday Inn location is open 24 hours.

The collection points for the Helsinki Card are as follows:

Excess Baggage Airport Services
Address: Helsinki Airport, Terminal 2, Arrivals Hall
Opening hours: Mon-Sun 6am – 9pm

Hotel Holiday Inn Helsinki
Elielinaukio 5,
Opening hours: 24 hours/7 days a week

Department store Stockmann Helsinki
Address: Stockmann, Service Point 8th floor, Aleksanterinkatu 52
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00, Sat 10:00-19:00, Sun 12:00-18:00
Closed: Tue 25 Dec, 2018

Stromma Sales kiosk at Market Square
Address: Market Square, Kolera-allas, Sightseeing by Boat by the yellow flags.
Opening hours: May – September from the first departure to the last departure.

You can also buy your card from a number of locations across Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa. All of the above collection points sell the cards, plus there are over 30 retail locations, including on the Tallink ferry.

Whilst we do suggest buying your card online prior to arriving into Helsinki so that it is done (cards can be purchased up to a year before activation), there are plenty of options in the city for in-person purchase as well.

How Much Money Will You Save With the Helsinki Card?

Obviously, this is not a straightforward question to answer as the amount you can save will vary depending on which attractions you visit and how many attractions you visit.

In our experience, it is possible to make some significant savings with the Helsinki Card, especially for the two and three day versions of the card.

All the prices are valid as of April 2023, and we will endeavor to keep this post updated as prices change. Please do always check the official websites for the latest pricing information.

Note, for all the comparisons below we’ve chosen the Helsinki Card City. We feel that most users won’t benefit from the additional transport included with the Helsinki Card Region, but it is up to you as to whether you feel it is worth the slightly higher cost.

1 Day in Helsinki with the Helsinki Card City

Helsinki has a lot of attractions, and 1 day will not be enough to see everything. However, we think you’d be able to see a number of attractions in the city in 1 day.

Note that these attractions will vary depending on if you visit in winter or summer, so we have put together a different itinerary so you can see the different options.

1 Day in Helsinki in Winter

Suomenlinna Island (€26.2 if you visit all open museums and take tour, including boat ride to island)
Amos Rex Art Museum (€20)
National Museum of Finland (€18)
Temppeliaukio (Rock Church) (€5)
Three rides on public transport (€9 for day ticket)

This would make for a fairly easy day of sight-seeing in Helsinki, with the morning spent exploring Suomenlinna Island, and the afternoon seeing some sights in Helsinki.

I wanted to put together a barebones itinerary to show how quickly the Helsinki Card starts saving you money, and as you can see, even with only four attractions visited (plus transport), the total entry fee would be €78.2 without the Helsinki Card.

The 1 day Helsinki Card is €54, so you are already saving €24.2! Plus you may have time left in the day for another attraction or two.

1 Day in Helsinki in Summer

Suomenlinna Island (€34.2 if you do all museums and take tour, including boat ride)
Canal Route Cruise (€26)
National Museum of Finland (€18)
Rock Church (€5)
Hop on Hop off Bus tour (€32)

In summer I’ve replaced the public transport with the hop on hop off tour as this will take you around the city and the audioguide will tell you a lot about what you are seeing.

There are also more museums open on Suomenlinna in the summer, and the Canal Route Cruise is a really worthwhile experience.

Overall, the day would cost you €115.2 for individual tickets, meaning that with a 1 day Helsinki Card you would save €61.2.

2 Days in Helsinki with the Helsinki Card

2 Days in Helsinki in Winter

Suomenlinna Island (€26.2 if you visit all open museums and take tour, including boat ride)
Amos Rex Art Museum (€20)
National Museum of Finland (€18)
Rock Church (€5)
Four rides on public transport (€13.5 for a two day ticket)
Museum of Photography (€12)
Hotel and Restaurant Museum (€12)
Theatre Museum (€12)
Panorama Sightseeing bus tour (€32)

With an extra day, you can fit a lot more in. The Museum of Photography, Hotel and Restaurant Museum and Theatre Museum are all in the same building over three floors, so visiting them all together makes sense.

We also think you could fit in the year-round panorama sight-seeing bus tour, which runs once or twice a day depending on the time of year.

Overall you’d be looking at €150.7 in costs for this Helsinki itinerary in winter. The 2 day Helsinki Card is €66, so you’d save €84.7 on this trip.

2 Days in Helsinki in Summer

Suomenlinna Island (€34.2 if you do all museums and take tour, including boat ride)
Canal Route Cruise (€26)
Rock Church (€5)
Amos Rex Art Museum (€20)
Hop on Hop off Bus tour (€32)
National Museum of Finland (€18)
Tamminiemi/ Urho-Kekkonen Museum (€12)
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum (€10)
Four rides on public transport (€13.5 for a two day ticket)

In summer, we suggest you head to the open-air museum Seurasaari. This is found on a little island a few kilometres by public transport from the city centre, and is home to over 80 buildings from different regions of Finland, spanning four centuries of living.

