Vantaa

Like Espoo, Vantaa is basically an extension of Helsinki and does not have one single city center. Vantaa's administrative center is in Tikkurila. Quite few of the inhabitants have any connections to the rural landscapes and villages left from the old Helsinge (renamed Vantaa 1972). Best known as the city where Helsinki's airport is located, you will also find various parks and farms you can visit there as well as the beautiful Medieval Church of St.Lawrence.

By plane

The city is indeed accessible by air, as Helsinki Airport (HEL) is situated in Vantaa. There are buses from the airport to different parts of Vantaa, or you can take the commuter train to Tikkurila (for eastern Vantaa) or Myyrmäki (for western Vantaa) that are public transport traffic hubs.

By train

The main railroad north from Helsinki goes through eastern Vantaa. In addition to several local train stations, all long distance trains to the north and east, including the ones to Russia, stop at Tikkurila station. If you are heading for the western parts of Vantaa, you can take the local train line "I", which also stops at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

By car

Freeways 3, 4, 45 and 7 out of Helsinki go through Vantaa and the main east-western road is the third ring road (Kehä III). In the morning and afternoon rush hours traffic it can get quite busy and in the winter a heavy snowfall or a larger accident due to the often over-frozen road surface can block the traffic completely.

By bus

From Helsinki several local buses go to Vantaa, and there are some lines directly from Espoo too. The Helsinki region public transport authority's Journey Planner is an excellent tool to find out which bus you should take from one address to another. Some larger cities in southern Finland also have a direct connection to Helsinki airport.

See Helsinki#Get around for information about fares and tickets

By train

Kehärata (Ring Line) connecting the main rail line with western Vantaa via the airport opened in July 2015. Combined with bus transfers, this is the fastest way to get around for many. See Journey Planner or Google Maps for routes and timetables.

By bus

There is a maze of bus lines in the area, however with the opening of Ring Rail train line the routes are completely renewed in August 2015. See Journey Planner or Google Maps for routes and schedules.

By car

As distances are longer than in the more central parts of Helsinki, driving is sometimes an option. As above, the traffic can get quite congested in the rush hours, especially on the ring roads.

By bike or foot

On a sunny summer day you can make use of the cycle and footpaths crisscrossing Vantaa and suburban Helsinki. Get a good map.

• Heureka

  address: Kuninkaalantie 7
  Heureka is an interactive science museum, with different kinds of exhibitions about technology, physics, chemistry, medicine, astronomy and so on. Really exciting for children interested in science.

• St.Lawrence

  address: Kirkkotie 45
  A medieval stone church from the 15th century in the southern part of Vantaa.

• Suomen Ilmailumuseo

  phone: +358 9 8700 870
  address: Tietotie 3
  Near Helsinki-Vantaa airport. A museum with over 70 planes (both civilian and military) as well as plane parts, equipment and photos.

• Myyrmäki church

  address: Uomatie 1
  Completed in 1984, this church is pretty cubist on both the inside an outside.

• Vantaa City museum

  address: Hertaksentie 1
  Learn more about how Vantaa grew from a couple of farms at the outskirts of Helsinki to the city of 200 000 inhabitants it is today.

• Viherpaja

  address: Meiramintie 1
  Not just a plant and gardening store, but actually a 3500 sq.m garden with an indoor desert where cacti grow and a Japanese garden mimicking the climate of Tokyo round the year.

• SotunkiIt's hard to call this farmland dominated area at the eastern edge of Vantaa a "city district". In the summer it's a pleasant area for biking along the unpaved roads between the fields where sheep and cows graze. It's also not far away to Sipoonkorven kansallispuisto (Sipoonkorpi National Park) in the neighboring Sipoo municipality.

Events and festivals

• Winter Carnival

  address: Hertaksentie 2
  A samba show held on a Saturday in late January at the nightclub Tulisuudelma (see section Nightclubs below). Features performances by the samba schools Império do Papagaio from Helsinki and Sambic from Tuusula. Consists of both an instructed samba dance class and an evening samba show.

