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City in Uusimaa, Finland
Photo: Danila Talikov, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Heureka is an interactive science museum, with different kinds of exhibitions about technology, physics, chemistry, medicine, astronomy and so on. Really exciting for children interested in science.
Vantaan maatalousmuseo
Agricultural machinery, tools and local history on display.
Finnish Aviation museum
A museum with over 70 planes (both civilian and military) as well as plane parts, equipment and photos.
Vantaan kaupunginmuseo
Learn more about how Vantaa grew from a countryside parish to the city of 200,000 inhabitants it is today.
Kokoelma- ja konservointikeskus
A museum centre owned by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), offering storage and conservation services for museum collections.
Finland's largest candy manufacturer and bakery has a visitor centre, which can be visited on a guided tour. You don't need a ticket to visit the shop and café in the building.
Vantaankosken pato
A popular vantage point for the roaring rapids of the Vantaa River.
Puutarhakeskus Viherpaja
Not just a plant and gardening store, but actually a 3500 m² garden with an indoor desert where cacti grow and a Japanese garden mimicking the climate of Tokyo round the year.
In Katrineberg you will find several different domestic animals such as sheep. Children can hug animals.
A city park with a long narrow pond and walking trails.
Pyhän Laurin kirkko, Helsingin pitäjän kirkko / Helsinge kyrka S:t Lars
A medieval stone church from the 15th century in the southern part of Vantaa, quite probably the city's oldest standing building. It is the centerpiece of the district Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä (Helsinge church village) composed of wooden houses some of which date back to the 18th century, and as such this can be considered the old town of Vantaa.
A modern chapel; funerals and concerts
Tikkurilan kirkko
This modern church was completed in 2021 and replaced an older demolished church church from 1956.
Myyrmäen kirkko
Completed in 1984, this church is pretty cubist on both the inside an outside.
Kivistön kirkko
Korson kirkko
Honkanummen hautausmaa
One of the largest cemeteries in Finland; the area covers approximately 76 hectares. There are two chapels in the cemetery area, along with a crematorium, office, flower shop and lunch restaurant.
Hakkilan kivisilta
A stone arch bridge from 1898 crossing Keravanjoki.
A big entertainment complex located near the airport in Vantaa, next to a large shopping mall Jumbo, just north of Helsinki. Biggest attractions are Flamingo Spa & Wellness with pretty cool and fast slides in the waterpark section and a large selection of relaxation pools, jacuzzis and different saunas in the other section, and Hohtogolf West Coast which is a glow in the dark 15-hole miniature golf course with over-the-top mechanized special effects and a special "horror" section. Cheesy but fun, especially after a few drinks from the bar. Other attractions in Flamingo include a small casino, a 3D movie theatre, many pubs and restaurants, a variety of specialist shops and a large hotel.
Smaller independent cinema, showing mostly the bigger blockbusters. May have a matinée series of cheaper, more art house screenings supported by the local culture board.
A gym.
Kuusijärven ulkoilualue
Vantaa's most popular outdoor area. Smoke saunas, open-air swimming, ice swimming, skiing, beach, nature trails.
This traditional smoke sauna is located in Vantaa but very easy to reach from Helsinki Railway Station. Situated besides a beautiful lake, it's widely regarded as one of the best traditional saunas in the capital region. Rebuilt in 2011. Take your swim gear with you, as the smoke sauna is mixed-sex.
Social dancing with live music. Also dance courses, often one-hour courses before the dances (included in the price; rotating system, own partner not needed). 60-years anniversary 2025. Café (no alcohol), grill, free water.
Keimola has two full-scale 18-hole golf courses, Kirkka and Saras.
Sibbo storskogs nationalpark
In addition to Nuuksio in Espoo, the other national park quickly reachable from Helsinki. As its name suggests, it also extends to Sipoo.
Sottungsby
It's hard to call this farmland-dominated area at the eastern edge of Vantaa a "city district". In the summer it's a pleasant area for biking along the unpaved roads between the fields where sheep and cows graze. It also has multiple access points to the national park. Paths allow access to a lake, a small camping place and scenic cliff walks in the national park.
Tikkurilan areena
Ice rink.
A samba show held on a Saturday in late January at the nightclub Tulisuudelma (see section Nightclubs below). Features performances by the samba schools Império do Papagaio from Helsinki and Sambic from Tuusula. Consists of both an instructed samba dance class and an evening samba show.
In the Tikkurila festival there is a good serving of domestic music in the Hiekkaharju Sports Park in Vantaa
Kaljakellunta
An unofficial event usually held the last weekend of July or the first weekend of August since 1997. The participants (yup, mostly males in their 20s) gather in Vantaa with rubber boats, rafts or whatever they can find that floats and travel downstream towards Vanhankaupunginkoski while indulging beer – of course without life vests. The event has no official arrangers that could be held responsible if something happens, and the date of the event just spreads in social media. If you think watching the spectacle isn't enough, remember that you're doing it on your own risk!
A music festival of classic baroque music.
A lunch restaurant.
A grill kiosk.
The furniture store IKEA has a restaurant on the 3rd floor and a café on the second where you can have a decent meal for well under €10 or a coffee or a hotdog for around €1. Also serves €2 breakfast in the morning.
A grill kiosk.
A pizzeria kebab restaurant.
Pizzeria.
A café all day, but also serves you a good all-you-can-eat buffet lunch at lunchtime. Popular among blue-collar workers.
A lunch restaurant.
The pizza buffet chain RAX has three restaurants in Vantaa. All you can eat buffet serving (some say "unhealthy") food such as pizza, chicken wings, lasagne, meat balls, fried onions, nachos, salads, soft drinks and ice for dessert.
