No need for an own car in 2025

Helsinki is already an excellent city to get around in by public transport, bike or even on foot. But the city's ambitions are bigger than that. The long term plan is to make privately owned cars completely obsolete.

And that vision is not too far in the future. Already 2025 this should be reality. For more information on those plans check out the article on Fastcoexist.

Car drivers be prepared

No, the weather is not that bad yet. Actually this is one of the warmest Octobers in a long time. But anyway if you are a car driver you should prepare for winter.

Have you already changed to winter tires? If not it's about time. You can do that yourself or let a garage take care of it (for around 30 €).

Also be aware that the speed limits have been changed on the highways. During the winter the fastest you can go in Finland is 100 km/h.

Drive safely!

Book your parking spot online

A new parking system has been put in place at the airport. You can now reserve your parking spot in advance online. Especially during the busy travelling times this makes sense and saves you not only a lot of nerves but probably also some money. Because during those times the cheaper parking lots fill up easily and you will have to go with one of the more expensive ones.

You can make your reservation on the Finavia website and pay right away. One spot will be reserved for you and you can enter the parking lot even if it is announced to be full.

Rally at Hietalahti

In a few minutes the Neste Oil Rally Helsinki Battle beginns. What is special about this rally is that it takes place in the city. This is the perfect opportunity for you to follow a rally battle without having to travel anywhere.

Also the list of drivers is impressive. It will be a battle of today's rally stars against the legends such as Juha Kankkunen.

The event starts at 11:00 and lasts the whole day until 17:30. The entrance is of course for free. Check it out and have fun!

Avoid wrong parking

Helsinki is not a car city. If you want to get to the center better use bus, metro or tram. If you anyway decide on driving to the city center be prepared for lots of one way streets and expensive parking lots.

If you decide to park on the street be very careful. Getting a ticket is pretty expensive in Helsinki and can range between 60 and 80 Euros depending on where you parked. A bus ticket is quite cheap in comparison. Just on Sundays parking on the streets is free and without risk.

Hello April!

Have a nice April 1st and don't let anyone fool you!

Get your car running

The week has started and you need to get to work again. If you go by car you might face some difficulties in the morning. Here are a few things you should definitely have in your car during the cold time of the year.

- an ice scraper to free the windows of the frost in the morning

- a shovel to get rid of the snow around your car

- a blanket to put underneath the car when it gets stuck in the snow

- oil or spray to unfreeze the lock of your car (this one you should of course not have laying in the car but always with you)

Drive safely and have a good start into the weekend!

the returning ticket

There is something special about car parks in Finland. When you return your payed ticket at the exit you will receive it back. As long as you don't take the ticket back the bar won't open.

Especially tourists regularly get confused with this and wonder why they don't get out. In some cases you will even find a small trash bin next to the ticket machine for the used tickets.

Parking without coins

Everyone knows the situation. After finally finding a parking spot in the center you want to get your ticket and realize you don’t have any small change with you. All the searching was in vain.

The Finnish company Neligrate came up with a solution for that. With their ParkMan app you can pay your ticket over the phone. After finding your spot you open the app. Confirm your position and the price and start the parking time by sliding the park button. When you come back just slide the park button again and the precise amount will be withdrawn from your credit card.

This system not only works in Helsinki but also in many other cities in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. For more information and to download the app (available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone) visit the ParkMan website.

Fuel up in Finland

During the summer time many tourists drive around Finland with their own or a rental car. When running out of gas fueling up here in Finland can present quite a challenge.

You should know that in difference to many other countries most gas stations are self service stations. That means that you have to pay your gas in advance at the pump. Of course as always in Finland you pay by card. The amount you choose on the display is just the maximum you are willing to pay. So in case you want to fill up the tank completely choose a high number. Just the actual amount you took will be deducted from your credit card of course. After paying you normally have around three minutes to take the nozzle and fuel up.

There is always an option to choose your own language at the machines. If you just follow the instructions nothing much can go wrong.

Have a nice vacation!

Underground by car

Underneath the city of Helsinki spans a huge tunnel system. Not only can you walk along there like mentioned earlier on HelsinkiIn. You can also drive through the tunnels.

Did you know that Stockmann is connected to the beginning of Ruoholahti underground? When you leave Stockmann’s parking lot you can follow the signs to Ruoholahti and will find yourself driving underneath the city for several hundreds of meters. It’s quite impressive and also good to know to avoid traffic in the inner city.

Do you know where your car is?

This happens when you don’t move your car for a few days. You might have trouble freeing it from the snow masses and maybe even finding it.

Move your car

After heavy snowfall during the last days and weeks whole Helsinki has a white cover now. The city is now a winter wonderland.

Except for car drivers. They would rather describe it as hell. And if you happen to be one of them you don’t just have to drive extremely carefully. You also have to watch out for those signs.

They tell when the street is going to be cleaned. For that reason the street has to be completely empty during the announced time. Should you forget to move your car before that then the city will do that for you. And that might not be too cheap. So keep an eye open for new signs when you park during the winter.

Let the lights guide you

Every car driver knows the problem. You are in a parking garage and are trying to find a spot. You see an empty space a few meters ahead but when coming closer you realize that there is already a small car that you just didn’t see.

Finns found a pretty neat way to avoid long searching. Small lights above every parking spot that are visible from far away indicate if they are free (green) or already occupied (red). So instead of trying to spot a gap between all the cars you just have to look up and will find space in no time.

Since most parking garages allow free parking for the first three, four or five hours (not in the center) these lights also indicate when the parking time is over through starting to blink. 

This great system really saves you time and nerves.

Beach walk in Espoo

The ice is gone and the sea is open again. It’s time to go to the beach again. Even though it might still be quite cold for a swim and sunbathing in shorts or bikini it’s already wonderful to walk along the weather when the sun is shining. Then you get the feeling that summer can’t be that far away anymore.

There are hundreds of beautiful beaches in the capital region. Why not make a trip to Espoo and visit the beach at Haukilahti? You get there either by car or by bus (line 111 and 112).

Stop for a coffee or maybe an ice cream at the small café. The terrace is already open. Or watch the first sailing boats enter and leave the harbor.

Zebra anarchists

Finns are probably one of the most rule loving nations on this planet. Everything goes by the book here. It even surprises someone like me coming from Germany. Just one example are those funny numbers you have to take whenever you want to get customer service anywhere in Finland. This system is useful, no doubt. But even if there is no other customer in a radius of the next 20 kilometers I can assure you that you won’t be served before you take one of those numbers. Not to mention all the regulations when it comes to the topic alcohol. But more on that some other time.

All those rules are of course important to keep the country as organized, clean and international successful as it is. And people in Finland are glad to follow them. The really low crime rate reflects that.

But there is one thing where the Finnish rule following need stops working. And that is when it comes to zebra crossings. Finns just don’t stop if there is a pedestrian waiting to cross the street. After observing this for while I began to doubt that zebras here even have the same function as in most other countries. Maybe they meant something completely different like “try to not to loose speed when you pass by here with your car”. But I was assured that this is not the case – at least not officially. 

But I have to admit that last week when I was again waiting to pass the street finally one car stopped and gave me way. I thanked the driver with a waving gesture being happy to prove my observation about the Finnish zebra anarchists wrong. Then I realized: the car was from Estonia.