• • Beer Floating

    address: on Vantaa river
    An unofficial event usually held the last weekend of July or the first weekend of August since 1997. The participants (yup, mostly males in their 20s) gather in Vantaa with rubber boats, rafts or whatever they can find that floats and travel downstreams towards Vanhankaupunki rapids while indulging beer - of course without life vests. This event has no official arrangers that could be held responsible if something happens and the date of the event just spreads in social media. If you think watching the spectacle isn't enough, remember that you're doing it on your own risk!
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    Vantaa

    • Flamingo Entertainment Center

      address: Tasetie 8
      A big entertainment complex located near the airport in Vantaa, next to a large shopping mall Jumbo, just north of Helsinki. Biggest attractions are Flamingo Spa & Wellness with pretty cool and fast slides in the waterpark section and a large selection of relaxation pools, jacuzzis and different saunas in the other section, and Hohtogolf West Coast which is a glow in the dark 15-hole miniature golf course with over-the-top mechanized special effects and a special "horror" section. Cheesy but fun, especially after a few drinks from the bar. Other attractions in Flamingo include a small casino, a 3D movie theater, many pubs and restaurants, a variety of specialist shops, a large hotel and one of the biggest nightclubs in Finland called Onnela.

    • Härmälä Farm

      phone: +358 9 876 7339, +358 400 880 539
      address: Mäntykummuntie 6
      A typical Finnish farm located in the village of Sotunki in eastern Vantaa and surrounded by a picturesque landscape. On the farm you can meet animals representing the traditional Finnish stock: cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and more..

    • Kuusijärvi Smoke Sauna

      address: Kuusijärventie 3
      This traditional smoke sauna is located in Vantaa but very easy to reach from Helsinki Railway Station. Situated in Kuusijärvi Outdoor Centre and besides a beautiful lake, it's widely regarded as one of the best traditional saunas in the capital region. Rebuilt in 2011.. Take your swim gear with you, as the smoke sauna is mixed-sex.

    • Pavi

      address: Honkanummentie 6
      Dance tango and other similar dances. Also arranges dance courses.
    
    

More so than Helsinki or Espoo, Vantaa has large industrial areas and a lot of services, so there are a lot of jobs at various levels, including for immigrants. Common jobs are for instance cleaning, cargo handling, warehouse work and waiter and other restaurant jobs. The government employment office (TE-toimisto) is located in Tikkurila, Vernissakatu 8 C, 01300 Vantaa.

Shopping centers

In Vantaa and the northern suburbs there is no shortage of large shopping malls with even larger parking areas where you can buy everything from strawberries to washing machines. They also have other services like banks and restaurants and are all accessible by bus. The major ones are:

• Jumbo

  address: Vantaanportinkatu 3
  Finland's second largest mall when it opened in 1999, Jumbo does live up to its name. Jumbo features Prisma and Citymarket superstores, a Stockmann department store and practically all Finnish shop and a range of cafés and restaurants.

• Myyrmanni

  address: Iskoskuja 3

There's also a cluster of shopping malls in , along freeway 45 south of Ring road III, as well as in , though this one only comprises furniture and bargain stores.

Budget

• IKEA furniture mall's cafe and restaurant

  address: Porttisuontie 18
  The furniture store IKEA has a restaurant on the 3rd floor and a café on the second where you can have a cheap and decent meal for well under €10 or a coffee or a hotdog for around €1. Also serves €2 breakfast in the morning except Sunday when the store is closed.

• Lounasravintola Kehä III

  address: Virkatie 7
  The "Lunch restaurant Ring Road Three" is a café all the day and serves you good all-you-can-eat buffet lunch at lunchtime. Popular among blue-collar workers.

• RAX pizza buffet

  address: Asematie 4 (Tikkurila), Iskoskuja 3 (Myyrmäki), Tasetie 8 (Flamingo)
  The pizza buffet chain RAX has three restaurants in Vantaa. All you can eat buffet serving delicious (but some say "unhealthy") food such as pizza, chicken wings, lasagne, meat balls, fried onions, nachos, salads, soft drinks and ice for desert.

