Helsinki or Tallinn?

Tallinn has the better old town and Helsinki has the better water. Tallinn’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the best-preserved medieval centres in northern Europe, walled, compact and on a hill. Helsinki is a nineteenth and twentieth century city built along a shoreline with about 330 islands in front of it. They are about 80 km apart across the Gulf of Finland and around ten ferry crossings a day connect them, so the honest answer for most visitors is not one or the other.

Distance apartAbout 80 km

Crossings a dayAround ten in total

Fast crossingAbout 2 hrs

Slowest crossingUp to about 3 hrs 25

Day trip, door to door11 to 14 hrs

Time in Tallinn on a day tripUp to about 9.5 hrs

What each city actually is

Tallinn is a medieval town centre with an intact town wall, the Toompea upper town above it and Raekoja plats, the town hall square, at its heart. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the best-preserved of its kind in northern Europe. It is small, it is cobbled, it is on a hill, and you walk it.

Helsinki is a shoreline. Senate Square with Helsinki Cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral on Katajanokka, Temppeliaukio cut into rock, the Chapel of Silence at Kamppi, Oodi, Esplanadi, the Old Market Hall on the South Harbour quay, the Design District, Ateneum and Kiasma and Amos Rex, the Sibelius Monument, Seurasaari and Korkeasaari. And in front of all of it, a sea fortress across eight islands and an archipelago of about 330.

If you want a medieval walled town, Tallinn wins outright and it is not an argument. If you want water, islands, a fortress you reach by public ferry and a city that faces the sea, Helsinki wins just as clearly.

Why you probably do not have to choose

Around ten crossings a day run between the two cities. Tallink Silja runs five to seven a day from West Harbour (Länsisatama) Terminal 2 with the ships Megastar and MyStar; Eckerö Line one to three a day, two hours fifteen to two hours thirty, also from West Harbour Terminal 2; Viking Line two to three a day, two hours fifteen to two hours forty-five, from Katajanokka. The fast end is about two hours and the slow end about three hours twenty-five.

The return day trip product allows up to about nine and a half hours in Tallinn, with a total day of eleven to fourteen hours door to door. That is long, and it works: it has the highest review count of anything on this site by a wide margin. Tamara, from the United States: “The ferry ride was easy. The ferry is clean and very comfortable. Tallinn was beautiful.” The day trip page, and which line to take is on the ferry comparison.

What works

Tallinn: a walled medieval old town, UNESCO listed, compact and walkable
Helsinki: a sea fortress reachable on a city transport ticket
Helsinki: about 330 islands and a real archipelago in front of the city
Around ten crossings a day, so a day trip either way is straightforward
Both are in the EU and the Schengen area, and share a currency

Worth knowing

Tallinn's Old Town is cobbled and on a hill, which is hard work
Helsinki's boat season runs roughly May to September only
A day trip is eleven to fourteen hours and is not a half day
Carriers check identity, so a passport or ID card is required
Tallinn's centre gets very busy when several ships are in

If you only have time for one

Choose Tallinn if you have already seen a lot of Nordic capitals, if what you want is architecture and streets rather than landscape, if you are travelling in November when Helsinki’s water has closed down to the ferry, or if you are travelling with people who want to walk somewhere beautiful rather than sit on a boat.

Choose Helsinki if you want to be on the water, if you want Suomenlinna, if you are coming between May and September when the archipelago is open, or if you want a city that is comfortable and uncrowded rather than a centre that fills when the ships come in.

What a day trip actually involves

Check-in is inside West Harbour Terminal 2 if you are on Tallink Silja or Eckerö Line, and at Katajanokka if you are on Viking Line. Both terminals are a tram ride from the centre, not a walk with luggage. A seat is included on the day trip product, with restaurants and shops on board, and the day is unguided: you walk off in Tallinn and the rest is yours.

Take your passport or ID card. Finland and Estonia are both in the EU, the Schengen area and the same currency, so there is no hard border and nothing to change, but the carriers check identity and people do get turned away. Where everything leaves from is on the departures page, and crossing times on the timings page.

The mistake people make in Tallinn

They spend the whole nine hours inside the walls, on the square, paying old-town prices for an old-town lunch, and go home thinking Tallinn is a film set. Walk out of one of the gates for half an hour. What to avoid in Tallinn and why Tallinn is famous.

Local tip

Do the crossing on a weekday if you can. The Friday evening and Sunday return sailings are the busiest of the week, and the ship is a much more pleasant place with space on it. The structural answer to sailing cheaply is on the cheapest day page.

And Stockholm, since people ask

The third Baltic option from Helsinki is Stockholm, overnight, about seventeen to eighteen hours, leaving in the early evening and arriving the next morning. Viking Line from Katajanokka, Tallink Silja from the Olympia Terminal, generally one or two departures a day. It is a different kind of trip entirely: a night on a ship rather than a day in a city. The Stockholm page and Helsinki or Stockholm.

My answer

Base yourself in Helsinki, cross to Tallinn for one day, and give the rest of your time to the water here. Tallinn is better at being a medieval town than Helsinki will ever be, and Helsinki is better at being a city on the sea than almost anywhere. Doing both is easier than choosing.

Another country by lunchtime

Check dates & book

One reminder, because it is the mistake I watched most often from the kiosk: the widget above books a sightseeing boat, not the ferry to Suomenlinna. The ferry is run by HSL as part of the city’s public transport, you buy it the way you buy a tram ride, and nobody sells a separate ticket for it here. The ferry has its own page.

We are an independent guide, not a boat operator and not a ferry company. Booking links go to GetYourGuide and are affiliate links — if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tallinn or Helsinki better to visit?

Tallinn has the better old town, a UNESCO-listed walled medieval centre. Helsinki has the better water, with a sea fortress and about 330 islands. They are about 80 km apart with around ten crossings a day, so most visitors do both.

Can I visit Tallinn as a day trip from Helsinki?

Yes, and it is popular. The return ferry day trip runs eleven to fourteen hours door to door with up to about nine and a half hours in the city: the Tallinn page.

How long is the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn?

About two hours at the fast end and up to about three hours twenty-five depending on the ship and the line: the crossing times page.

Do I need a passport to go from Helsinki to Tallinn?

Both countries are in the EU and the Schengen area, so there is no hard border, but carriers check identity and you will not sail without a passport or ID card.

Which ferry line should I take to Tallinn?

Tallink Silja and Eckero Line sail from West Harbour Terminal 2, Viking Line from Katajanokka. Which terminal is easier for you usually decides it: which Tallinn ferry.