Suomenlinna ferry question

[kitkat343]

We are taking our 3 year old son to Helsinki, and wanted to visit Suomenlinna. It didn't sound like it would be a great place for a stroller, so we were wondering which ferry you would recommend taking. Does the public ferry or the JT ferry bring you closest to a fort on the island? Or is there a specific location on Suomenlinna you would recommend if a family can't walk very far on the island? Thanks so much.

[hallasm]

HSL ferry arrives at and departs from the main pier of Iso Mustasaari island, on the north shore of Suomenlinna. The JT-Line waters bus departs from the Suomenlinna Centre pier and also stops at the King’s Gate. So JT-Line waters bus is the best option

Return ticket: Adults: 7,00 € Children (7-16 years): 3,50 € l

ink: http://jt-line.fi/eng/

 

The main route across the fortress runs from north to south via all the main sights. The route starts at the main quay in front of the Jetty Barracks and terminates at the King’s Gate. The length of the route is about 1.5 km (1 mile). It is marked with blue direction signs and is shown on the information maps as a solid blue line.

Link: http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/

[Cornishpastyman1]

We are taking our 3 year old son to Helsinki, and wanted to visit Suomenlinna. It didn't sound like it would be a great place for a stroller, so we were wondering which ferry you would recommend taking. Does the public ferry or the JT ferry bring you closest to a fort on the island? Or is there a specific location on Suomenlinna you would recommend if a family can't walk very far on the island? Thanks so much.

 

From memory (2010 :eek:) you will be OK with a stroller should you need it. I took the regular ferry with my all-day travel ticket. As for a location, a look at the cannons might be of interest to your youngster, but it's a nice place to walk around. All the best, Tony

 

[YOUTUBE]swIpEG7hR0g[/YOUTUBE]

[kitkat343]

Thanks so much - my son would love cannons. Where are the cannons located?

 

Also, should I take the JT ferry to the King's gate exit?

Edited August 7, 2014 by kitkat343

[gkkapp]

Were there in 2013 on a beautiful day and saw many locals with strollers on the island. The pathways are dirt or gravel. Here's a link to our photos with pix on the island: https://picasaweb.google.com/gkappesser/BalticCruiseOnCrownPrincessJuly13272013?authkey=Gv1sRgCIqA36CHrbnZCg&feat=directlink

 

Hope this helps.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[kitkat343]

Thanks - its really helpful to know we have the option of taking the stroller. I think after reading about how hard it is to use a stroller on the cobblestones in Tallinn I started planning to not use it.

[spirit rev]

A note about the ferries that we learned the hard way. They do not accept each other's tickets. So you need to take the same company back that you took over. The link to the website for the Fortress in post #2 has information on the ferry schedules at the bottom of the home page.

 

We had a wonderful day here last summer. We are so glad we took the recommendation of a Danish couple we happened to meet in St. Petersburg a couple of days before. We did not find it to be crowded. It was very relaxing and we could do it at our own pace.

Enjoy!

Edited August 8, 2014 by spirit rev

[Jonza]

Nearly all aspects of the question have already been well addressed, but I will try to add something.

 

Roads and paths on the islands are mainly gravel, but there are some cobble stone sections. If your stroller has large wheels you will have no problems at all with it and if it has small ones you might have a couple of difficult segments, but nothing horrible.

 

The fort is spread around all of the islands, but the best tunnels, views, and the canons are located close to the southern end of Suomenlinna. Map with symbols for canons and tunnels: http://frantic.s3.amazonaws.com/suomenlinna/2014/06/Matkailijankartta_EN.pdf

 

There are two ways to get to Suomenlinna: the public ferry that is part of the Helsinki region public transit system and the JT Line water bus.

 

The public ferry runs every 20 minutes (every 15 Sat and Sun) from Market Square to the main quay at Suomenlinna (map #1). The travel time is about 15 minutes. The JT Line water bus runs every 30 minutes during the day and every hour in the morning and evening to the center quay (map #20) and King's Gate (map #43). Travel time to center quay is 20 minutes and as the boat waits for the departure time there the travel time to Kings Gate is about 30 min.

 

The walking route from the main quay is about one mile.

 

HSL's prices for public transport can be found here: https://www.hsl.fi/en/tickets-and-fares

 

A day ticket valid also on the public ferry costs 8€. Single fare from a ticket machine costs 2.50€ and there are ticket machines at both terminals of the ferry. Tickets are not sold on board. The Suomenlinna return ticket at 5€ is a convenience only as there is no discount compared to two single tickets. One adult travels for free with a stroller and child in all Helsinki region public transit.

 

JT Line has return at 7€ and one way at 4.50€. Children 6 and under travel for free on both.

[jac1976]

We took our Maclaren Twin Triumph to Suomenlinna and it worked well. There was one section going uphill where it was a bit tough to push, but I'm glad we had it with us. We went with our 3 year old and 7 month old and brought some bread and cheese and had a picnic- everyone had a fun time.

[aquilegia]

Thank you for posting the link to the video, Cornishpastyman. Took me back to a lovely day we spent on Suomenlinna. I really enjoyed Helsinki.