Mid-range

• Parilla Steak House

  address: Tasetie 8
  A restaurant in the Flamingo entertainment center. The menu is along the line of steaks, chicken wings, large hamburgers etc. best enjoyed with a glass of wine from their surprisingly large wine list.

• Thai Palace

  address: Unikkotie 5A
  Thai food, as the name reveals.

• Oriental House

  address: Unikkotie 5A
  Next to the former, the oldest Chinese restaurant in Vantaa.

• Ravintola Mummola

  address: Kielotie 8
  Traditional Finnish food, the name translates to "at grandma's".

Splurge

If you want fine dining, you should better travel to central Helsinki. The hotels near the airport also have their own restaurants, however the food at the hotel restaurants doesn't necessary live up to the prices.

• Oklahoma

  address: Tikkuraitti 15
  American restaurant in Tikkurila.

• Katering Ammattilaiset

  address: Talkootie 4
  At your request.

Most suburbs have a pub or two. If you want something fancier, head to central Helsinki, that's what the locals do.

Pubs and bars

• Pub Hertas

  address: Hertaksentie 2

• Old Story

  address: Tikkuraitti 17

Nightclubs

• Klubi 5

  address: Kilterinraitti 6

• Shamrock

  address: Peltolantie 2
  Night club in Tikkurila.

• Torello Rock Bar

  address: Lehdokkitie 6

• Tulisuudelma

  phone: +358 20 1234 618
  address: Hertaksentie 2
  The most famous nightclub in Vantaa. Easily accessible as it's actually located inside the hotel Sokos Hotel Vantaa, right next to the Tikkurila railway station. As such, after partying you can either go sleep in the hotel or travel by train to neighbouring Helsinki. The nightclub regularly holds live performances by various Finnish musicians and bands. The nightclub is so popular among partygoers in the capital region that people tend to include it in a list of Helsinki's popular nightclubs even though it's not actually in Helsinki.

The major hotel concentration in this part of the capital region is near the airport. No wonder, as most people coming to or leaving from Finland by air pass through Helsinki-Vantaa.

Budget

Mid-range

• Sokos Hotel Vantaa

  phone: +358 20 1234 618
  address: Hertaksentie 2
  The national chain Sokos has a hotel in Tikkurila, next the railway station.

• Airport Hotel Bonus Inn

  phone: +358 9-825511
  address: Elannontie 9
  Friendly family-owned hotel with basic but very clean and comfortable rooms. Restaurant, sauna (evening only), free shuttle service to airport (5-7 min).

• Cumulus Airport Hotel

  phone: +358 9-41577100
  address: Robert Huberin tie 6
  Mid-range Finnish chain hotel, 10 min away by free shuttle bus. Renovated in 2007.

• Hotel GLO Helsinki Airport

  phone: +358 103 444 600
  address: Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Terminal 2
  The only hotel located in the airport building itself, on the service floor of Terminal 2 and with direct indoor access from Terminal 1. Day rooms are also made available for use, depending on the booking situation, between 9:00 - 19:00.

• Best Western Airport Hotel Pilotti

  phone: +358 9 3294800
  address: Veromäentie 1
  Best Western Airport Hotel Pilotti is located in Vantaa, within 5-minute drive from Helsinki-Vantaa airport and within walking distance to Jumbo shopping centre and new Flamingo Spa. There is a regular bus service between Helsinki-Vantaa airport and the hotel.

Splurge

• Hilton Helsinki-Vantaa Airport

  phone: +358 9-73220
  address: Lentäjänkuja 1
  Full-service hotel right next to the airport, opened in late 2007. Soundproof windows, bar, restaurant, sauna.

• Sokos Hotel Flamingo

  phone: +358 20 1234 605
  address: Tasetie 8

• Rantasipi Hotel Airport

  phone: +358 9 4157 7100
  address: Robert Huberin tie 4

• Espoo
• Helsinki
• Järvenpää — 25 km further north where you can visit Ainola, the home of the famous composer Jean Sibelius.
• Kerava
• Sipoo