Driving in Finland

See also: Driving in Europe

From February 2018, driving licences from abroad are generally accepted in Finland. EU/EEA licences are valid as such. Most other licences are valid for tourists driving motorcycles or normal cars (Finnish class A and B, not heavy-duty vehicles like buses or lorries) given they are in a Latin script or translated into Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, German or French by a reliable party. Minimum driving age is 18.

If you are going to drive in winter conditions you should check that you and your car can handle them. Winter tyres are compulsory November–March when road conditions require them. Studded winter tyres are allowed (for normal cars, not heavy vehicles) November–March and "when circumstances require", with a liberal interpretation, such as in soon being en route to wintry Lapland. Expect the odd snowfall or freezing night October–April even in the south. Snow in the south in September or May is unlikely, but has happened. If you come in early autumn or late spring, you might just decide to leave the car parked if there is snow or black ice, but do that decision beforehand, so that you are not tempted to drive anyway without preparation. And make sure you note if there have been low temperatures in the night, or might be when you have to catch your plane.

Foreign-registered cars can be used in Finland for a limited time – registering it locally involves paying a substantial tax to equalize the price to Finnish levels. They need either an EU registration plate or a nationality sticker.

Russian-registered cars may not enter Finland since mid-September 2023 (except for those of a few special groups); those already here can be confiscated until locally registered. Also the green-card agreement has been terminated; your Russian traffic insurance will not count as the compulsory one in Finland (and the Finnish one not in Russia). It should be possible to buy insurance soon after crossing the border.

If you opt to buy a car in Finland, make sure it has all annual taxes paid, check when its next formal inspection is due (emissions, brakes, lights, general condition etc.) and buy the compulsory insurance.

Those travelling by motorbike, moped, snowmobile or similar, including passengers, are required to wear helmets. Bikers are generally required to wear one also, but violating that rule is mostly ignored by the police. For motorised vehicles counted as bikes, such as some electric mopeds, enforcement may be stricter.

As Finland, Estonia, Germany, Norway and Sweden are part of the Schengen area, the borders between these countries are in theory open. The ferries, however, impose passport or ID checks, to avoid liabilities for people from outside EU/EEA without right to enter, and the customs sometimes have checks. The land borders to Sweden and Norway are usually open also in practice, with customs stations on the Norwegian border for those wanting to declare some goods.

Those travelling with pets should check requirements. There are a few serious diseases that border authorities do their best to keep at bay, and you don't want your pet to be put in quarantine.

Main roads hold the same standards as in Western Europe in general. The first part of major highways raying out from Helsinki are motorways/freeways/expressways (divided, controlled access, with four or more lanes), as are some highways around bigger cities (e.g. Highway 4 north and south of Oulu) and in practice all of E18 along the south coast, but otherwise also highways are usually undivided 2-lane roads.

All highways (numbered 1–99) are paved, as are most regional roads (numbered 100–999), while "connecting" and local roads (with seldom used four- and five-digit numbers or no numbers at all) may be gravel, especially in sparsely populated areas. There may be problems with washboarding and potholes on the local roads, but they should still be drivable with any car. The smallest roads on the other hand, such as the last kilometres to a private cottage, can be in any condition: perfectly paved, gravel, or stony and potholed ones requiring high clearance. In winter many roads for forestry, cottages and hiking destinations may be unmaintained and covered in deep snow. Most private roads may be used by anybody, but look out for signs telling otherwise – there may be a temporarily opened barrier along the route.

• Road number signs
• European route
• National road (1–39)
• Other highway (40–99)
• Regional road (100–999)
• Connecting road (1000–9999)

The European routes (E4, E8, E12, E18, E45, E63 and E75) are signposted as such, but also by their national road numbers like other roads. Addresses use the local name of the road, which for the main roads often is signposted only in urban areas. The national numbers of main national roads are well-known, the European numbers less so, the names mainly known by locals (and may be used for other roads in other municipalities).

Main roads are usually fairly well maintained. Lower classed roads may to some extent suffer from cracks and potholes, and warnings about irregularities in the pavement of these roads are seldom posted. A major reason for these is frost heaving and therefore these issues are more prevalent in the spring when snow and ice melts and their effects during the winter is revealed. Sometimes the damage gets repaired in the summer, but not always.

