By Plane

With more flights to Helsinki from more parts of the world (including Europe, Asia, and North America) than any other airline, Finnair (tel. 800/950-5000 in the U.S.; www.finnair.com) is the only airline flying nonstop from North America to Finland (an 8-hr. trip). From New York, Finnair flies to Helsinki every day. The airline also maintains twice-weekly nonstop service to Helsinki throughout the year from Miami.

Midsummer round-trip fares from New York to Helsinki range from $860 to $1,134 (plus about $70 tax) for those who book your passage 21 days in advance and agree to remain abroad for 7 to 60 days. These prices are substantially lower in winter, and also lower during Finnair's frequent promotional sales. Finnair (tel. 0870/241-4411 in London; www.finnair.com) also offers more frequent service to Helsinki from several airports in Britain; there are three or four daily nonstop flights from either Heathrow or Stanstead Airport, and one or two daily flights from Manchester. Flight time from London to Helsinki is 2 hours, 50 minutes; from Manchester, it's 3 hours, 40 minutes.

Several other airlines fly from all parts of the world to gateway European cities and then connect to Helsinki. Foremost among these is British Airways (BA) (tel. 800/247-9297 in the U.S., or 0870/850-9850; www.britishairways.com), which offers hundreds of daily flights into the U.K. from all over the world. From London's Heathrow, BA offers one or two daily nonstop flights to Helsinki, depending on the day of the week.

By Car

From Western Scandinavia -- The quickest routes to Finland are the E3 or E4 to Stockholm and the year-round 14- to 16-hour ferry from there to Helsinki.

From Germany -- From Travemünde there's a year-round high-speed car ferry that takes 22 hours to reach Helsinki.

From Denmark -- Take the car ferry from Helsingør to Helsingborg in Sweden or the Øresund Bridge from Copenhagen to Malmö, and then drive to Stockholm and catch the car ferry to Helsinki or Turku.

By Train

A rail and ferryboat link between London and Helsinki goes via Ostende (Belgium), Cologne, Hamburg, and Stockholm. If you've taken the ferry from Stockholm and are arriving at Turku, on the west coast of Finland, you can catch one of the seven daily trains (including the high-speed Pendolino) that take you across southern Finland to Helsinki. The trip takes 2 1/4 hours. Rail connections are also possible from London to Hook of Holland (the Netherlands), Bremen, Hamburg, and Stockholm. However, each of these itineraries takes about 50 hours, plus a 2-hour stopover in Stockholm. It's possible to reserve sleepers and couchettes, but do so as far in advance as possible. Helsinki is also linked by rail to the major cities of Finland.

By Bus

Although there are international bus links to Finland, this is the least convenient mode of transportation. One of the most popular is a bus connection from Stockholm -- it includes a sea crossing to Turku, with continuing land service to Helsinki.

It's also possible to take coaches from Gothenburg going cross-country to Stockholm and to the ferry dock beyond, with land travel resuming after Turku on the same bus all the way to Helsinki.

For information about international bus connections and reservations, contact Oy Matkahuolto Ab, Simonkatu 3, FIN-00101 Helsinki (tel. 09/682-701; www.matkahuolto.com).

By Ship/Ferry

From Sweden -- Frequent ferries run between Sweden and Finland, especially between Stockholm and Helsinki. Service is on either the Viking or Silja Line. Each company also operates a twice-daily service from Stockholm to Turku on Finland's west coast.

From Germany -- The Silja Line also maintains regular passenger service from June 5 to September 15 between Travemünde (Germany) and Helsinki. You can get information about the Silja Line at Mannerheimintie 2, FIN-00101 Helsinki (tel. 09/180-41; www.silja.fi). Information on the Viking Line is available at Mannerheimintie 14, FIN-00101 Helsinki (tel. 09/123-51; www.vikingline.fi).