Outdoor attractions by public transport

One of the perks of using public transport is that you can arrive in one place and leave from another. Sometimes it is best to plan your journey so that your destination offers better public transport connections. This allows a certain flexibility in your traveling if the duration of the trip is not known.

The Helsinki region is home to dozens of fascinating outdoor destinations. Among our customers, the most popular destinations accessible by public transport are the Sipoonkorpi and Nuuksio national parks. There is a good reason for this: National parks cover large areas and have several entrances, often referred to as gates. Parking is limited, especially during peak season.

One of the benefits of using public transport is that your hike or outing does not have to start and end in the same place. It is often a good idea to plan your outing so that the end point has better public transport connections. This gives you more flexibility if you do not know in advance how long your outing will take.

The HSL app makes traveling easy. Buy tickets, find routes and stay up-to-date with any service changes. You can download the HSL app from your app store for free.

Nuuksio National Park

https://www.nationalparks.fi/nuuksionp (Metsähallitus)

Nuuksio National Park, located in Espoo, Kirkkonummi and Vihti, is the third most visited national park in Finland and a unique natural treasure in the Uusimaa region. There is one gate that is more popular than all the others: the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia and Haukkalampi. During the busiest times, this area can become crowded, so it may be worth considering another gate, such as Siikaniemi.

The Finnish Nature Centre Haltia and Haukkalammentie

Located in Solvalla by Nuuksiontie, the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia offers visitors various event and restaurant services. The national park is located north and west of Haltia. On the east side of Haltia, you can find the Karjakaivo outdoor recreation area that is owned by the City of Helsinki.

Buses 245 (from autumn to spring) and 245A (during summer) run to Haltia from Espoon keskus (Espoo station). The bus stops are called “Haltia” (E6938 from Espoon keskus in the direction of Haukkalammentie and Kattila, E6939 from Kattila and Haukkalammentie in the direction of Espoon keskus) and they are located on Nuuksiontie.

It takes about 25 minutes to get to Haltia from Espoon keskus by bus.

The distance from Haltia to Haukkalampi is about four kilometers. You can travel half of this distance with bus 245 or 245A.

The same buses, 245 and 245A, run to Haukkalampi and Haltia from Espoon keskus. The stops are called “Haukkalammentie” (E6956 from Espoon keskus and Haltia in the direction of Nuuksionpää and Kattila, and E6955 in the direction of Haltia and Espoon keskus).

It takes about 30 minutes to get to the junction of Haukkalammentie from Espoon keskus by bus.

By walking about two kilometers from the bus stop along Haukkalammentie you can reach the nature cabin and hike trails in Haukkalampi.

Buses 245 and 245A depart from bay 11 (E6027) in the northern part of the station in Espoon keskus.

E, U, X, Y and L trains run to the Espoo station. It takes about 25 minutes from Helsinki to Espoo station by train. There are disruptions to Coastal Line train services in spring, summer and autumn. Westbound train services from Leppävaara will be replaced by buses. Read more about the disruption and the replacement buses.

Kattila

The Kattila camping site is located some seven kilometers north of Haltia. Kattila offers great hiking trails to the entire national park. You can travel to Kattila with bus 245A, but only from mid-April to mid-October. The road is not accessible by bus during winter. Bus route 245 provides services to Nuuksionpää (stop E6940) from October to May.

It takes about 35–40 minutes to get to Kattila from Espoon keskus by bus. “Kattila” is the terminus for bus route 245A (E6935).

NB! Kattila offers great hiking trails northwards to the Salmi recreation area that is owned by the City of Helsinki. However, Salmi is not located in the HSL area, meaning that it has very restricted public transport services (only a few services on weekdays). You can use the Matkahuolto timetable search reittiopas.matkahuolto.fi to search for transport connections outside the HSL area.

Siikaniemi

Located on the south side of the national park, Siikaniemi offers hiking trails that virtually start at the bus stop. The distance from Siikaniemi to both the Holma-Saarijärvi camping area and Haukkalampi is about three kilometers.

You can travel to Siikaniemi with bus 244 from Espoon keskus (Espoo station). It takes about 30 minutes to travel to Siikaniemi from Espoon keskus by bus. The terminus “Siikaniemi” (E6915) is located near the hiking trails.

Bus 244 departs from bay 32 (E6027) that is situated near the northern part of the station in Espoon keskus.

E, U, X, Y and L trains run to the Espoo station. There are disruptions to Coastal Line train services in spring, summer and autumn. Westbound train services from Leppävaara will be replaced by buses. Read more about the disruption and the replacement buses.

Pirttimäki

Owned by the City of Helsinki, Pirttimäki is an outdoor recreation area situated further east, near Lake Bodom. The area offers a great seven-kilometer-long hiking trail towards Solvalla and Haltia.

You can travel to Pirttimäki with buses 246, 246K and 246T from Espoon keskus and the Espoo station. The stop is called “Pirttimäki” (E6839 from Espoon keskus and E6838 to Espoon keskus) and it is located on Kunnarlantie. The bus journey to Pirttimäki takes about 20 minutes.