Fintraffic maintains info on road conditions. Incidents are described in Finnish only, but road conditions along main roads are colour coded. The service includes camera footage on highways and some information also on minor roads, such as whether ice roads are open. The information is given on best effort basis, some of it may be susceptible to disruption and should not be relied on.

Exits on motorways are numbered sequentially: exit 12 is not 12 km from the origin, but the 12th exit on the motorway. Exits to fuel stations and rest stops are not numbered, but these are often at real exits.

A new law on traffic came into force in June 2020. Some traffic signs and road markings changed (nominally; different markings will be changed in 2–10 years), as well as some rules. The differences are minor from a foreigners' viewpoint, but don't trust advice that might not have gotten updated, and don't get upset or confused if you have been told something that is not true any more (e.g. winter tyres are obligatory only when the conditions require them, regardless of dates – conditions however require them most of the time they were mandatory, except perhaps on major roads in the south).

Åland has its own traffic laws. Winter tyres are compulsory December–February and parking on the left side of a bidirectional road is not allowed. The other differences should not cause problems. Speed limits are 50, 70 or 90 km/h.

• Elk or deer
• Inter­section
• No entry
• Priority for oncoming traffic
• Overtaking prohibited
• Speed limit for zone

Traffic drives on the right. A few unusual or unobvious rules to be aware of:

• Helmets are mandatory on mopeds, snowmobiles and most other vehicles except normal cars.
• Headlights or DRLs are mandatory even during daylight.
• Always give way to the right, unless signed otherwise. The concept of minor road refers only to exits from parking lots and similar, so this applies even to smaller roads on your right. Almost all intersections are explicitly signposted with yield signs (either the stop sign or a give way sign). Usually only highways are explicitly marked with priority signs, so most roads with priority go unmarked; instead, watch for the back of the yield sign on the other road.
• Turning right on red in traffic lights is illegal unless explicitly allowed; this means a separate lane with a yield sign – the unlit green arrow you may see in Germany for example is not used. Intersections may have two sets of traffic lights, one with regular circular lights and the other displaying arrows instead. If a green arrow is lit, also the pedestrian crossing has a red light.
• White lights are used at railway crossings instead of green. White arrows are for buses and trams only.
• Signs use the following shorthand: white or black numbers are for Mondays to Fridays, white/black numbers in parentheses for Saturdays and red numbers for Sundays and holidays; "8–16" in white/black means weekdays 08:00 to 16:00. These are common in parking spaces, but also used e.g. when some lanes are reserved for bus traffic during rush hours. If the numbers for Saturdays and Sundays are absent, the sign (or an additional panel, as in the case of parking meters) does not apply on weekends at all.
• Trams always have the right of way. You may encounter these in Helsinki and Tampere. Collisions do a "surprising amount of damage". Don't get into arguments with a vehicle that can't change direction and weighs as much as a small battle tank.
• Vehicles are required by law to stop at zebra crossings, when a pedestrian intends to cross the road – and when another car has stopped, regardless of whether or not you can see any pedestrian, similarly as if there were a stop sign – and to slow down enough to be able to stop in case. If you are the car that stopped, watch the mirrors and be ready to blow the horn, in case a car on the other lane does not seem to stop. Most pedestrians "intend" to cross the road only when there is a sufficiently large gap in the traffic. Parking or stopping to leave a passenger in front of a zebra crossing (limit: 5 m, 16 ft) is prohibited.
• Circular traffic can be rather complex. For example, in one spot, two new lanes are created while the outer lane is suddenly forced to exit. This creates a difficult situation, when the lanes are covered with snow. Luckily this problem is confined to a couple of bigger (and older) intersections in cities.
• Using seat belts is mandatory. Children of less than 135 cm must use appropriate devices (the requirement is waived for taxis, except for children under 3 years of age).
• Mobile phones may not be used without hands-free equipment while driving. If the police thinks anything you do is distracting you from the traffic, they may fine you.

Speed limits default to 50 km/h (30 mph) in towns and villages – note the "town" signs – 80 km/h (50 mph) on country roads and 120 km/h (75 mph) on motorways, but 40 or 30 km/h zones are common in cities, 60 km/h (37 mph) common near villages and 100 km/h (62 mph) the most common speed limit on motorways. From around mid-October to April, speed limits on motorways are lowered to 100 km/h and most 100 km/h limits are lowered to 80 km/h. In many places, such as built-up areas, major junctions, road construction sites or even for no apparent reason (often a village or school not seen from the road), lower speed limits are posted. Speed cameras of different kinds are a fairly common occurrence.

