Kerava
Kerava is a town in Central Uusimaa, in Southern Finland. It's located about 30km to the north from Helsinki and is part of the greater metropolitan area.
Get in
By public transport
- See Helsinki#Get around for information about HSL public transport routes, fares and tickets.
Kerava is served by Helsinki commuter trains, with 3 faster "R", "H" and "Z" trains (20 min from Helsinki) and 5 "K" trains per hour (35 min from Helsinki). The 🌍 railway station is right next to the town centre. In addition, there are bus routes from other parts of the capital region.
By plane
All international and domestic flights to Helsinki land at the 🌍 Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport (HEL IATA), 15 kilometers to the south-west of the town. From airport to Kerava, take the commuter train P to Tikkurila and change for a Kerava-bound commuter train. Travel time to Kerava from the airport is about 45 min.
By car
Kerava is next to the Helsinki-Lahti motorway. It takes about 30 minutes to get in from central Helsinki, if there are no traffic jams.
Get around
In the centre, you can get around by foot. To go elsewhere, drive or travel by bus or taxi.
By bus
- See Helsinki#Get around for information about routes, fares and tickets
Local buses operate within Kerava itself and also provide easy access to neighbouring communities Tuusula and Sipoo.
By scooter
- See also: Finland#By motorised scooter
You can rent electric kick scooters for use in the centre from Finnish Swup.
By taxi
See Uusimaa#By_taxi for information about companies and fares
- Petax. Taxis in Kerava, Tuusula and Järvenpää. Smart phone app offers address based routing and calculates price according to them. M–Sa 06:00–18:00 €4.00 + €0.90/km+0.90/min, nights and holidays €7.90+1.05/km+0.99/min; prebooking €7/14; the lower km and prebooking fees for 1–4 persons.
- Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
See
An industrial town emerging from scratch along the railway a little more than a century ago, you won't find any old town in Kerava. However the city has its fair share of modern art and architecture.
- 🌍 Sampola underpass. Passing under the railway and connecting eastern Kerava with the central parts, this underpass is decorated with light installations and paintings.
- 🌍 Kerava church. A rather cubist building, built in 1963 with white tiles and concrete.
- Many modern sculptures and statues around downtown.
- 🌍 The new water tower. Doubles as a water tower and a modern artwork.
- 🌍 Sinebrychoff brewery.
- 🌍 Kerava prison.
Do
Valkosipulifestivaalit. A Saturday in mid-August. The Garlic Festival is one of the main events in the city. The main shopping street Kauppakaari is filled with market stalls selling garlic, products with garlic, street food and some other products. There's also a stage with music and dance performances and entertainment for kids.
Keravan päivä. "The Kerava day" is usually a week before Juhannus (Midsummer). Free concerts and art around the city, with the main event at the Aurinkomäki stage. Brief information in Finnish here.
Buy
Along the main street Kauppakaari you can find all kinds of shops and restaurants. At its eastern end and across Keskustan Kehä you can find two hypermarkets, 🌍 Prisma and 🌍 K-Citymarket. The Prisma works 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Citymarket may have a more diverse selection for things such as cheese and different meat cuts.
Eat
🌍 Kauppakeskus Karuselli at Kauppakaari street has several places:
- Chinese restaurant 🌍 Long Hua offers buffet Chinese and Sushi.
- 🌍 Luckiefun's Sushi Buffet is another option for Asian and Sushi.
- The New Sherwood, where you can go for lunch, a full dining experience, or just a pint of Guinness. They also host bands and other parties after dinner time.
- 🌍 La Mamma Meze - steaks, grilled meat etc.
- 🌍 Subway
- 🌍 Pizza Hut
- 🌍 Social Burger Joint
Also at Kauppakaari street is 🌍 Kotipizza, whose pizzas include gluten-free options for a small additional fee.
At Asemanaukio, between the library and train station, you can find Nepalese restaurant 🌍 Mount Nepal. Nearby, next to the bus platforms, is the sushi restaurant 🌍 Fuku.
Drink
- The New Sherwood (see section "Eat", above)
- Three Kings The Bar, Kauppakaari 1. They show NHL hockey and games of major football leagues. Affordable beers and pub snacks.
- Kamun Kapakka, Paasikivenkatu 4 (one block from Kauppakaari). High-quality domestic and foreign beers on tap, and more in bottles.
Sleep
With Cosmopoli having closed, there are no hotels (administratively) in Kerava. The nearest hotels are:
- 🌍 Hotelli Krapi, Rantatie 2, Tuusula, tel. +358 9 2951501
- Hotelli Rivoli, Järvenpää, tel. +358 9 27141
In addition, you can find a wide selection of accommodation in Vantaa, especially near the airport.
Go next
- The lake Tuusulanjärvi, with several artist's homes or cottages from a hundred years back turned into museums, is 5 km west of Kerava, in Tuusula and Järvenpää. Do the names Jean Sibelius, Aleksis Kivi, Juhani Aho, Venny Soldan-Brofeldt and Pekka Halonen ring any bells? You might also enjoy a walk along the lake that brought them here.
| Routes through Kerava |
| Lahti ← Järvenpää ← | N S | → Vantaa → Helsinki |