How to get to Oulu
Best way of reaching Oulu coming from abroad is by plane. Other options, might take much more time, and many times are not cheaper.
By plane
Oulu Airport is the second airport in Finland in number of passengers. It is a cosy airport located in Oulunsalo (part of Oulu area) around 25 km south of Oulu city centre. It is only one hour away from Helsinki Airport, which is the most common stop-over place.
Currently, two airlines operate in Oulu Airport Finnair and the low-cost [Norwegian] (https://www.norwegian.com/). Finnair has share-code flights with major european and some international operators such as AirFrance, Lufthansa, Iberia, British Airways, American Airlines or Japan arilines. Regular flights arriving to Oulu have its origin in Helsinki.
Transportation to hotels
All recommended hotels are located in Oulu down town or Nallikari (seaside villas). Both can be accessed from the airport by bus or by taxi.
Bus airport-downtown
Oulun joukkoliikenne operates to and from Oulu Airport. Routes 8 and 9 run daily from early morning to late night via Oulu city centre to Oulu Airport. Travel time from city centre to airport is approximately 25-30 minutes on both routes. The bus stop is located right in front of the airport terminal.
You will need an AB ticket when travelling to Oulu city center. Price is 5,80€. You can pay by cash in the bus or using the Waltti mobile app
Taxi airport-downtown
There are different taxi companies in Oulu. Taxis are on call at the taxi stand in front of the airport during the scheduled arrival times. There is a phone you can use to order new taxi if there is no taxi avaible. Companies usually have a fixed price for taxis going downtown (40€ for normal taxis, and 45€ for big taxis). Normal taxis can transport up to 4 people, while big taxis up to 8 people. Big taxis are good solution if you are coming in a group and want to share costs.
Rent-a-car
The airport offer a wide set of car rentals companies including Europcar, Hertz, Scandia Rent, Six, Avis and Budget. Most of the companies allows to return the car in downtown. You should check that your driving license is valid in Finland. Discuss with renting company if you are allow to drive a car in Finland.
If you rent a car consider the special conditions of the Finnish winter… All cars are equipped with winter tyres in January. Hotels parking usually have heating posts for your car (generally subject to a fee).
Please, do not take this option if you have not droven previously in extremely cold winter conditions. Driving on ice and darkness might be challenging sometimes.
By train
Oulun Railway Station is located downtown Oulu and has direct trains to Helsinki, Tampere and Rovaniemi. Helsinki-Oulu journey trip varies from 5h30m if you take the fastest train to 9h30m if you take the night train.
Tickets can be bought from VR website. Please, note that most railway stations in Finland does not have selling office, so it is better to buy always the tickets beforehand from the website. There is no fix price for train tickets, and the price varies due to demand. Normal price from Helsinki to Oulu would be around 50€, although you can find a cheaper fee if you book with time.
By car
Main road arriving to Oulu is the national road number 4 (Nelostie) part of the E75 route. This roads communicates Helsinki with Oulu. Distance between Helsinki and Oulu is 607Km and can be covered in a little more of 7 hours. More of the route is a one-lane road (maximum speed 80 in January). There are motorways close to the big cities.
Please, do not take this option if you have not droven previously in extremely cold winter conditions. Driving on ice and in darkness might be challenging sometimes. You should check that your driving license is valid in Finland.
Your car should have winter tyres (generally studed tyres) and it is highly recommended that it has a motor heater.
Other connections from abroad
Although flying directly to Oulu is the most comfortable way to get to Oulu there are some other options.
[Helsinki}(https://helsinkiairport.org/) and Tampere airports receive a big number of international flights. After that you can reach Oulu by train. Sometimes, you can get a better price with this combination, but it would take much more time.
You can also reach Helsinki and Turku by boat. Helsinki port has connections to Stockholm (Sweden), Tallin(Estonia), St. Petersburg(Russia) and Travemunde (Germany). You can take your car in most of those ferries.
Inside Oulu
Oulu is a small city and most of the main places can be accessed either walking, biking or with a scooter. However, low temperatures might be an issue, specially if you are not used to them. That is why we recommend to use either bus or taxi.
The lab is located 6km away from the city center, at Linnanmaa campus. Still the public transportation options are easily accessible and there is lot’s of bus lines stopping at the campus.
Please, NOTE THAT WE ARE OFFERING PRIVATE COMMUTING SERVICE FROM DOWNTOWN TO LINNANMAA CAMPUS AND BACK TO DOWNTOWN DURING THE WHOLE WEEK. Check schedules.
Bus
There are plenty of bus routes in Oulu, with good service. All bus information is centralized at [Oulu Public Transport website}(https://www.ouka.fi/oulu/public-transport).
You can buy ticket either in the bus and pay with cash (not recommended anymore) or buying it through a mobile app (through credit card). Tickets downtown costs 1,5€. If you want to travel to Linnanmaa campus, price is 3,3€.
Recently all Oulu buses accept contactless payment. You can use your debit or credit card (Visa, Visa Electron, Mastercard and Eurocard) or mobile (Google Pay and Apple Pay) to pay for your fare. Please, note that you cannot buy two tickets for the same trip (you cannot buy a ticket to your colleague). With this option fares are cheaper: 1,20€ in downtown and 2.05€ to Linnanmaa campus.
Taxi
There are several taxi operators. We recommend OTAXI due their better quality of service and no difference in prices to other companies. You can order a taxi by phone (subject to a fee), through the OTaxi app or going to some of the taxi poles (stops). Prices and more information can be found from Otaxi site. In the taxi you can pay by cash or by credit card. If you ordered the taxi with OTAXI app, you can pay also through the app.