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.

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.

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 When you come back just slide the park button again and the precise amount will be withdrawn from your credit card.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.

Free parking with Plussa

Just a short tip today:

Do you have the K-Plussa Kortti? With that you can park one hour for free at Ruoholahti Kauppakeskus. After your visit just put your parking ticket and after that the Plussa Kortti into the machine. You won’t have to pay for the first hour then.

Parking in the center

Parking in Helsinki can be quite pricy. The closer you get to the center the more you have to pay. At the parking lots of Kamppi and Stockmann it will even cost you a small fortune to park your car here for a day.

But if you are willing to walk a few hundred meters or take a tram for two stops you can park your car for free at the Olympic Stadium. The big parking area in front of the stadium is divided into rows that also allow different parking periods. While most rows just allow a few hours one (marked with a 24 hour sign) even makes it possible to leave the car for unlimited time.

Find out more about parking areas and prices in Helsinki from the city’s website.

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.