Information for visitors

The academic year in Haaga-Helia runs from 1 August till 31 July. The academic year is divided into five periods: 

Autumn semester

1st period: Mid-August – Mid-October

2nd period: Mid-October – End of December 

Spring semester

3rd period: Early January – End of March

4th period: End of March – End of May

5th period: End of May – Mid-August 

Current academic year: Semester dates 

Helsinki

The Helsinki Airport is 20 kilometers away from the city centre of Helsinki, and the public transport system provides two connections: the train ride takes about 40 minutes and the bus ride takes about 50 minutes. 

• Ring Rail Line trains I and P travel between Helsinki Airport and Helsinki Central Railway Station. The train runs every 10 minutes during the daytime.
• The local bus number 615 travels between Helsinki Airport and Helsinki Central Railway Station. The bus leaves from right outside the arrival terminals. 

Zone ticket ABC (4.10 € if bought beforehand) is required for journeys from the center of Helsinki to the airport and vice versa. Purchase your ticket from a ticket machine, outlet, or with an HSL mobile phone app before the journey. You can use the same ticket for the train, metro, bus, and tram. If bought from the bus driver, the single ticket costs 6.00 euros. Tickets are not sold on trains or by conductors.  

Journey Planner will find you the best public transport connections in the Helsinki region. 

Taxis are available at the airport at the exits. 

Apart from flying, you can also arrive in Helsinki by sea from Sweden, Estonia and Germany. The ferry options include e.g. Viking Line, Tallink Silja and Finnlines. 

Porvoo

From Helsinki, there is a frequent bus service daily. From the centre of Helsinki from Kamppi bus station, the bus trip to Porvoo takes about 50 minutes by the motorway. Tickets can be purchased from Matkahuolto.

Vierumäki

By bus: There are daily buses from Lahti city to the Vierumäki Sports Institute. You can hop on bus 88 either at the Lahti Travel Centre or by the Market Square, near the railway station. You can check both weekday and weekend timetables online. In addition to bus 88, you can take bus 89 to the Vierumäki exit ramp or centre. If you are travelling from the north, you can take a bus to Heinola and catch one of the daily buses to Vierumäki from there. 

Read more from LSL website

By train: The railway does not run all the way to Vierumäki, but you can easily change to a bus at the Lahti Travel Centre. There is a bus stop in front of Vierumäki Resort Hotel. Vierumäki reception staff are at your service at the Vierumäki Resort Hotel. 

Read more and buy a ticket from VR website

We recommend you the following options for your stay:

Helsinki (Pasila), hotels

• Tripla Sokos Hotel
• Holiday Inn
• Scandic Grand Central Helsinki 

Helsinki, hostels

• Cheapsleep
• SweetDream Guesthouse
• Hostel Diana Park
• Sky hostel Helsinki
• Eurohostel
• Forenom

Porvoo

• EasyStay
• Hotel Seurahovi
• Hotel Runo
• Hotel Sparre

Vierumäki

• Vierumäki Finnish Sport Institute ([email protected])
• Holiday Club

Helsinki

Haaga-Helia's campuses in Helsinki are easily accessible with public transportation. The public transport in the Helsinki region is managed by HSL. Read more about the services from HSL website:

• Timetables and routes
• How to buy tickets

Porvoo

The distances in Porvoo are short and walking is, for many, the best way to get around the city. Haaga-Helia Porvoo Campus is located close to the city center and Porvoo Old Town.

Vierumäki

Coming soon.

ATMs: There are two types of ATMs, Otto and Nosto. There might be a small fee for using the ATM. 

Most common credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, American Express 

Cash is accepted in stores and restaurants unless announced otherwise. Some smaller businesses might not accept cash payments but most common credit cards are accepted. Larger notes (>50 €) might not be accepted everywhere.

It's good to note that in Finland, the wages, taxes and cost of living are slightly higher than the EU average. Read more from InfoFinland.fi.

