Summary

If you are visiting our research group at Aalto University, here are our recommendations:

• Flights: to Helsinki Airport (“HEL”)
• Hotel: in Helsinki city centre, near the Central Railway Station.
• Airport to hotel: train “P” or “I”
  • “Airport” – “Central Railway Station”, approx. 30 min
• Hotel to our campus: metro train “M1” or “M2” (underground)
  • “Central Railway Station” – “Aalto University”, approx. 11 min

You will need an “ABC ticket” for the trip between the airport and the city centre. An “AB ticket” is enough for the trip between the city centre and Aalto University. Buy tickets from a ticket vending machine or use the HSL mobile app. For ticket prices, please see HSL web page.

Our building

Our campus is located in Otaniemi, Espoo. The street address of our building (“Computer Science building”) is Konemiehentie 2, 02150 Espoo, Finland. It is a 2-minute walk from the metro station “Aalto University” (exit B).

© OpenStreetMap contributors

Hotels

Here are some examples of reasonably good hotels in convenient locations:

• Scandic Simonkenttä (metro station: “Kamppi”)
• Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna Helsinki (metro station: “Central Railway Station”)
• Original Sokos Hotel Helsinki (metro station: “University of Helsinki”)

Here is a cheaper option that is still very well located:

• Hotel Arthur (metro station: “University of Helsinki”)

You can also ask us to book a room in Töölö Towers for you.

Public transport

Tickets

There is a common ticket system that covers trains, metro, trams, and buses.

Helsinki metropolitan region is divided in zones A, B, C, and D:

• City centre: zone A.
• Aalto University: zone B.
• Airport: zone C.

You can use an ABC ticket for any travel between airport, city centre, and Aalto University. An AB ticket is sufficient for travelling between city center and Aalto University.

Buy tickets before boarding the airport train or entering a metro station. There is no ticket sales on trains. There are regular ticket inspections, so make sure you have a ticket with you.

The easiest option is to use your mobile phone to buy tickets: install the HSL mobile app on your mobile phone, enter your credit card information, and you can buy tickets using the app. Both single tickets and multi-day tickets are available.

The app can also produce a PDF receipt for your purchase if you need it for your travel expense claim.

Airport train

Just follow the train symbols at the airport to find the train station; along the way from the terminal to the train station there are also ticket vending machines.

At the airport train station, you can take any train (“P“ or “I“) going in any direction; it will take you to the Central Railway Station, which is the last stop. See here for more information on public transport options from the airport.

Metro train

The entrances to the underground metro stations are marked with red signs with a white letter “M”. These metro stations are within a walking distance from the city centre:

• “Kamppi” (Kampen)
• “Central Railway Station” (Rautatientori · Järnvägstorget)
• “University of Helsinki” (Helsingin yliopisto · Helsingfors universitet)

The metro route map is very straightforward: any train going west from any of these stations will take you to our campus. The right metro station is:

• “Aalto University” (Aalto-yliopisto · Aalto-universitetet)

There are two exits at the station, the one called “Tietotie” (exit B) is much closer to our building (a 2-minute walk).

Practicalities

• Border control: Finland is part of Schengen Area.
• Electricity: Power sockets are similar to those used in Germany; the flat Europlug always fits.
• Internet: You can use Eduroam as usual in our campus. There is also a network called “aalto open” that you can freely use without any login.
• Money: Euros. Credit cards and debit cards are generally accepted everywhere, even for small purchases. There is one exception: bus drivers on the local buses do not accept cards, but if you buy your bus tickets from ticket vending machines, you probably do not need to handle any cash.
• Tap water: Perfectly good to drink; there is no need to buy bottled water.
• Time zone: Eastern European time, 1 hour ahead of Central Europe.
• Tipping: Never expected in restaurants or elsewhere.