Helsinki by boat with children

The public ferry to Suomenlinna is the best boat in this city for children, and it is not close. Fifteen minutes on a city ticket, then eight islands of ramparts, tunnels, cannon, a submarine and grass to run on. A ninety-minute sightseeing loop, by contrast, asks a child to sit and look at scenery with no way off, which works for some children and for very few toddlers.

Best with small childrenThe Suomenlinna ferry

Crossing time15 minutes

On the islandRamparts, museums, the submarine Vesikko

Sightseeing loop1 hr 30, no landing

Zoo islandKorkeasaari, bridge, bus or summer boat

Emergency number112

Start with the ferry, not with a tour

I watched nine summers of families come through Market Square and the pattern never changed. The children who had a good day were the ones who got off a boat and onto an island. Suomenlinna is a sea fortress across eight islands, six of them fortified, begun in 1748 under Swedish rule when it was called Sveaborg, renamed Suomenlinna on the twelfth of May 1918, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. To a child it is a very large castle with a submarine in it.

The Finnish submarine Vesikko, the last surviving Finnish submarine, is on the island, along with several museums. About nine hundred people live there permanently and around three hundred and fifty work there year round, so there are cafes, shops and normal life as well as walls. The ferry crosses in fifteen minutes, runs every day of the year from early morning until late at night, and takes an ordinary AB city ticket valid ninety minutes. The ferry page and what Suomenlinna is.

The practical advantage over any tour is that you can leave whenever you want. A child who has had enough is fifteen minutes from the mainland, several times an hour.

Whether a sightseeing loop works

It depends entirely on the child. The loop is ninety minutes, it does not land, and there is no way off in the middle. For a child of seven or eight who likes boats, it is a good ninety minutes: there is an outdoor sundeck to stand on, other boats to watch, the fortress walls to pass, and commentary in twenty-eight languages so they can hear it in their own. For a two-year-old, ninety minutes is a long time and a sundeck is a railing.

What I would say honestly: if your child sleeps on moving things, a boat is a gift and you should take the loop. If your child needs to move, take the ferry and let them run on the ramparts instead.

What works

The ferry is short, frequent, cheap and lands somewhere with space to run
Suomenlinna has a submarine, tunnels, cannon and grass
The loop boats have an outdoor sundeck and an indoor saloon
Commentary in twenty-eight languages, including yours
Korkeasaari zoo island is reachable by bridge, bus or summer boat

Worth knowing

The sightseeing loop does not land, and lasts ninety minutes
There is no luggage space for a large pushchair on a small boat
Suomenlinna is cobbles, ramps and steps, not a smooth surface
The RIB is a speed boat and not suitable for very small children
The Tallinn day trip is eleven to fourteen hours door to door

Pushchairs

The ferry takes them without drama; it is public transport and it is used by residents doing a weekly shop. Suomenlinna itself is a different question: it is a fortress, which means cobbles, slopes, gravel and steps, and there are parts of it you will carry a pushchair up. A carrier is easier than a pushchair on the ramparts, and a pushchair is easier on the main route between the quay and the dry dock. Both are workable.

On the sightseeing loops a folded pushchair is manageable and an unfolded one is awkward, because there is no luggage area and the aisles are narrow. More on what does and does not work physically is on the accessibility page.

Which islands work for which age

Suomenlinna. Everything from a toddler to a teenager. Walls, tunnels, cannon, the submarine, cafes, beaches on the outer side.

Korkeasaari. The zoo island, reachable by bridge and bus, and by JT-Line boat in summer. The obvious answer for young children on a day when the weather is uncertain. The Seurasaari and Korkeasaari page.

Seurasaari. Reached on foot over a wooden bridge from Meilahti, no boat at all. An open-air museum of historic wooden buildings, with famously tame squirrels and ducks — which, for a five-year-old, is the entire point of the visit.

Lonna. About seven minutes by boat from Market Square, summer only, with a cafe, a restaurant and a public sauna. Small, easy and quick, which suits a short attention span.

Pihlajasaari. Beaches and a two-kilometre nature trail, boats from Merisatama and Ruoholahti, season in 2026 from the sixteenth of May to the thirtieth of August. The swimming island. Island hopping has piers and dates for all of them.

The boats I would not take a small child on

The RIB. It is a speed boat with goggles and life jackets, three and a half hours, out into the archipelago at speed. For an older child who wants exactly that, it is memorable. For a small one it is loud, wet and long. The RIB page.

The Tallinn day trip. Eleven to fourteen hours door to door, with up to about nine and a half hours walking a cobbled medieval town. That is a full adult day. The Tallinn page.

The evening cruise. Two and a half hours, late, with a bar. It is a grown-up outing, and in June it is also in full daylight, which confuses bedtimes: the time-of-day page.

The private boat, which solves a lot

Up to six people, your group only, one to one and a half hours, with a certified skipper who has first-aid training, life jackets, bottled water, a fridge, a canopy with closed weather protection and a dining table. If you have a child who will not sit among strangers for ninety minutes, this is the format that makes the water possible: a short trip, your own people, somewhere to sit inside if the wind gets up, and a route chosen for you rather than for a hundred passengers. The private boat page.

Local tip

Feed everyone before you sail and go out in the morning. The Old Market Hall is on the quay and the terrace at Market Square is right there — but watch the plates, because the gulls here take food straight off the table, which children find far funnier than their parents do.

Practical bits

Dress children the way you would dress yourself, plus one layer: the sundeck is colder than the square in every month, and the wind comes across the open water even in June. Sun cream in summer, because there are seven to nine and a half hours of sunshine a day and all of it comes back off the water. Toilets exist on the evening cruise and on the ferry. The emergency number in Finland is 112. About half the people in Finland speak English and signs are routinely in Finnish, Swedish and English, so asking for help is straightforward: the English page.

A one-day plan that works with children

Morning ferry to Suomenlinna, two or three hours on the island, ferry back for lunch, and then either the zoo or an afternoon loop if there is still energy in the group. That is a full day with one boat ticket that is really a tram ticket. More shapes of day are on the one-day page.

Leaves from Market Square

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 a Helsinki boat tour good for young children?

The public ferry to Suomenlinna is better, because it is fifteen minutes and lands somewhere with space to run. A ninety-minute sightseeing loop does not land and has no way off: the ferry page.

Can I take a pushchair on the Suomenlinna ferry?

Yes. It is public transport and residents use it daily. The fortress itself is cobbles, slopes and steps, so a carrier is easier on the ramparts than a pushchair.

What is there for children on Suomenlinna?

Ramparts, tunnels, cannon, several museums and the submarine Vesikko, plus cafes and open ground. About nine hundred people live on the islands: what Suomenlinna is.

Is the RIB tour suitable for children?

It is a speed boat, three and a half hours, with goggles and life jackets supplied. Good for an older child who wants exactly that, poor for a small one: the RIB page.

Where can I take children on the water besides Suomenlinna?

Korkeasaari, the zoo island; Lonna, about seven minutes out with a cafe and a sauna; and Pihlajasaari for beaches and a nature trail: island hopping.