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We’re not sure about you, but there’s no other way we’d rather explore Europe than by train. Although you could making a plea for sustainability, but in reality it goes much further than that:
Trains are generally more reliable than budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet. You don’t risk being charged more than $50 because the wheels on your carry-on bag stick out just a little bit past the mechanic, and let’s face it: it’s just much nicer and fits the atmosphere of the Old World.
If you’re planning a Scandi trip this year, you might want to hold off on booking those flights until you read this.
Passenger trains are running again from Finland to Sweden. The two countries share a 345-mile border, but have not had rail links since 1988.
There’s a reason for that, which we’ll discuss briefly, but first here’s everything you need to know about the exciting new route:
Finland to Sweden by train
From June 2026, for the first time in more than 30 years, you can travel from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, via the tundra-covered Lapland all the way to Stockholm in Sweden.
Now the journey is long and not exactly an alternative to flying if you plan on traveling quickly between cities, but it is an important developmentanyway.
Before this announcement, passengers traveling on this route could only get as far as Tornio, a small town in Finland opposite Sweden. From there they would either have to take a taxi or take the bus about two kilometers to Haparanda, the neighboring Swedish town, before boarding a train to Stockholm.
As a Finnish broadcaster Yle news explains that Finnish VR trains will now terminate at a soon-to-be-restored station in Haparanda instead of Tornio. The building dates from the early 20th century and is currently being renovated to act as a connecting hub for passengers to cross the border more easily.
If you’re heading to Europe in the near future, make sure you check the entry requirements at your destination in advance.
Why haven’t cross-border trains been launched before?
It still won’t be a ‘sit on the train and cross’ experience, but instead of first arriving in Tornio and then commuting to Haparanda, you just have to walk through the station building to transfer from the Finnish VR to the Swedish Norrtåg train to Stockholm.
The entire transfer takes just a few minutes.
There is currently a railway line connecting the two cities. Unfortunately, there is an operational problem that dates back to the 19th century, when Finland was under the Russian Empire:
The Finnish track gauge is set to the old Russian standard of 1524 mm, versus the standardized European 1435 mm, used in Sweden. This means that trains would simply derail if they tried to cross the border.
With the reopening of the old station in Haparanda, where the Finnish and Swedish rail networks meet, transfers on foot across the border will become increasingly easier. a lot easier.
What does the journey look like?
We are quickly approaching launch month, but further route details, including stations the service will call at, timetables and ticket prices, have not yet been released. However, based on the current, bumpier existing route, we can make a good estimate:
The journey is approximately 700 kilometers, and even once the gap between the border towns is bridged, if your goal is to travel from Helsinki all the way to Stockholm, this is still a multi-day trip with multiple stops.
Of course, it’s a lot easier if you divide the journey into parts, or travel to and from other intermediate points along the way.
Let’s divide it into four stages, starting with stage 1.
LEG 1: Helsinki → Oulo
2 daily departures: 2:54 PM | 6:24 PM
Arrival times: 8:36 PM | 00:16 (next day)
Estimated. Travel time: 5h30
Average price: $105 – $190 (usually cheaper if you book early in advance)
Stops (from Helsinki):
- Pasila
- Tikkurila
- Tampere
- Seinäjoki
- Kokkola
- Ylivieska
- Oulu
For the next stage you will have to spend the night in Oulo.
LEG 2: Oulo → Tornio | Haparanda (Sweden)
2 daily departures: 05:08 | 7:50 PM
Arrival times: 06:35 | 9:20 PM
Estimated. Travel time: 1h30
Average price: $16 – $30
This is a direct train to Tornio without stops.
LEG 3: Tornio | Haparanda (Sweden) → Luleå
3 daily departures (from Haparanda): 07:11 | 1:47 PM | 6:49 PM
Arrival times: 09:19 am | 15:52 | 8:46 PM
Estimated. Travel time: 1h57
Average price: $30 – $35
Stops (from Haparanda)
- Kalix
- Boden
- Sunderby Sjukhus
- Lulea Notviken
- Lulea
Stage 4: Luleå → Stockholm (night train)
1 Daily departure: either at 5:00 PM or 9:10 PM (varies by schedule/day)
Arrival time: either at 6:30 am or at 10:15 am the next morning
Estimated. Travel time: 1 p.m
Average price
- Budget seat: $35–$70+
- Sleeping cabin: $130–$200+
Stops (from Luleå)
- Boden
- Älvsbyn (sometimes)
- Umea
- Örnsköldsvik
- Härnösand
- Sundsvall
- Gavle
- Uppsala Arlanda Airport
- Stockholm
Finland is one of the safest destinations in Europe and enjoys Certified Safe Level 1 status according to US authorities. However, not all European destinations are the same, especially parts of Sweden, where crime has increased dramatically in recent years.
Consult the Travel Advice page before you fly.
Divide your journey
For those traveling the full route, in practice the journey from Helsinki to Stockholm takes between 3 and 4 days, depending on your train connections.
Are you going from Oulo to Haparanda in Sweden as a short cross-border trip? Comfortable. Just stay on the trian past Tornio and you’ll come straight to the recently restored Haparanda station.
Are you traveling between other waypoints or one of the two main endpoints on this multi-day route? That’s when it starts to look like a complex, logistical nightmare, or… biggest, most exciting Scandinavian adventure ever.
Wondering how safe Stockholm is to visit right now? Travelers locally currently rate it at an 85/100 on our Traveler Safety Index;
By the way, with the new Finland-Sweden connection, you can now travel from Helsinki, Finland, all the way to bloody Lagos, Portugal, by train alone.
That’s quite a pilgrimage route that we’re not sure we’ll be attempting anytime soon, but… you know… if you wouldn’t mind braving the Finnish-Swedish route, and then hopping on a train from Stockholm to Copenhagen in Denmark, from there on to Germany, Germany to France via Belgium, France to Spain and finally Spain to Portugal, then be our guest.