General information about health services in Finland on InfoFinland website

In an emergency, you will be treated in public health care even if you do not have a municipality of residence in Finland or you are not entitled to medical care based on your work. The medical costs can be collected from you afterwards. 

Those who stay in Finland temporarily and who do not have a place of domicile here will receive medically necessary treatment in the public healthcare system if the person has a European Health Insurance Card. 

If you are not entitled to public health services, you can make an appointment at a private clinic. Private health services are considerably more expensive for the customer than public ones. 

Health services in Finland are offered in Finnish and Swedish. Often you can also get along with English. When making an appointment for health services, ask if it is possible to use an interpreter (tulkki) if you cannot speak any of the above-mentioned languages. 

Medicine 

Only pharmacies (apteekki) are entitled to sell medicines in Finland. Some sparsely populated areas also include pharmacy service points where you can purchase prescription and self-administered medication. 

Read more about purchasing prescription medicine from EU healthcare website.

The Finnish climate is colder than in many other countries. However, the weather varies significantly in different seasons.

Check the current weather forecast:

• Helsinki
• Porvoo
• Vierumäki

• Tourist info Helsinki
• Tourist info Porvoo
• Tourist info Vierumäki

Erasmus+ programme include a possibility of obtaining accessibility grants. Please contact the Erasmus coordinator of your home university for further information. Information is also available on the European Commission website.

If you come to our university through an exchange programme other than Erasmus, please inquire about the possibilities for an accessibility grant from your home university.

The campuses are situated on three different areas in Helsinki capital region (Pasila, Haaga and Malmi) and two other campuses are in Porvoo and Vierumäki.

Please inform the international office before your arrival about your needs to guarantee easy access to lecture rooms. If the notification is received early enough the lecture room can be changed to fit your needs.

Pasila campus: Disabled taxis can stop in front of the main entrance of the Pasila campus, from where a wheelchair ramp leads to the main doors of the Helia building. The main door does not open automatically. Each floor is accessible by elevator, and there are automatically opening doors on both sides of the main elevator shaft on each floor. The doors of the southern overpass leading to the SLK building also open automatically. Disabled toilets are on the 1K floor, first floor and fourth floor. Accessibility to the student restaurant is good (elevators and automatic doors).

 Haaga campus: The Haaga campus also takes into consideration individuals with reduced mobility. Taxis for the disabled can stop in right front of the main entrance, and every floor is accessible by lift. There is an accessible toilet downstairs, next to the library. There is also a baby changing table in the same place.

Porvoo campus: Accessible entrance is through the main doors. The entrance front and the entrance hall floor are flat and without thresholds. The main door opens automatically and the vestibule door has an electronic opening mechanism. The escort vehicle can stop in the square in front of the main entrance. There is an accessible toilet on each floor. There are elevators on each floor and automatic doors to many spaces. More info on Porvoo campus website: Accessibility on Porvoo Campus | Haaga-Helia

Vierumäki campus: Newer buildings are wheelchair accessible. Disabled taxis can stop in front of the Ilkka building, from where a wheelchair ramp leads to the front door. There are elevators in Ilkka and Pihkala to reach every floor. Accessibility has also been improved in the sports facilities and swimming pool. There are still accessibility restrictions on the lower level of the sports hall. 

More information of each campuses you can find from the section: Visits on our campuses.

Please inform us in good time if you need special arrangements in classrooms. 

[email protected]

Your services at Haaga-Helia library: Diverse learners' library guide

Celia is a specialist library in Finland; University course books can be borrowed from Celia free of charge. Books available include talking books, Braille and/or e-books.

More information on Celia

Helsinki-Vantaa airport have good services for persons with disabilities and reduced mobility.

More information

Helsinki region local busses

Most of the buses on Helsinki region are low-floor. There are manually operated ramps at the middle doors. The driver will deploy the ramp for you. There are stop announcements which tell the name of the next stop on all bus routes.