It’s a great place to learn about rural life in Finland, and makes for a lovely day out from the city centre.

It’s also close to the Tamminiemi museum, former residence of three Finnish prime ministers. Note that these two items aren’t on the hop on hop off bus route, so I’ve included public transport in the costs as well.

Doing all the above would cost you €159.6 without a Helsinki Card. The 2-day Helsinki Card is €63, so you’d save €96.6 on this itinerary.

3 Days in Helsinki with the Helsinki Card

3 Days in Helsinki in Winter

Suomenlinna Island (€26.2 if you visit all open museums and take tour, including boat ride)
Amos Rex Art Museum (€20)
National Museum of Finland (€18)
Rock Church (€5)
Four rides on public transport (€13.5 for a two day ticket)
Museum of Photography (€12)
Hotel and Restaurant Museum (€12)
Theatre Museum (€12)
Panorama Sightseeing bus tour (€32)
Day trip to Tallinn (card saves you 20%)

With three days in Helsinki, we’ve added on a day trip to Tallinn in Estonia. This is only a 2 hour ferry ride away from Helsinki, and the Helsinki Card saves you 20% on the ferry ride. We’ve done this trip in winter from Helsinki, and loved that we got to explore a whole new city.

Of course, there are lots of other things to do in Helsinki too, so if you’d prefer to stay in the city you could visit the Zoo, the Aquarium, or one of the many other museums.

If you stick to our suggestions, you’d be looking at a total price of €150.7, then whatever you save on the ferry as well. A 3-day Helsinki Card costs €78, so excluding your ferry saving you’d be saving €72.7.

3 Days in Helsinki in Summer

Suomenlinna Island (€34.2 if you do all museums and take tour, including boat ride)
Canal Route Cruise (€26)
Rock Church (€5)
Amos Rex Art Museum (€20)
Hop on Hop off Bus tour (€32)
National Museum of Finland (€18)
Tamminiemi / Urho-Kekkonen Museum (€12)
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum (€10)
Four rides on public transport (€13.5 for a two-day ticket)
Day trip to Tallinn (card saves you 20%)

With our suggestions, the total price you’d be looking at would be €170.7 excluding the ferry to Tallinn.

With the Helsinki Card, you’d be looking at €78 for the three day card, So a total saving of €92.7, plus whatever you save on the ferry.

Note if you do decide to do the ferry trip, do compare the saving of the ferry ride versus the cost of the extra day on the Helsinki card. A 2 day Helsinki Card costs €66 and a 3 day Helsinki Card costs €78.

So if your ferry saving is less than the €12 difference between the 2 day card and the 3 day card (plus the cost of public transport to the centrally located ferry terminal), you might be better off investing in a 2 day Helsinki Card instead.

Conclusion on Saving Money with the Helsinki Card

As you can see, all three of our itineraries will save you money if you use the Helsinki Card, even if you only visit a relatively small number of attractions.

Attractions in Helsinki are, for the most part, quite expensive. Even visiting two or three museums can quickly add up, and we think that once you factor in the other benefits like the easy to use travel card and sightseeing bus, the Helsinki Card is fantastic value.

What to do in Helsinki with your Helsinki Card

There’s a lot to do in Helsinki with attractions ranging from art museums to UNESCO world heritage sites.

We would definitely suggest having a visit to Suomenlinna Island near the top of your to-do list. The Helsinki Card gets you a free boat ride to the island, as well as access to all the museums on the island and a free guided tour.

It is worth bearing in mind that other than the boat ride though, you can visit Suomenlinna Island without paying anything as access to the island itself is free. But we would suggest visiting the main Suomenlinna Museum at the least, as this explains the history of the island a little bit.

If you’re visiting Helsinki in summer, a Canal cruise is a lot of fun. These last for around two hours and will let you see a different side of the city. It’s relaxing, and you can even enjoy a drink or snack onboard.

There are lots of other highlights of the city. Art lovers will love all the art museums, plus there are loads of other museums you can visit – seemingly on every topic! From photography to hotels to architecture to Moomins, Helsinki really has you covered.

Obviously, you’ll want to try some local Finnish cuisine whilst you’re in Helsinki, and the Helsinki Card can help you with that as well, as it offers discounts at some of the cities popular restaurants and cafes – don’t forget to take advantage of these during your stay!

We can also recommend a trip to the unique rock church, aquarium, and the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum. However long you visit for and at whatever time of year, we don’t think you’ll run out of things to see and do in Helsinki!

Tips for Using your Helsinki Card

To make the most out of your Helsinki Card, you will want to do some forward planning.

