Is the Helsinki Card worth it?
Are you traveling to Helsinki, Finland? Are you wondering if purchasing a Helsinki Card is worth it during your trip? Read my honest thoughts on traveling with the Helsinki Region Card during our trip.
This post contains affiliate links. As always, all photographs are copyrighted Reese Moore Photography unless otherwise stated and cannot be used without express permission.
Look over the Helsinki Card offerings as you plan your trip.
*Please note: This is not a sponsored or endorsed post. This is my personal reflection on my purchase of the Helsinki Card during our recent vacation in July of 2024.
What is the Helsinki Card?
The Helsinki Card is a digital or physical card available for purchase that offers visitors discounted or free access to tourist attractions, historic sites, public transportation, tours, and select restaurants around Helsinki. The various Helsinki Cards are valid for specific amounts of time, and they’re activated the first time you swipe them. From that moment, how much you save depends on how much you can cram into the remaining hours on your card!
Included on the long list of attractions and activities covered in the Helsinki Card are:
Sightseeing cruises
Suomenlinna Sea Fortress (a UNESCO World Heritage site)
A wide range of museums
Transportation
Restaurant discounts
What types of Helsinki Cards are there, and what’s the difference between them?
There are three types of Helsinki Cards, and the difference, really, is which transportation regions are included. The basic Helsinki Card only applies to the attractions, so if you’re staying close to the museums and sites on your list, you love walking, or you’re open to biking or renting a scooter, this may be a great option for you.
The Helsinki City Card includes the same access to attractions as the basic card, but it also allows you to hop on and off public transportation in zones AB - the Helsinki metropolitan area.
The Helsinki Region Card includes the same access to attractions and transportation as the Helsinki City Card, but it also covers public transportation zone ABC, where the airport is located.
Once you choose which card best meets your travel itinerary, you will then choose how long you’d like your card to be active from the first swipe: 24, 48, or 72 hours.
Be sure to put a visit to Amos Rex at the top of your Helsinki itinerary.
Is it worth purchasing a Helsinki Card during your visit? Which did you choose, and how much did you save?
Do you love coupon clipping? Does racking up airline miles and Open Table points fill you with glee? Are you a go-go-go sort of traveler? Do you need a recovery vacation after packing as much as you can into your actual vacation? The Helsinki Card might be for you.
My two favorite hobbies are traveling and saving money - which are distinctly at odds with each other - I couldn’t wait to check this out. Would it really save me money? Are the included attractions actually worth visiting, or are they cheesy tourist traps? While an over-the-top tourist trap can be fun from time to time (I am from Florida, after all), I much prefer experiences with cultural value or some authenticity.
After deep-diving into the included excursions and museums, calculating how much we could probably fit into a day without making ourselves miserable, and running some of the numbers, I decided to buy 72-hour Helsinki Region Cards for myself and my husband. We’re pretty active people who love exploring new cultures, so I felt like the odds of saving money were in our favor.
Why did you pick the 72-hour Helsinki Region Card?
We were actually going to be in Helsinki for almost exactly 72 hours, so it just made sense to opt for the one that included airport transit and covered the duration of our stay.
The 72-hour Helsinki Region Card cost 89€ per person, which did sting a little at first and motivated us to make the most of our time with our cards. I believe it’s cheaper outside of peak season, which the Helsinki Card guide describes as May 1 - September 30.
If you’re going to be in Helsinki for a longer span of time, I recommend making a list of which attractions you want to see, how many you can comfortably check out in a day or two, and deciding if the cost makes sense for you. If we had stayed in Helsinki for a week, I likely would have purchased a different option and prioritized an itinerary focusing on the included attractions for that 48-hour span.
How much did you save?
Yes, I am a crazy person who tracked what we did, how much it would have cost without the Helsinki Card, and how much we saved as a result. These calculations are based on 2024 prices, as detailed in the official Helsinki Card pamphlet.
Cost of a 72-hour Helsinki Region Card (peak season pricing, May 1 - Sept 30): 89€
Money saved with the Helsinki Card per person per swipe:
Public Transport ABC to/from the airport (11€ /day ticket x 2): 22€
Design Museum Entrance: 20€
Architecture Museum Entrance: would be 20€ but was included with the Design Museum ticket, so I didn’t count this one
Temppeliaukio Church (Rock Church): 8€
Kamppi Chapel: 5€
Public transport around the city on the day without an ABC day ticket: 9€
City Sightseeing Hop On-Hop Off Bus: 34€
Amos Rex Museum: 20€
Ferry to Suomenlinna: 3€
Suomenlinna Museum: 9€
Submarine Museum: 7€
SkyWheel Helsinki: 2€
Total money saved with the Helsinki Card per person: 50€ (or $55.16 US per summer 2024 conversion rates)
Conclusion: In the end, I’m really glad we got the Helsinki Card during the first leg of our trip in the city. Not only did it motivate us to get out and do things, we also checked out experiences and museums that otherwise wouldn’t have been at the top of our list. We definitely saved some money without killing ourselves to squeeze every single thing on the agenda. My only regret is that we didn’t make it to the Seuasaari Open-Air Museum while it was covered under our 72-hour card.
That being said, however, we spent the better half of a day at Seuasaari, so it may have been for the best that we didn’t try to pack it in between museum hopping and could take our time wandering the exhibits and trails.
We also went to the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, which was enjoyable but not my personal favorite, and I wish we’d gotten a discount for that reason.
What were our favorite experiences included in the Helsinki Card? Scroll on down, partner.
Suomenlinna offers epic seaside views.
What are the best experiences available on the Helsinki Region Card?
We had a blast in Helsinki, and some of our favorite experiences were ones included in the Helsinki Card. Here are our must-try picks, with or without the Helsinki Card:
Amos Rex Museum: While some of the other art/design museums get a lot of hype, this one was definitely our favorite. If you like modern or contemporary art and design, put this at the top of your itinerary. The exhibits were interesting and varied, the gift shop was delightful, and the outdoor installations are truly striking.
Suomenlinna Sea Fortress: Take the charming historic ferry if you can, and plan to spend at least half a day exploring this stunning World Heritage site and its museums. All the exhibits are informative, but the Submarine Museum was very cool. There’s also a charming brewery on the island.
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum: The Seurasaari Open-Air Museum is one of my favorite memories from our time in Helsinki. The grounds and houses are beautiful, the cafes are great, and the walking trails are so peaceful, it was a lovely and informative way to spend the day.
SkyWheel Helsinki: Admittedly, I’m not really a sky-wheel sort of gal on most vacations. However, we did the Helsinki SkyWheel before dinner on our first night in the city, which happened to be on the eve of the Tall Ships Race. I loved the panoramic views of the harbor, islands, and gorgeous ships.
City Sightseeing Hop On-Hop Off Bus: Like the SkyWheel, a double-decker hop-on-hop-off bus isn’t usually at the top of my list when arriving in a foreign country, but we tried it because it was free (thanks to the Helsinki Card), and it was actually a nice way to see and get around the city. Would I ever purchase a stand-alone ticket for the hop on-hop off bus? Probably not. Am I glad I got to experience it? Absolutely.
Lastly, we do wish we’d had time to do one of the cruises included in the Helsinki Card activities, but we had other things to see and do that weren’t included on the list, and there simply wasn’t time.
Did you use a Helsinki Card during your trip to Helsinki, Finland? What were the best and worst parts of your experience? Drop ‘em in the comments below!