In the capital region, there are so called neighborhood routes operated with low-floor minibuses. The routes have been designed specifically to cater for elderly passengers and passengers with reduced mobility. The driver will help you on and off the bus if you need assistance.

Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) offer tickets free of charge or reduced prices for visually impaired passengers, people with reduced mobility and people with wheelchair. More information  

Porvoo local busses

Some of the local buses at Porvoo are accessible with a wheelchair, but it may be difficult to know beforehand which shift is driven with such a bus. Therefore it is recommended that persons using a wheelchair use a taxi or the service transport Passeli.

Lahti/Vierumäki local busses

Most of the local buses from Lahti to Vierumäki are accessible with a wheelchair, but it may be difficult to know beforehand which shift is driven with such a bus. More information

Long distance busses

The assistance available at bus stations for disabled persons and people with reduced mobility at Matkahuolto long distance busses More information

The Metro trains are level with the station platforms, providing easy access also for those with mobility aids. All metro stations have at least one accessible entrance and at least one lift. Many stations have audio beacons at the entrances as well as at the doors leading to the lifts that help visually impaired people to navigate the station.

Refurbished stations have tactile and contrast markings to aid visually impaired people. There are announcements and digital screens on the trains.

All trams are either fully or partly low-floor. Both the Artic trams and articulated trams with low-floor center sections have ramps to provide step-free access.

Most tram stops are raised so that the stops are nearly level with the low-floor trams. All trams have stop announcements which tell the name of the next stop.

Most of the trains in Finland (VR) can be accessed with a wheelchair or walker, for instance. Because the accessibility of different types of trains varies, plan your accessible train trip in advance. More information

All Helsinki area (HSL) commuter trains are low-floor. Additionally, almost all commuter trains with destinations outside the HSL area (R, T, D and Z trains) are low-floor. 

Almost all station platforms in the HSL area match the commuter train floor height, providing easy access also for those with mobility aids. Only the station platforms in Kauniainen and Kerava are at a lower level than the commuter train floor. Moreover, platform three at the Kirkkonummi train station is at a higher level than the commuter train floor.

Accessible commuter train carriages are marked with a wheelchair symbol. There are announcements and digital screens on all trains.

Accessible vehicle orders are accepted both as direct and pre-orders. Unfortunately, immediate arrival of the vehicle cannot be guaranteed in direct orders.

Upon ordering, the taxi center requires, among other things, the following information:

• what mobility aid the customer is using
• whether a wheelchair needs to be accommodated in the car
• whether the customer needs assistance entering and exiting at the destination address
• whether the customer has an attendant accompanying them

There are also wheelchair-accessible taxis equipped with stair climbers whenever possible. Additional charges for wheelchair-accessible transportation are from 15€ to 35€, depending of the service needed and service provider. Check prices when reserving the service.

Helsinki: +358 600 418 777
Vierumäki (Lahti and Heinola): +358 400 16 7000
Porvoo: 

The costs of hiring a personal assistant must cover visitor themselves.

A guide, aid or hearing dogs are always welcome with you in all Haaga-Helia campuses and they travel with you free of charge in local transportations. 

There are accessible parking places reserved for persons with disabilities on every campus. 

You need to apply for a person-specific disabled parking permit from the local police.  

Campus area restaurants offer different lunch options. For example, vegetarian options are available daily on every campus restaurant. 

Contact campus restaurants beforehand if you have any other special diets for example vegan, gluten-free options or any severe food allergies. You can always ask the staff for more information. The menus and contact details for the campus area restaurants can be found from Haaga-Helia's website.

Haaga-Helia Accessibility Statement

We would value your feedback on the accessibility of campus facilities and services.

Did you find what you were looking for? If not please contact us [email protected] 

Did you notice any accessibility deficiencies, please let us know!

Digital accessibility: [email protected]

Physical accessibility:

The Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities

Renting of special equipment for winter conditions:

• Helsinki

• Porvoo

• Vierumäki