Look up opening hours for attractions. We’d suggest figuring out which attractions are important to you, and looking up their opening times. Many attractions are not open on Mondays for example, and opening times vary through the week for many attractions, with closing times varying from 5pm to 8pm in our experience.
Visit Suomenlinna Island. One attraction we definitely recommend is a visit to Suomenlinna Island. The Helsinki Card gets you a free boat ride to and from the island, free entry to all the museums on the island – and a free guided walking tour – make sure to take advantage of all of these to make the most of your card!
Be aware of limited opening hours. Some attractions in Helsinki are only open for very short periods of time. This is not commonplace, but is worth being aware of. Others might not be open in Winter, or have different hours in winter compared to summer.
Use the guidebook. The Helsinki Guidebook that comes with your Helsinki Card lists all the attraction opening times as well as tips on nearby public transport routes.
Don’t forget to show your Helsinki Card. Some attractions in Helsinki have extra bonuses if you show your Helsinki Card. For example, some museums will give you a free postcard if you show your Helsinki Card.
Plan your days effectively. Whilst Helsinki is not huge, and the public transport is very efficient, you will still want to spend more time sight-seeing and less time on public transport. We suggest using a tool like Google Maps, and/or a paper map, and planning an overview of your route so you are efficient with your time, and visit attractions near to each other.
Remember the Helsinki Card activates on a 24 hour basis. An advantage of the Helsinki Card over many other city passes is that it activates on a 24-hour basis. So if you arrive in the afternoon, you can still do some sightseeing without losing a whole day as you might with other cards. It also means that if you buy the Region version of the card, you can use it for transport from the airport without losing a whole day.
Save time with public transport. If you opt for the version of the card with public transport, make sure to use it to make getting around Helsinki easier and fit more in to your day. Whilst most parts of Helsinki are very walkable, there are loads of public transport options, and riding them is easy with your card.
Make sure to scan your card on public transport. It’s really important to scan your card each time. You have unlimited rides, so there’s no reason not to, and if you don’t, you’ll technically be riding without a ticket. When you board the vehicle, find the scanner and hold your card near it. A green tick will appear on the screen to show you have a valid ticket.
Take advantage of the extra discounts. Don’t forget to check all the discounts and offers that come with the Helsinki Card to take advantage of all the savings. You can see all of these on the official site here.

Our Experience Using the Helsinki Card in Helsinki

We have used the Helsinki Card on a number of trips to Helsinki, including in summer and winter. Most recently we used the card on a trip in winter, where we spent three days exploring the city.

Whilst some things were closed, we still found lots to do in Helsinki in winter. The city is home to a great many museums and indoor attractions, which is ideal in winter especially as it can be quite cold – so indoor attractions are perfect!

We ordered our card online prior to our trip, and picked it up in town. The collection point was easy to find, being directly across from the main train station, and near to where the Finnair airport bus terminates in the city. It’s also open 24 hours a day.

Our first port of call was the Suomenlinna Fortress, which required a boat ride to visit. The boat journey was included with our Helsinki Card (we just had to scan the reader).

Whilst the island itself was free to visit, the museums are not. We visited the military museum and the main Suomenlinna museum, which gave us a full run down of the history of the island. We also explored the whole island ourselves.

From here, we visited the following:

Helsinki Skywheel (€2 discount with Helsinki Card)
Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki Cathedral (free)
Helsinki City Museum (free)
Museum of Finnish Architecture (€10, free with Helsinki Card)
Museum of Finnish Design (€15, free with Helsinki Card)

Our second day looked as follows:

Helsinki Art Museum (€16, free with Helsinki Card)
Amos Rex (€20, free with Helsinki Card)
Hakasalmi Villa (€14, free with Helsinki Card)
National Museum of Finland (€18, free with Helsinki Card)

Finally, on our third day we visited a few attractions a little further out of town

Tram museum (free)
Sibelius Monument (free)
Tamminiemi Museum (€12, free with Helsinki Card)
Technology Museum (€12, free with Helsinki Card)
Old Market Hall (free)

Having visited Helsinki before we didn’t do absolutely everything, and we definitely could have fit more in had we wanted to, but we saw lots of things we’d not seen before and had a great time. We also took advantage of the public transport every day.

Overall, without the Helsinki Card, our costs would have been €159.2 for the attraction entry, including an €18 three-day travel card.

With the Helsinki Card, we spent €78 on the card itself, and then €10 for the discounted Skywheel, totalling €88. So our saving was an impressive €71.2. Definitely worth it in our case!

Should you Buy a Helsinki Card?

This will depend on your plans, but we would say that for most visitors to Helsinki who want to visit at least a few of the city’s many attractions, we think the Helsinki Card will save them money.

Of course, if you have no intention of visiting any attractions in Helsinki, or just visiting one or two, then the Helsinki Card is probably not for you.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that Suomenlinna Island is free to visit, and it’s only if you want to take a tour or visit the museums on the island that you have to pay.

We think these are worth it for getting an understanding of the island, but it’s up to you of course!

If you agree with us and are planning a trip to Helsinki in the coming year, then click here to buy your card online here.