Stockholm to Helsinki

The ferries between Stockholm and Helsinki are quite comfortable. In summer, they are the great way to travel between the two cities as you get to see the beautiful Stockholm archipelago. Silja line is generally a bit nicer than Viking line, but be sure to check the prices.

In winter, they are still a decent choice and a good value (when you consider that you are saving a night on the hotel), but it is too dark to see the archipelago when you leave Stockholm in the evening.

The boats have restaurants and shopping on board.

We took the ferry (the best way) from Helsinki to Stockholm and back. My opinion is that it was expensive in 2000 when we were there.

Your definition of 'comfortable' may vary. We rented a room and found it adequate. The wide variety of food available in the restaurants on board impressed me.

The rooms are small, but perfectly fine. I think it's a great way to travel between Stockholm and Helsinki. You get to see the archipelago of both countries and, if you are lucky, a nice sunset too. Because you are traveling overnight, it is not wasted travel time. I never tried any other way of traveling between the two cities, but I thought the cruise was great.

We did this in 2003 but took the scenic and long route - we did Stockholm to Marieham (Aland islands) where we stopped for a couple of nights. Then took the boat onto Turku where we also stopped and had a look around. From Turku we took the train to Helsinki. This reduced the time on the boat and enabled us to see a few more places.