One of the best things as an exchange student is the chance to travel further from your new home to other great places, and this makes Turku an amazing destination!

  • Did you know you can visit Stockholm by taking a ferry in the evening and arriving in the morning, stopping in Mariehamn, capital of Åland?
  • Or that Gdańsk, our sister city from Poland, is at less than 2 hours of flight time, leaving from Turku airport?
  • We're also pretty close to Tallinn, we only need to go early to Helsinki and take a ferry for a day in Estonia's capital!
  • And we also have a partnership to go visit St. Petersburg and Moscow!
  • What else would you like? Visiting other Finnish cities like Helsinki or Tampere? Or maybe going to Lapland? Sure thing!

Direct Ferry Route: Turku > Åland > Stockholm

You surely know Stockholm, capital of Sweden, but did you know we have two ferry companies that operate daily trips from Turku? If you're lucky enough, you can find a cabin at €20/person.

As part of ESN Finland, we have our own cruise event to visit Stockholm for one day with the Pirates of the Baltic Sea! Once every semester, more than 1,200 students from all over Finland gather in one boat and go to Stockholm and back.

You can also take your bike in the ferry and visit the Åland Islands. Is there a better way to discover these Swedish-speaking islands in the Baltic Sea?

Low-cost Flights: Turku > Gdańsk

Even if it's not really big, we do have an airport in Turku! One of the most interesting destinations you can reach from here are through it!

Gdańsk is a Polish city in the Baltic coast and the largest city in its region, Pomeranian, and one of the twin cities of Turku! WizzAir, a low-cost airline, has a direct route from Turku airport a few times a week, sometimes for as low as €10.

  • WizzAir (Like any budget airline, pay attention to the conditions and hand luggage specifications!)

If you want to meet some people there, you're welcome to contact ESN UG Gdańsk, our partner section from Poland. They'll be very happy to help you!

Poland is relatuvely cheaper for most usual things compared to Finland, and that's always nice to enjoy your travels!

Bus and Ferry: Turku > Helsinki > Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and its largest city. A very beautiful place to visit during spring, summer and early autumn. It offers many attractions for visitors, including its medieval side around Old Town area. Tallinn is very close to Finland, so it's another destination you should have in your exchange passport.

First, you will need to go to Helsinki. The cheapest way is to take the low-cost buses from Finland. ExpressBus is the national company and thus, the fares are fixed and more expensive.

Once in Helsinki you can get a ferry to Tallinn! The trip takes around 2 hours and the companies that go are the already mentioned Viking and Silja Lines, in addition to:

You can get a round trip ticket to Tallinn and back to Helsinki. Leaving in the morning, returning in the evening and eight hours in the Estonian capital in between. You shouldn't miss this!

Timetravels: St. Petersburg & Moscow

These destinations are a bit expensive for an individual or a small group. The easiest way to visit Russia from Finland is through a company called Timetravels (Aikamatkat in Finnish). They have packages like a three-day trip to St. Petersburg or a eight-day trip to Moscow.

Bad part? For the second trip you will need a visa. Good part? ESN Finland has a partnership with Timetravels!

Each semester, we organize a trip to St. Petersburg and the Grand Russia trip (which includes as well Moscow and Novgorod). If you want more information about the activities or the itinerary, check our Russia trips page. Information in there is subject to change.

Buses: Around Finland

As mentioned before, in Finland there are a few low-cost bus companies as well as the national ExpressBus. More specifically, OnniBus has one of the departure points from Turku in front of the Caribia Hotel, a hotel right close to Student Village West where many exchange students live.

Prices with OnniBus start from €1 and rise depending on how many tickets are sold.

ExpressBus, by the other hand, has the prices fixed.

Other Trips: Beautiful Lapland!

Coming to Finland is a synonym of visiting Lapland. It's just one of those trips that you can't let escape! There are many activities to do during one week in Lapland you can't imagine! And we make our best effort to bring you the chance to go and visit it at the best prices.

When it comes to Lapland, we have two different kinds of trips, the one organized by ESN and the one organized by Timetravels. There are usually at least four trips each year, two per semester, and it might vary on demand.

These two trips are the cheapest since we, as student organizations, pact the prices with the companies and the accomodation without intermediaries. These trips are to Levi. Besides, we have Timetravels trips which are in two different destionations, Saariselkä and Levi. You can check the trip info from their own webpage here.

If you miss any destination or have questions about trips, just e-mail us at board[at]esnuniturku.fi or send us through the contact form on our website at www.esnuniturku.fi/contact and we will reply as soon as possible!