Information about Vantaa

Public transportation

Vantaa and the entire metropolitan area boast good public transport connections. There are several stations along the main railway line and the Martinlaakso line. Many bus routes run through the city.

Vantaa is part of Helsinki Region Transport, HRT (Helsingin seudun liikenne, HSL), a joint municipal authority that organises public transport in the metropolitan area. More information is available on HRT’s website.

You can use the Journey Planner (Reittiopas) service to search for information on routes in the metropolitan area. The service provides suggestions on how to get from one place to another using public transport.

HSL Card (HSL-kortti)

It is cheaper to travel by HSL Card than if you buy a single ticket with cash. The HSL Card is accepted on the local service’s buses, commuter trains, the metro, trams and the Suomenlinna ferry.

There are two kinds of HSL cards. A personal card (henkilökohtainen kortti) can only be used by the card’s owner. It is the cheapest way to travel. Multi-user cards (haltijakohtainen kortti) can be used by more than one person.

Before you buy a personal card, you must register as a permanent resident in one of the cities covered by the HSL regional tickets. These cities are Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, Kirkkonummi, Kerava and Sipoo.

You can purchase an HSL Card at an HSL sales office (myyntipiste) or service point (palvelupiste). They are located in different parts of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. You can buy a personal HSL Card at a service point. If you want to buy a personal HSL Card, bring your identification. You can also buy a personal HSL Card from the HSL website if you have Finnish online banking credentials.

The HSL Card can be used after you have loaded either a period of time (kausi) or value (arvo) to it. Period of time refers to time: for example, one month. Value refers to money value. If you use public transport often, it is worth selecting season.

You can top up your HSL Card at any travel card service point or online. More information is available on the HRT website.

Walking and cycling

If you want to travel on foot or by bike in Vantaa, you can search for a suitable route in the Journey Planner for Cycling and Walking.

You can get a printed cycling map of Vantaa at Vantaa Info. They are free.

Motor and air traffic

The international Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is located in Vantaa. The airport has good traffic connections by car, bus and train.

Many metro and railway stations offer free car parks for commuters who wish to continue their journey using public transport. You can easily find bus and train timetables in the Journey Planner.

Read more: Traffic.

Decisions regarding Vantaa are made by the City Council (kaupunginvaltuusto). It has 67 members, who represent the different political groups. The Council is elected every four years in a municipal election (kunnallisvaalit).

Residents of Vantaa can affect the making and preparation of decisions in many ways. You can watch councel meetings and find more information on decision-making on the Vantaa channel.

Vantaa has an advisory board for multicultural affairs (monikulttuurisuusasiain neuvottelukunta), which presents motions on matters concerning immigrants. Find out more on the City of Vantaa website.

There are political associations, immigrant associations and other organisations in Vantaa through which you can affect decision-making. More information is available on the Vantaalla.info website.

There are many religious communities in Vantaa and Helsinki. The Religions in Finland service provides you with the opportunity to search for information according to religious community or municipality.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church has six Finnish and one Swedish parish in Vantaa. Find out more on the website of Vantaa Association of Parishes.

An Orthodox church is located in Tikkurila. More information on the activities of the Orthodox parish in Vantaa is available on the website of the Orthodox parish of Helsinki.

Read more: Cultures and religions in Finland

Vantaa is one of the four municipalities in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. It is located next to Espoo and Helsinki. The centre of Vantaa is Tikkurila. Vantaa also covers many other large urban areas, such as Korso, Koivukylä-Havukoski, Myyrmäki, Martinlaakso, Hakunila, Länsimäki and Pakkala.

Vantaa has about 250,000 inhabitants. Approximately 2.2% of them speak Swedish as a native language. About 27% of them speak a language other than Finnish or Swedish as their native language. More than 120 native languages are spoken in Vantaa. Vantaa covers an area of approximately 240 km2, of which 2 km2 is water.

The Vantaa region has been inhabited for a very long time. Remnants of habitation have been found that date back as far as 7,000 years. The current Vantaa came into being in the area of the former Helsinge Parish. Its history extends all the way to the 14th century. The Helsinge Parish initially became the Rural Municipality of Helsinki, then the Borough of Vantaa in 1972 and finally the City of Vantaa in 1974. Vantaa’s position as a neighbour to Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has been an important factor in terms of its development. Important routes, such as the road from Turku to Vyborg through Helsinki and later the railway north from Helsinki, have run through Vantaa. Industry and residential areas have sprung up around the roads and railways. Vantaa is still an important traffic hub. For example, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is located in Vantaa.