Finland
Helsinki
A Baltic capital of design and sea air. Green trams loop the city, and no station has a ticket gate.
Suomenlinna ferry (HSL route 19)
Updated on August 2, 2026
How to ride
- 1Sort out your ticket before you boardTickets are not sold on board. Buy first at the pier's ticket machine or card reader, or in the HSL app.
- 2Board on the east side of Market SquareFerries leave from the eastern side of Market Square, in front of the Presidential Palace. Follow the signs to the pier.
- 3Show your ticket before the card readersThe payment area starts at the card readers on the pier - tap or show your ticket before you walk past them.
- 4Buy the return at the pier tooSame on the Suomenlinna side - buy the return at a card reader or the ticket machine on the pier, or in the app.
Fares
Single fares3
Passes & multi-ride1
Children & discounts1
Estimates use exchange rates as of November 3, 2026
Payment
Tap to ride 
IC card 
App tickets 
Paper tickets 
Cash Quick facts
Fares
HSL day ticket (1-13 days)A 1-13 day ticket covering the ferries and all HSL transport on land.
Daily fare capThere is no daily fare cap - unlimited travel comes as a day ticket.
Transfer discountsOne ticket transfers freely between boats and land while it is valid.
Facilities
Lifts (step-free)（Limited）Wheelchair users and anyone accompanying a child aged 0-6 in a pram, pushchair or wheelchair travel without a ticket. The only powered mobility devices allowed aboard are mobility scooters for people with limited mobility. On the Kruunuvuorenranta side the pier is temporary and not fully accessible, so staff help passengers on and off.
Suitcases & luggageOrdinary luggage travels free; bringing a bicycle costs an extra fee.
Rules
PetsPets may travel as long as they are kept on a lead.
Fare evasion fine（Banned）No valid ticket means a EUR 100 penalty fare plus a single fare.
Apps & info
Journey planner app (Google Maps)Useful for finding the Market Square piers, though in summer the ferry and water bus berths sit side by side
Operating hoursThe Suomenlinna ferry (route 19) sails from Market Square every day of the year, from early morning until late at night, with several departures an hour in summer and at least one an hour in winter; the crossing takes about 15 minutes. The service ferry from Katajanokka (M/S Ehrensvärd) runs on weekdays only, roughly hourly during office hours, and is a cargo boat with a small passenger cabin. The Kruunuvuorenranta-Meritullintori ferry takes about 20 minutes and runs roughly every 50 minutes: daily in summer, and in winter (from the start of November) 07:00-22:00 on weekdays and 10:00-18:00 at weekends. The private water bus is seasonal, 1 May to the end of September, leaving Market Square from 07:00 until after midnight; the 07:00 and everything from 23:00 onwards do not run on Sundays, so Sunday sailings run 08:00-22:30. HSL does not publish clock times for the ferry's first and last sailings - they live in the journey planner - so no figures are given here.
Heads-up
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The water bus is another company - HSL tickets are not valid
HSL's ferry and a private water bus leave from neighbouring piers on the same corner of Market Square. HSL tickets are not valid on the water bus at all - you buy the operator's own ticket on the spot. The year-round, roughly 15-minute crossing to the island's main pier is the HSL ferry (route 19); the water bus runs only from May to the end of September.
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You cannot buy the return ticket on board
On the Suomenlinna side there are only three ways to buy: contactless at the pier's card readers, the HSL app, or the ticket machine at the pier. Nothing is sold on board. If the machine is out of service you fall back on contactless or the app, so if neither will work for you, HSL itself advises buying a day ticket on the mainland before you go.
Timetable
Editor Naotaka