Day Trip from Helsinki to Tallinn by Ferry: Terminals, Ships and Old Town Route

Sitting just 80 kilometres south across the Gulf of Finland, Estonia's capital Tallinn boasts one of the best-preserved walled Hanseatic medieval Old Towns in Europe. Because modern high-speed roll-on/roll-off cruise ferries make the crossing in exactly 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes, visiting Tallinn is the most popular day trip from Helsinki (or an easy one-way continuation southward into the Baltics).

Comparing the 3 Ferry Operators and Choosing the Right Helsinki Terminal

Pay close attention to which Helsinki terminal your ship uses, as they sit in different parts of the city:

• Tallink Silja Line (Tallink Shuttle, MyStar & Megastar, 2 hours) and Eckerö Line (MS Finlandia, 2 hours 15 mins): both depart from West Harbour Terminal 2 (Länsiterminaali 2, T2) in Jätkäsaari, reached in 12 minutes from Helsinki Central Station on Tram 7 or Tram 9 (right to the terminal door). Tallink runs up to six departures daily on its gleaming LNG-powered ships; Eckerö Line often offers low day-return promotional fares. Both dock at Tallinn D-Terminal, a flat 10-minute walk from Tallinn's Old Town walls.
• Viking Line (Viking XPRS, 2 hours 15 mins): departs from the Katajanokka Terminal in central Helsinki (reached on Tram 4 just past Uspenski Cathedral) and docks at Tallinn A-Terminal, also a 10-minute walk from the Fat Margaret Tower at the northern gate of Tallinn Old Town.

Passport Rules and a 5-Hour Walking Loop in Tallinn Old Town

Although both Finland and Estonia are inside the Schengen Area and both use the euro (EUR), you must carry your physical valid passport (or EU national ID card for EU citizens) to board an international ferry; driving licences or photos of passports are not accepted. Arrive at the terminal 45 minutes before departure, as boarding gates close 20 minutes before sailing.

Once you walk through the 16th-century artillery bastion of Fat Margaret (Paks Margareeta) onto cobbled Pikk street in Tallinn, follow this effortless loop: stroll down Pikk past the Great Guild Hall and the 1404 Town Hall Square (Raekoja plats) (stepping inside Europe's oldest continuously operating pharmacy, Raeapteek, open since 1422), climb the cobbled lane of Lühike jalg up to Toompea Hill for the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the famous red-roof panoramas from the Kohtuotsa and Patkuli viewing platforms, and finish with coffee and dinner in the converted industrial brick quarter of Rotermann or creative Telliskivi before walking back to the ship.