Every boat that leaves Helsinki
I sold tickets for nine summers at a kiosk on the Market Square quay, on the stretch where the sightseeing boats tie up. The question I was asked most was not which boat is best. It was some version of “is this the one that goes to the fortress?” — usually from someone holding the wrong ticket, thirty metres from the right gate. So the honest hub page starts one step before the product list.
First, decide whether you want a boat at all
If what you want is Suomenlinna — the sea fortress on eight islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, with about 900 people living on it — you do not want anything on this page. You want the HSL ferry, and you want the page about the ferry, which explains the gate, the ticket and the timetable and does not try to sell you anything.
If what you want is to see the city and the fortress from the water, to sit down for an hour and a half, and to be brought back to where you started, then a sightseeing boat is exactly right and I think it is good value for what it is. Just be clear that the boat is the destination.
Then, check the season
The sightseeing fleet runs roughly May to September. The bus-and-boat ticket runs 2 May to 30 September. JT-Line’s island boats run to fixed dates. Outside that window the water shrinks to two things: the Suomenlinna ferry, which never stops, and the international ships, which also never stop. If you are here in November, read the winter page before you plan a day around a cruise.
Leaves from Market SquareHelsinki Archipelago: Sightseeing Boat Tour
Late light, longer loopHelsinki: Evening Archipelago Cruise
Speed boat and saunaHelsinki: Archipelago RIB Boat Tour with BBQ Lunch and Sauna
Six people maximumHelsinki: Private Boat Tour
Bus and boat togetherHelsinki: Hop-On Hop-Off Bus & Archipelago Cruise
Another country by lunchtimeFrom Helsinki: Return Day Trip Ferry Ticket to Tallinn
What each one actually is
The archipelago sightseeing boat is the flagship and the default answer: an hour and a half from Market Square, out through the channels and back, audio guide in 28 languages over the loudspeaker and as a downloadable app, an outdoor sundeck, food and drink on board, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before. No landing. Off-season it runs an hour. Full page.
The evening cruise is the same water later in the day and a full hour longer, two and a half hours, from the operator’s pier at Market Square marked with tall red flags. It has a bar, toilets, Wi-Fi and a sundeck. People take it for the light. In June the light is still daylight, which is not what everyone expects from the word “evening”. Full page.
The RIB boat is the opposite of a sightseeing loop. Three and a half hours in a speed boat with a life jacket and goggles, a guide talking about the plants and the birds, and it lands — on an island, for a snack lunch and a public sauna. It meets at Café Marina Bay, Kanavaranta 4, not on the Market Square quay. Full page.
The private boat takes up to six people, your group only, with a certified skipper, a canopy and closed weather protection, a fridge and a dining table. One to one and a half hours, two route options — the Eastern Archipelago or the City Front — and it passes Suomenlinna. Full page.
The hop-on hop-off ticket is a bus and a boat on one day ticket: buses every 30 to 40 minutes between 10:00 and 16:00 from Bus Stop #1 under the red sign, boat departures from Market Square at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00. It is a way of covering the city and the water in one go. Full page.
The Tallinn day trip is not a boat tour and I will keep saying so. It is a return ferry ticket with Tallink Silja, from West Harbour (Länsisatama) Terminal 2 in Jätkäsaari, on the other side of the centre, giving up to about nine and a half hours in another country. It carries by far the highest review count on this site. Full page.
The three people actually choose between
| Helsinki: Evening Archipelago Cruise | Our pickHelsinki Archipelago: Sightseeing Boat Tour | Helsinki: Archipelago RIB Boat Tour with BBQ Lunch and Sauna | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaves from | Market Square, red flags | Market Square quay | Café Marina Bay |
| Duration | 2 hrs 30 | 1 hr 30 | 3 hrs 30 |
| Does it land? | No | No | Yes, island and sauna |
| On board | Bar, Wi-Fi, sundeck | Sundeck, food and drink | Life jacket and goggles |
| Commentary | App, 28 languages | Loudspeaker and app | A guide, in person |
| Best for | The late light | A first look from the sea | People who hate sitting still |
| Rating | 4.2 | 4.4 | 5.0 |
| Reviews behind it | 598 | 625 | 29 |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Choosing in a minute
You have ninety minutes and you want the city front from the sea: the archipelago sightseeing boat. You want the long light and a drink on deck: the evening cruise. You want to actually get off the boat, swim and sweat: the RIB tour. You are a small group and you want the boat to yourselves: the private boat. You want the city as well as the water on one ticket: bus and boat. You have a whole day and you want a different country: the Tallinn ferry. The same thing laid out by situation is on the decision page, and if you are here off a ship for a few hours, start with the cruise port page instead.
Take a coat you would not take at home. The wind comes across the open water at Market Square even in June, and the sundeck empties the moment the boat leaves the shelter of the islands. I watched that happen several times a day for nine summers. The people still out there at the far end of the loop were the ones wearing a proper jacket, and they had the best of it.
Live availability
Dates for the flagship archipelago loop are below. If none of them suit you, there is no shame in buying an AB ticket and taking the public ferry instead — it is the same water, for the price of a tram ride, and the island boats go to places no sightseeing loop calls at.
Those dates don’t work?
Browse the other boats leaving Helsinki — the short archipelago loops, the evening cruises and the crossings to Tallinn — and pick a day that suits you, with instant confirmation.
Frequently asked questions
Which boat goes to Suomenlinna?
The public HSL ferry from the eastern side of Market Square, in front of the Presidential Palace. It is city transport, not a tour, and it is covered by an ordinary AB ticket: how the ferry works.
Do the sightseeing boats stop at an island?
The archipelago loop, the evening cruise, the private boat and the hop-on hop-off cruise do not land. The RIB tour lands on an island for lunch and a sauna, and the Tallinn ferry lands in another country: the RIB tour.
When does the sightseeing season run?
Roughly May to September for the sightseeing fleet, and 2 May to 30 September for the bus and boat ticket. Outside that, see boats in winter.
Where does the Tallinn ferry leave from?
West Harbour (Länsisatama) Terminal 2 in Jätkäsaari for Tallink Silja and Eckerö Line, and Katajanokka for Viking Line. Not from Market Square: the day trip page.
Which one has the most reviews?
The Tallinn return ferry ticket, by a wide margin, at 4.8 across 2,706 reviews. Among the sightseeing boats it is the archipelago loop at 4.4 across 625: our reviews.