What to bring on a Helsinki boat

A windproof layer, something to eat before you sail, a charged phone for the commentary app, and your passport or ID card if you are crossing to Tallinn. That is most of it. The loop boats supply the seat, the view and the audio guide; the RIB supplies the life jacket and the goggles; nobody supplies a coat. Keep the bag small, because there is nowhere sensible to put a large one on a sundeck.

Commentary on the loop28 languages, app and speakers

Supplied on the RIBLife jacket and goggles

Supplied on the private boatLife jackets, bottled water, a fridge

For the Tallinn crossingPassport or ID card

Emergency number in Finland112

Ferry to SuomenlinnaAB city ticket, 90 minutes

The short list

A windproof jacket. Non-negotiable in any month. The full argument is on the clothing page.

A charged phone, and headphones. The commentary on the archipelago loop comes over the loudspeaker and also as a downloadable app in twenty-eight languages. On the evening cruise it is the app. If your language is not one of the two or three coming out of the speaker, the app is how you understand what you are looking at, and a flat battery costs you the whole commentary. Download it before you get on, because signal in the channels is not something to rely on.

Sunglasses. Seven to nine and a half hours of sunshine a day in June, July and August, and the water reflects all of it.

A small bag, not a large one. There is no luggage room on a sightseeing boat. Whatever you bring, you carry or you put at your feet.

Your city ticket, if the day includes the ferry. An AB ticket, valid ninety minutes, covers the Suomenlinna crossing. Buy it before you reach the gate: how to pay.

Food and drink

There is food and drink for sale on the archipelago loop, and a bar on the evening cruise. Both are perfectly fine. But the queue for them tends to form exactly when the boat reaches the interesting part of the route, and I would rather you ate first and watched the channels.

The Old Market Hall is on the South Harbour quay, a minute from where you sail, and Market Square itself has a terrace. Salmon soup — lohikeitto — is the obvious thing, and a korvapuusti travels well in a pocket. What is worth eating in this city is on the food page.

One warning. The gulls at Market Square take food off the terrace tables, and they are good at it. Eat with your back to the water or eat indoors.

For the RIB, lunch and sauna

The RIB supplies the life jacket and the goggles, and the lunch is part of the product, and there is a public sauna on the island. What you bring is a swimming costume and a towel if you intend to use the sauna and the water, a dry layer for the ride back, and a phone in something that will survive spray. This is a speed boat, and spray is the point. The RIB page and the sauna page.

For the private boat

Very little. There are life jackets, bottled water, a fridge, a canopy with closed weather protection, a dining table, and a certified skipper with first-aid training. If you want to bring something to eat on board, there is a fridge and a table to eat it at, which is the most civilised arrangement on this list. The private boat page.

For the day trip to Tallinn

Your passport or ID card. Finland and Estonia are both in the EU and the Schengen area and share a single currency, so there is no hard border, but the carriers check identity and you will not sail without a document. This is the single most common reason people miss a crossing.

Comfortable shoes. Tallinn’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with an intact town wall, the Toompea upper town and Raekoja plats, and almost all of it is cobbled and on a hill.

A coat you can carry. You will be indoors on the ship, outdoors all day in Tallinn, and back on the ship in the evening.

A plan for the return. The product allows up to about nine and a half hours in the city and the whole day runs eleven to fourteen hours. Check-in is inside West Harbour Terminal 2. The Tallinn page and the comparison.

Included

A windproof jacket, every time
A charged phone, plus the commentary app downloaded in advance
Sunglasses and sun cream in summer
A small bag you can keep at your feet
An AB city ticket if the day includes the Suomenlinna ferry
A passport or ID card for the Tallinn crossing

Not included

A large rucksack or a suitcase
An umbrella
Drone equipment, near working harbours
Anything valuable you would carry loose on an open deck
Expectations of a luggage room, because there is not one

Local tip

Download the commentary app on hotel Wi-Fi, not on the quay. The audio guide is genuinely good and it is in twenty-eight languages, and the number of people I watched trying to install it while the boat was casting off was a small tragedy of the summer.

Things you do not need

You do not need binoculars, though they are pleasant. You do not need seasickness tablets for the loop boats in normal summer weather — the route is mostly inside the islands, which is the point of an archipelago; see the rough sea page. You do not need cash. You do not need a printed ticket for a sightseeing boat.

And you do not need a separate ticket for Suomenlinna if you are taking the public ferry. That is covered by your city ticket, and the number of people who bought something they did not need is the reason this site exists: the ferry page.

A note on customs, if you are arriving from outside the EU

There are restrictions on bringing meat and dairy products into the EU from outside it, limits on alcohol and tobacco allowances, rules about weapons and knives, and sense to be applied to flying drones near working harbours. The detail is on what not to bring. The emergency number in Finland is 112.

Leaves from Market Square

Check dates & book

One reminder, because it is the mistake I watched most often from the kiosk: the widget above books a sightseeing boat, not the ferry to Suomenlinna. The ferry is run by HSL as part of the city’s public transport, you buy it the way you buy a tram ride, and nobody sells a separate ticket for it here. The ferry has its own page.

We are an independent guide, not a boat operator and not a ferry company. Booking links go to GetYourGuide and are affiliate links — if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to bring on a Helsinki archipelago cruise?

A windproof jacket, sunglasses, a charged phone with the commentary app already downloaded, and a small bag. Food and drink are available on board but eating first is better.

Do I need a passport for the Tallinn day trip?

Yes, a passport or ID card. Finland and Estonia are both in the Schengen area so there is no hard border, but carriers check identity: the Tallinn page.

Is the audio guide included?

On the archipelago loop the commentary comes over the loudspeaker and as a downloadable app in twenty-eight languages. Download it before you sail rather than at the quay.

What do I bring for the RIB tour and sauna?

A swimming costume, a towel, a dry layer and a phone that can take spray. Life jackets and goggles are supplied: the RIB page.

Do I need cash on board?

No. Cards work everywhere in Helsinki, on board and on the quay, and the Suomenlinna ferry takes an ordinary city ticket: how to pay for a ferry.