Baltic Ferry Guide

Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski Nov 17, 2006

Ferries are a popular way to travel to and from destinations in Northern Europe. The word “ferry” is a bit of a misnomer because many of the larger ferries are akin to cruise ships – with restaurants, nightclubs, saunas, oodles of duty free shopping, buffets featuring a smorgasboard of Scandinavian cuisine, and cabins ranging from spartan to deluxe.

The ferries offer something for everyone. For families, ferries are a relatively inexpensive way to travel en masse in the Nordic region with your car. Elderly couples like the opportunity to show of their couple dancing skills to 50s and 60s pop songs translated into Finnish and Swedish. Shoppers enjoy stocking up on duty free design products, high end makeup, and perfume. Partiers love the duty free alcohol, which they consume on board and stock up in the duty free shop to take home. Some of the ferries are known informally as “party boats,” but I think that reputation is a bit overblown. Ferries present an opportunity for travelers to mix with people from Nordic countries (particularly if you are into watching people sing 70s and 80s Finnish or Swedish karaoke in the ship’s pub).

The biggest boats sail the high seas all year round. The smaller, fast ferries, like the ones that run from Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia in one hour and 40 minutes, only run when the Baltic is ice-free. Beware that ferries can be cancelled any time of year due to high wind or inclement weather. The Silja Line and Blue1 airlines have flight and cruise packages from a handful of central European cities to Stockholm, Sweden or Helsinki. Some lines, like Tallink and Silja, offer discounted cruise and hotel packages. Prices vary on the route, the time of year, the day of the week, and the length of your stay (for round trip tickets). Some of the ferries sail overnight so you arrive at your destination in the morning. Travel times depend on the destination. For example, trip between Helsinki or Stockholm, or between Copenhagen and Oslo, takes 16 hours. For more information on the ferry travel experience, read my Baltic ferry trip report.

The following companies run ferries between popular Northern European destinations:

• DFDS Tor Line: Oslo/Copenhagen; Copenhagen/Gothenburg, Sweden/Immingham, England; Gothenburg/Ghent; Copenhagen/St. Petersburg, Russia
• Tallink: Helsinki/Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg/Tallinn
• Silja Line: Helsinki/Aland Islands/Stockholm; Stockholm/Riga, Latvia; Rockstock, Germany/Helsinki
• Viking Line: Helsinki/Tallinn; Helsinki/Aland Islands/Stockholm; Turku/Aland Islands/Stockholm
• Superfast Ferries: Rockstock/Hanko/Helsinki, Finland
• Polferries: Gdansk, Poland/Nynäshamn, Sweden; Swinoujscie, Poland/Copenhagen
• Nordic Jet: Helsinki/Tallinn.