Bus 246 departs from bay 20 (E6036) that is situated on the southern side of the station in Espoon keskus, on the same side as Espoontori.

Buses also run in the other direction from Pirttimäki: the distance to the Luukki recreation area is some eight kilometers. The area is owned by the City of Helsinki. Bus 345 provides regular services from Luukki to Elielinaukio (stop “Luukki”, E7226 to Elielinaukio and E7225 from Elielinaukio).

Sipoonkorpi National Park

https://www.nationalparks.fi/sipoonkorpinp (Metsähallitus)

The Sipoonkorpi National Park has several gates. Kuusijärvi, Landbo and Sotunki are the easiest to reach by public transport.

Kuusijärvi and Päiväkummuntie

Kuusijärvi is a famous outdoor recreation area in Vantaa. The distance between Kuusijärvi and the Bisajärvi rest stop in Sipoonkorpi is about three kilometers.

Bus 712 runs to Kuusijärvi on weekends from May to October from Tikkurila via Hakunila. The stop is called "Kuusijärven pysäköintialue" (V9702), from where the bus also leaves back to Tikkurila. The journey time from Tikkurila is about 15 minutes. The bus runs every 60 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays.

You can also reach Kuusijärvi from Tikkurila and Korso stations by bus 736. The stops are called “Kuusijärvi” on Lahdentie (V9719 from Tikkurila in the direction of Korso and V9720 from Korso in the direction of Tikkurila). It takes about half an hour from Korso and about 40 minutes from Tikkurila to reach Kuusijärvi.

Bus 738 runs to Kuusijärvi from the Kalasatama Metro Station and Kerava railway station, but only on weekdays.

Päiväkummuntie is located about 700 meters from Kuusijärvi. You can easily reach Päiväkummuntie by bus, and there is a clear route that goes under Lahdenväylä and leads to Kuusijärvi.

Bus 721 runs to Päiväkummuntie from Hakaniemi and Koivukylä railway station. The stops are called “Päiväkummuntie” (V7517 from Koivukylä railway station in the direction of Hakaniemi and V7514 from Hakaniemi in the direction of Koivukylä railway station). The journey time is about 40 minutes from Hakaniemi and about 15 minutes from Koivukylä.

Bus 624 runs to Päiväkummuntie from Tikkurila, Leinelä and Koivukylä railway stations. The stops are called “Päiväkummuntie” (V7522 from the direction of Tikkurila, terminus and V7517 in the direction of Tikkurila, departure stop). The journey time is about 40 minutes from Tikkurila, about 15 minutes from Leinelä and about 10 minutes from Koivukylä.

Landbo

Landbo is a residential area consisting mostly of detached housing near Porvoonväylä. The distance from Landbo to the Bakunkärr resting area is about four kilometers and about two kilometers to the Knuters nature trail.

You can travel to Landbo with buses 831 and 831K from Itäkeskus Metro Station (platform 8, H4308). The bus stops are called “Landbo” (H5105 from Itäkeskus and H5106 to Itäkeskus). The journey time from Itäkeskus is about 20–30 minutes (longer when travelling with K services).

Sotunki

Sotunki is situated in a cultural landscape of unique historical value. The distance from the stops to the Kalkkiruukki resting area is about 3 kilometers and about 500 meters to the Kalkinpolttajanpolku nature trail.

You can reach Sotunki by bus 736 from Tikkurila or Korso station (the same bus that runs to Kuusijärvi). The stops are called “Kalkkiuunintie” (V9809 from the direction of Korso and V9810 from the direction of Tikkurila) on Nurmimäentie. The journey time from Tikkurila is about 25 minutes and 40 minutes from Korso. It takes about 10 minutes to get to Sotunki from Kuusijärvi by bus.

In addition, bus 718A runs to Sotunki from the Helsinki Railway Square in the afternoons Monday through Friday.

Jokivarrentie

The areas of Byabäcken and Ängesböle are situated in the northern part of the national park. You can take buses 785, 787 and 788 from the Helsinki Railway Square and Nikkilä to reach these areas. There are also A and K services that run to Byabäcken and Ängesböle.

The stop is called “Länsitie” (Si1423 from the direction of the Helsinki Railway Square to Nikkilä and Si1422 from Nikkilä in the direction of the Helsinki Railway Square) on Jokivarrentie. The distance between the stop and the Ängesböle resting area is about three kilometers.

The journey time from the Helsinki Railway Square is about 35–45 minutes (longer when travelling with K services). There are only a few services on this route on weekends.

You can find more destinations on the Uusimaa Outdoor Recreation Areas website: uuvi.fi/en/areas/. Many of these destinations are easy to reach by public transport. Some are located in sparsely populated areas where public transport services are limited outside the school year.

You can find public transport routes and timetables in the Journey Planner. Search using the name of the outdoor recreation area, the gate name listed below, or a stop number. If needed, try different search options.

When visiting a national park, remember to bring drinking water, food, a mobile phone and a spare power source. Make sure you have the HSL app and the 112 Suomi app installed on your phone in case you need assistance in an emergency.

If you are hiking alone, let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return. Follow the park's rules and guidelines at all times.