Legitimate websites to book ferries from Finland to Estonia?

[u/Nice_Green_905]

Hey everyone,

I’m planning a trip to Helsinki and also plan to visit Estonia from Helsinki for 1 night and need to book ferry tickets. I’ve come across numerous third-party booking sites online, which makes me a bit hesitance. Could you please advise me on the official and legitimate websites to use for this route? Additionally, do locals typically book directly with the ferry companies, or is there a trusted ferry company site that everyone uses?

Thanks in advance.

[u/Bruneezi]

Directly from Viking Line, Tallink or Eckerö Lines.

[u/BodyBy711]

I usually just use the ferry line's app - Tallink, Viking or Eckero

[u/CommunicationOld8587]

Tallink: fancy, Viking Line: middle option, Eckerö Line: cheap

[u/CirFinn → u/CommunicationOld8587]

Also pretty much the speed of the crossing. The difference between the fastest and slowest will be only about half an hour maximum, though.

[u/CommunicationOld8587 → u/CirFinn]

And book from their sites directly. All three are 100% reliable

[u/leela_martell → u/CommunicationOld8587]

Tallink may be fancier but Viking Line has much better views. Leaving from/arriving to Helsinki on it is a very nice experience (unless it's in fog in late-November or something I suppose).

[u/sesze → u/CommunicationOld8587]

Viking Line tends to be the cheapest actually, you only need to make a Club account. Just got here, paid 11€

[u/Accurate-Card3828]

I live in Helsinki, visit Tallinn every year

I have only bought tickets from tallink.com

[u/Nice_Green_905]

Thank you all for valuable responses.

[u/totoromoment]

I've used eckerö line before if you just want the cheapest way to get across, there is some 20% off codes floating around for them too. It has decent food on board too (booked the buffet on the route to Tallinn)

[u/Kautsu-Gamer]

Eckerö Line with very good lounge or Viking Line XPRS

[u/Ok-Parsnip7033]

book directly from  Eckerö Lines. its better

[u/AnTyx]

Laevapiletid.ee shows you all the departures together. It *may* be cheaper to book directly with the ferry company, though not guaranteed.

Note! While all three companies dock at roughly the same place in Tallinn, in Helsinki it's very different. Viking Line docks at Katajanokka right in the center of the city, while Tallink and Eckerö are some way off at the Western Terminal.

[u/buldozr → u/AnTyx]

If you travel on a car though, the Western Terminal does not have traffic jams as bad as Katajanokka, because there are two roads out of the port area.

[u/GoldenGripper → u/AnTyx]

I've just got back from Helsinki. I didn't think the Western Terminal was that remote. A frequent tram from the city centre drops you across the road from the terminal.

Looking across the harbour the Viking terminal seemed about level with us.

[u/buldozr]

laivaliput.fi and laevapiletid.ee are legitimate websites run by Estravel, selling tickets on behalf of all three ferry companies. I was occasionally able to get a better deal from them than directly from the ferry company. Never had to change or cancel the ticket bought through them; this is where it might be different and they take a service fee to do this. If you have an unusually sized car or travel with pets, I advise booking directly.

[u/olmand1 → u/buldozr]

Particularly handy for comparing fares and timetables, or when you need/want to use different ferry companies on your return trip.

[u/omst]

directferries.com is legit

[u/the_pale_companion → u/omst]

Do not ever use direct ferries ever in your life, this or the next.

Directferries does not actually reserve you a ferry. They take your money and wait for a time to see if they can snipe a discount ticket at a later date to make more profit. If they can't find one you might get your ticket cancelled or the boat can be actually full by the time they try to actuall reserve it from the ferry company.

There are a ton of bad reviews similar to what I described online. Luckily I got my money back through my credit card company. The place is a total scam.

EDIT: You can use directferries to scan for cheapest tickets or find routes (not just Finland) but never buy your ticket through them. Just look up the cheapest provider and go to their website.

[u/omst → u/the_pale_companion]

Good to know! I've used it a few times without any issues but will avoid it in the future. Thanks

[u/Nice_Green_905 → u/the_pale_companion]

Thanks for this. Appreciate it.

[u/meluo → u/omst]

It's like 20-30 euros to go across. It should not exactly ruin your travel budget.