Island Adventures: The best boat tours in Helsinki

If you want to take in Helsinki’s best maritime views in one go, this 90-minute cruise is a perfect pick. You’ll sail past many of the city’s most iconic sights: Suomenlinna, Korkeasaari Zoo and the impressive icebreakers docked in the harbour.

The route also passes through the Degerö Canal, which links the islands of Laajasalo and Tammisalo, and gives the cruise its name. This is actually Helsinki’s only canal, a short but scenic 120 metres long.

The best time to go is just before sunset, when the evening light turns the city’s skyline to gold. The sea breeze in your hair, seagulls circling overhead and the city glimmering from the water – it’s pure Baltic magic.

Note: You stay on the boat for the entire cruise; there are no stops along the way.

Helsinki’s most popular boat trip departs from the Market Square and heads to Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage sea fortress. Even better, you can use an ordinary HSL public transport ticket, the same one that works on trams, buses and the metro.

The 15-minute ferry ride alone is an experience, gliding past small islands toward the world’s largest sea fortress. Once there, you can easily spend the rest of the day exploring.

On the way back, Helsinki looks its most beautiful: the pastel-coloured neoclassical buildings glow in the evening sun, with the white cathedral rising above them like a guardian angel. Few views capture the city’s spirit quite like this.

Ferries to Suomenlinna depart from the Market Square all year round, and the island is lovely even in winter.

Just off the city centre, Lonna is a small round island that once served as a naval mine depot and now hosts restaurants, cafés and seaside saunas. It’s the perfect place to pause, enjoy the view and soak up the maritime atmosphere.

You can reach Lonna by FRS Finland waterbus from the Market Square. The same boat continues on to Suomenlinna. Note that HSL tickets aren’t valid here and you’ll need to buy a separate ticket (€4.60), available online or onboard.

The trip from the Market Square takes only 10 minutes, and you can continue to Suomenlinna or return on the next boat. The FRS route is handy because it docks directly at Kustaanmiekka, the fortress’s southern tip (you can return via the public ferry from the north). Boats run roughly every hour.

The FRS waterbus also sails to Vallisaari, once part of Helsinki’s defensive network along with Suomenlinna.

The island’s past is both colourful and tragic: once home to a small military community, vegetable gardens and an explosives depot, Vallisaari was the site of a fatal blast in 1937 that killed 12 people. Because old explosives may still remain, visitors must stick to marked trails.

Today, nature has taken over. The island is known not just for its fortifications and sea views but for its lush greenery and rare butterfly species.

From Vallisaari you get superb views across the narrow Kustaanmiekka Strait to Suomenlinna’s King’s Gate, with cruise ships sailing through so close they almost brush the rocks. The viewpoint is marked on maps as ‘The Gibraltar of the North’.

The island is at its best every other summer, when it hosts the Helsinki Biennial contemporary art festival.

Boats to Vallisaari depart from the Market Square.

Just the sight of the charming wooden waterbus to Pihlajasaari brings back memories of sunny childhood summers for many locals. The island’s highlight is one of Helsinki’s prettiest sandy beaches, and there’s even a separate section reserved for nudists.

Boats depart from Kaivopuisto (near Café Carusel) and from Kellosaarenlaituri in Ruoholahti, which is accessible by metro. Services are operated by JT-Line.

You can also explore Helsinki’s archipelago to a DJ soundtrack aboard a SunLines Party Cruise. Running from May Day Eve to the end of September, these four-hour evening cruises set sail on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm to 10pm.

They’re wildly popular – many departures sell out – and there’s space for 200 revellers onboard. Note that you must be 22 or older to join.

The Eastern Archipelago Route is a long cruise that travels through the entire eastern archipelago of Helsinki, running from Meritullintori in Kruununhaka all the way to Aurinkolahti in Vuosaari. The full journey takes nearly three hours, but it’s best enjoyed in stages, hopping off to explore islands along the way – the most fascinating of which are Vartiosaari and Kivisaari.

Kivisaari is graced by a magnificent wooden Art Nouveau villa designed by the legendary architect Eliel Saarinen. Vartiosaari, meanwhile, has plenty to see and do: nature trails, old summer villas, a forest chapel and Viikinkikallio (Viking Rock), where locals are said to have once kept watch for approaching enemies.

The route passes through the Degerö Canal, and along the shoreline of lavish seaside villas you might even spot seaplanes moored at private jetties.

In Vuosaari, you’ll find Aurinkolahti Beach and scenic walking areas at Kallahdenniemi and Uutela. With a day ticket (€26), you can hop on and off freely along the route. Pets are welcome onboard. Operated by FRS.

And finally, the classic: a nostalgic cruise from Helsinki’s Market Square to Porvoo aboard the historic steamship M/S Runeberg, built in 1912.

The leisurely three-hour journey winds through stunning archipelago scenery – past villas, islands and lighthouses – before gliding up the Porvoo River into Finland’s most romantic small town.

The ship docks right in the heart of the Old Town, where cobbled streets, red riverside warehouses and wooden cafés welcome you ashore. It’s the perfect summer day out.