Coronavirus (COVID-19): information for visitors and travel trade 

You can find updated information related to the coronavirus and travelling in Espoo and Finland on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

The Koronavilkku smartphone app has been published to help break infection chains. You can download Koronavilkku to your phone free of charge from the most popular app stores. 

Visit Finland Coronavirus updates for visitors and Travel Trade (updated 28 Jan, 2021)

The Finnish National Tourism Board Visit Finland has formed an internal recovery task force that gathers and shares practical information for leisure traveles and travel trade during and after the Coronavirus pandemic. These pages will be updated on an ongoing basis:

• Practical travel information for travelers to Finland during Coronavirus-pandemic (25.1.2021)
• Travel recovery information for Travel Trade
  

Updated, January 28, 2021:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland: "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foreign Ministry’s general travel advice continues to be to avoid all but essential travel to and from all countries.This general advice does not apply to countries for which the Finnish Government has already lifted the entry restrictions." Please get familiar with the restrictions of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland due to COVID-19: 

• Changes to travel recommendations: avoid all travel to United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa (25.1.2021)
• Restrictions on entry extended until 9 February (7.1.2021)
• Changes to travel guidance and entry restrictions due to COVID-19 situation

Essential, work-related and return travel is possible from all Schengen countries. Except for those countries named above as open for leisure travel, self-isolation for 14 days upon arrival is recommended.

Finland welcomes residents of the following countries to travel to Finland for leisure: the Vatican, Australia, Rwanda, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand and South Korea. There is no mandatory testing or quarantine for residents from the above mentioned countries on arrival in Finland. 

Official information:

• Restrictions on entry into Finland to be tightened on 27 January
• Restrictions on entry extended until 13 December
• Finnish Government's coronavirus website
• Finnish Government's restrictions during the coronavirus epidemic
• Finnish border guard q&a
• Coronavirus update - Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
• The World Health Organization

Health-related information for visitors in Espoo (updated 26 Mar)

• If a visitor experiences symptoms of sudden respiratory infection such as fever, cough and shortness of breath, and/or has reason to suspect exposure to the coronavirus, medical advice should be sought without delay.
• Visitors are advised to first contact call the Medical Helpline number, 116 117.
• Coronavirus advice for Espoo residents

The cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa recommend that everyone over the age of 12 start using face masks in municipal service situations in which it is difficult to avoid close contact. Intended primarily for libraries, indoor sports and fitness centres, museums, customer service points and upper secondary schools, the recommendation took effect on 1 October 2020. Customers of municipal services will be responsible for buying their own masks. Further instructions for mask use can be found in English on the THL website.

Wearing a mask is also recommended in the following situations and for the following people:

• In public transport, where close contacts cannot always be avoided (mandatory from March 11th!). 
• Persons seeking the coronavirus test on their way to take the test and before the completion of test results. 
• Passengers arriving in Finland from a risk area making their way from the place of arrival to quarantine or who they have an urgent reason to spend time outside the home during quarantine. 

Events and services in Espoo (updated 26 Mar)

All public events and general meetings of more than 6 people are prohibited and only necessary meetings are allowed in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa from Monday 30.11. The restrictions have been prolonged on 24.3.2021 Restriction is valid until 30.4.2021. Public events and general meetings must comply with the guidelines from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education and Culture on preventing COVID-19 infections. These guidelines concern also the private occasions.

• Government discusses restrictions on movement and decides to continue temporary closure of food and beverage service businesses
• Coronavirus coordination group recommends that a decision be made to implement temporary section 58(d)

• Current restrictions and recommendations are extended until 31.1.2021

• Tighter restrictions on restaurants, bars and cafes continue to apply in five regions — Ostrobothnia to return to less stringent restrictions

• Restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 to change as of 1 August

Local services and sights

• Public places, such as libraries, cultural centers and museums are closed until 30.4.2021. (Library services are available limitedly.)
• Wearing a mask is recommended, and service providers are committed to increased cleaning and adding hand sanitizer for guest use, and have added information for visitors on maintaining safe distances inside their premises.
• The restaurants will likely be closed at least during 8.-28.3.2021.

The safety of our clients and our personnel is of utmost importance to us. All the local suppliers in Espoo monitor and follow the advice of authorities regarding the corona virus situation and work together around health safety to ensure the safety of the facilities, services and experiences. On the service providers' own pages, you can read in more detail what kind of special arrangements there are, and how the safety of each customer is taken care of.

The visitespoo.fi event calendar is updated regularly but we still recommend that you visit the event organizers' websites for the most current information. 

We also recommend to check the opening hours of sights and services from each service provider’s own website.

Visit Espoo has cancelled all its own events until further notice to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. All stakeholder events organised by Visit Espoo will be held via Skype or Teams, or will be postponed to a later date.

Getting around in Espoo (updated 26 Mar)

The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) recommend to avoid non-essential travel at peak times. Wearing a mask is mandatory in public transport, where close contacts cannot always be avoided. 

Public transport is operating in the Helsinki region but services are reduced. From Friday 13 March and until further notice, bus drivers do not sell tickets on buses. This measure is intended to avoid additional money handling and physical contact between drivers and passengers.

More information on the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority website.

Tourism information service in Espoo (updated 25 March)

• Our tourism information service is available online and by telephone. You can contact the tourism information service by phone, text message or WhatsApp. +358 (0)43 824 6866, 10 am–3 pm Mon-Fri. You can contact us also by email at visit@espoo.fi or on Facebook through our Visit Espoo site.
• Current opening hours of the Service points of the City of Espoo. Due to the new coronavirus restrictions Espoonlahti, Leppävaara and Tapiola Service Points are closed during 30.11.-30.4.2021.
• Helsinki Tourist Information points are closed until 30.4.2021. Helsinki Tourist Information's electronic service channels are open daily from 9 am to 4 pm:
  Telephone service: 09 3101 3300
  E-mail: Helsinki.touristinfo@hel.fi
  Chat: the service is open on the myhelsinki.fi page