Where minor roads default to 80 km/h or, especially, when that speed limit is told explicitly with an additional sign saying yleisrajoitus or allmän begränsning ("general limit") – use your judgement. Often you need to be a rally driver in a rally car to keep that speed on these roads characterized by curves, potholes and lack of pavement, while you never know what is behind the next turn. On highways the traffic usually flows speeding a few km/h (most drivers know the exact leeway given by the police). As anywhere, if a queue is forming after you, stop at a suitable place to allow them to pass. Using the shoulder, marked with an unbroken line, is usually not allowed. Likewise, an unbroken (double) centre line may not be crossed for overtaking. If it is broken on your side overtaking is allowed, as long as you can return to your side in time.

• Advisory
  speed limit
• Minimum
  speed

Advisory speed limits (square signs with blue background) are sometimes used at dangerous bends and similar and should be taken very seriously: ignoring them will likely have you off the road. Sometimes they can be found where risk for elk or deer is exceptionally severe, in combination with the warning sign. Since 2020 there are also blue round signs giving a minimum speed to be maintained in normal conditions, in practice mostly forbidding slow vehicles.

Finnish fines for endangerment of traffic (such as speeding 20 km/h over the limit) are based on income, so don't ignore the risk even if you have high incomes: a Nokia VP who'd cashed in some stock options the previous year was once hit for €200,000!

Software for GPS navigators that warns of fixed safety cameras is legal and installed by default in many mobile phones. Warning signs before fixed cameras (usually at the start of the supervised road) are required by law. Radar detectors, however, are illegal and are often confiscated by customs.

A blood alcohol level of over 0.05 % is considered drunk driving and 0.12 % as aggravated drunk driving, so think twice before drinking that second beer. Finnish police strictly enforce this by random roadblocks and sobriety tests. The sobriety test is done with a handheld breath alcohol tester and there is no practical way to refuse it.

VR's car carrier trains are popular for skipping the long slog from Helsinki up to Lapland and getting a good night's sleep instead: a Helsinki–Rovaniemi trip (one way) with car and cabin for 1–3 people is about €200–250. The loading sites are Helsinki (Pasila), Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi and Kolari. Only some of the trains take cars, and only some combinations of departure and destination station are possible. The cars (and motorcycles) must usually be ready to be loaded an hour or so before departure. Usually you drive your car aboard yourself, without passengers. The biggest cars do not fit, know your dimensions and check!

Most camping grounds cater to motorhomes as well as caravans, and camping with tents. Some have small cabins for rent.

There are rest stops on major and some minor roads.

Space on ferries vary. Coming to Finland by ferry in summer with a motorhome or caravan, book in time. Road ferries should be no major problem, although some passages have queues of several hours in the worst times, such as before and after Midsummer. On the other archipelago ferries, there is often space only for a few cars; you might want to call in advance to hear whether a reservation is recommended, or whether there are some specific times you should avoid.

In the spring, there are floods in Ostrobothnia and Lapland, which may cut off some roads, even major ones. There will usually be reports on the news and there should be signposted alternative routes, but you might want to check for them. Sometimes heavy rain may cause short-lived flooding even in cities. There are no flash floods, but don't destroy your car by ignoring water on the road.

See also: Winter driving, Animal collisions

Finnish driving culture is not too hazardous and driving is generally quite safe, although moderate speeding is common on highways. Fatality rates have been steadily falling for decades. Regulations are strictly enforced (notably drinking, speeding and risky overtaking) and speed limits are modest to maintain safe traffic. Speed limits on bigger roads are fine-tuned to conditions, so there is always a reason for the chosen speed limit and this is one of the key reasons for the safe traffic in Finland.

Be careful at railway crossings on remote countryside roads: not all of them have barriers and lights, but there may still be a train approaching behind the wood in 140 kilometres per hour (90 mph).

• Blue Highway – along rivers and lakes from Norway to Russia, through Finland
• E8 through Finland and Norway – along the west coast and the border river and on to Tromsø
• Finland in ten days by car – suggested route showing some of the most important sights of the country
• Highway 4 (Finland) – from Helsinki to the north along E75
• Hämeen Härkätie – a historic route from Turku to the inland
• King's Road (Finland) – a historic route along the south coast

• Driving in Sweden
• Driving in Norway
• Driving in Russia