The Manor Restaurant Flyygeli prepares traditional tasty home-cooked food and pastries.
A lunch restaurant.
A lunch restaurant in Myyrmäki. Serves a lunch buffet based on a mixture of Finnish home cooking and Mediterranean cuisine. Open for lunch only, no à la carte menu. Located right next to a health care station whose employees often come here to eat.
A grill kiosk.
Limone Kivistö
An Italian restaurant.
Kortteliravintola Vintero
A kebab pizzeria.
A rather small Italian restaurant in Myyrmäki. Serves pizza and pasta with full alcohol licences.
A small hamburger place among the big-box stores in the Tammisto district. Delicious burgers to eat in or take out.
A pizzeria.
Gete Deli doubles as an Italian-style restaurant and a cafeteria. Dishes include pizza, pasta and kebab. At lunch time, all restaurant dishes are cheaper.
Chinese restaurant in Tikkurila.
Nepalese restaurant in Tikkurila.
A pizzeria serving authentic Italian-style artesan pizza.
The restaurant offers Mediterranean delicacies from different cuisines with a new modern twist while respecting traditions.
Italian restaurant in Tikkurila.
An American-style hamburger diner. Various tasty hamburgers available, also including vegan options. For a dare, try the "Costa del Muerte" extremely spicy hamburger. If you manage to finish it off you get to write your name on the wall.
A Japanese-style buffet restaurant serving all kinds of Asian food. The restaurant's speciality is teppanyaki where you select your meats and vegetables while they're still raw and the restaurant cooks them for you. Teppanyaki and alcoholic drinks are available at an extra cost.
A lunch restaurant.
A lunch restaurant.
An Italian restaurant.
A restaurant with a bar, karaoke and billiard.
Greek restaurant.
Thai food, as the name reveals.
An Asian buffet restaurant. Serves a buffet of warm Asian food, sushi and desserts. Water is included, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks cost extra. "Tsuki" means "moon" in Japanese.
A stylish and spacious restaurant in Myyrmäki. Serves an affordable lunch buffet on weekdays, but also functions as an à la carte restaurant with full alcohol licences from Wednesday to Saturday. Voted as the best lunch restaurant in Vantaa for three consecutive years.
An American-style sports bar and diner in Martinlaakso. Serves American-style food such as hamburgers and hot wings. Live coverage of Finnish sports events every day. Various Finnish and foreign beers available.
A cocktail restaurant.
American restaurant.
A cocktail bar.
A bar and coffeehouse.
Ravintola Pingviini
Night club in Tikkurila.
The most famous nightclub in Vantaa. Easily accessible as it's actually located inside the hotel Sokos Hotel Vantaa, right next to the Tikkurila railway station. As such, after partying you can either go sleep in the hotel or travel by train to neighbouring Helsinki. The nightclub regularly holds live performances by various Finnish musicians and bands. The nightclub is so popular among partygoers in the capital region that people tend to include it in a list of Helsinki's popular nightclubs even though it's not actually in Helsinki.
A budget hotel with comfortable rooms.
The hotel features 258 rooms, 12 conference rooms, a restaurant, and a relaxation area with a gym and saunas.
Hotel of the national chain Sokos Hotels.
Hotelli Tikkurila
Comfortable accommodation in rooms for 1–8 people; 32 of the hotel's rooms are non-smoking and the bed capacity is 127. The hotel includes a café-restaurant. In connection with the hotel, there are excellent opportunities to practise various sports. It is about 1,3 km to Tikkurila railway station from the hotel.
Friendly family-owned hotel with basic but very clean and comfortable rooms. Restaurant, sauna (evening only), free shuttle service to the airport (5–7 min).
Mid-range Finnish chain hotel, 10 min from the airport by free shuttle bus.
Also day rooms available, depending on the booking situation.
Full-service hotel. Soundproof windows, bar, restaurant, sauna.
The factory shop of a candy manufacturer. Yes, they do make the Middle Eastern confectionary too (as their name suggests) but they're best known for their liquorice candies.
Oriental grocery store.
Finland's second largest mall when it opened in 1999, Jumbo does live up to its name. Jumbo features Prisma and Citymarket superstores, a Stockmann department store and practically all major Finnish shop chains and a range of cafés and restaurants.
Citymarket superstore and several smaller shops, and near it a couple of older malls including Isomyyri and Myyrinpuhos.
Vantaa's newest shopping centre with more than 20 shops.
By train
The main railway north from Helsinki goes through eastern Vantaa. In addition to several local train stations, all long distance trains to the north and east, including the ones to Russia, stop at .
By car
Highways 3, 4 (E75), 45 and 7 out of Helsinki go through Vantaa and the main east-western road is the third Helsinki ring road (Kehä III), which is mostly part of the E18 route.
By bus
From Helsinki several local buses go to Vantaa, and there are some lines directly from Espoo too.
By train
Kehärata (Ring Line) connects the main rail line with western Vantaa via the airport. Combined with bus transfers, this is the fastest way to get around for many.
By bus
There is a maze of bus lines in the area.
By car
As distances are longer than in the more central parts of Helsinki, driving is sometimes an option. As above, the traffic can get quite congested in the rush hours, especially on the ring roads.
By bike or foot
On a sunny summer's day you can make use of the cycleways and footpaths criss-crossing Vantaa and suburban Helsinki. Get a good map.
Electric kick scooters
German Tier and American Bird rent electric kick scooters for use in Tikkurila, Martinlaakso, Myyrmäki, Vapaala and Varisto.
By taxi
Choose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Helsinki (Vantaa) · International · HEL
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