Riihimäki

Riihimäki is in Tavastia Proper, about 70 km north of Helsinki. An industrial town of about 29,000 inhabitants (2021), Riihimäki is an important railway junction.

Understand
Riihimäki isn't an old city, even compared with other Finnish cities. The first railway in the country (at the time a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire) was opened between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna in 1862, and the small station of Riihimäki was built pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A few years later a railway from Lahti and eventually all the way from the imperial capital St. Petersburg was opened, joining the first railway in Riihimäki and thus it became an important railway junction, which it remains today, and a town started to grow around it. In 1960 Riihimäki received city status.

Today Riihimäki is an industrial city, also home to some governmental functions like a garrison and Riihimäki Prison with the highest security level in Finland. The most notable attractions in the city are museums, such as the Glass Museum hosted in the former glass factory of Riihimäen Lasi, and while Riihimäki isn't exactly a prime tourist destination, quite a number of travellers pass through every day.

By bus
The railway station doubles as bus station. You can get in by bus from nearby major cities, see Matkahuolto for schedules. As the centre is quite far from the motorway (3 km to the bus station), many of the buses between Helsinki and Tampere don't stop in Riihimäki centre but instead use the highway stop, called Riihimäki liittymä 19.

By car
Highway 3 (E12) from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna], [[Tampere and Vaasa passes near Riihimäki. E12 continues from Vaasa to Umeå and Norway as the Blue Highway. In the east–west direction there's highway 54 between Lahti and Forssa.

By car
Traffic isn't busy and vacant parking lots are easily found.

By bus
Riihimäki has 7 local bus lines and a service line. Line #1 goes once an hour, other lines even less frequently. A single bus ticket costs €3.30 for adults and €1.70 for children. There is a route planner for local trips. The Opas.matka.fi route planner has information about regional routes. Matkahuolto's smartphone app Routes and Tickets has address based routing and also a ticket purchase option directly from the app.

By dial-a-ride
R-kyyti is Riihimäki's dial-a-ride service, which operates according to customers' own routes and schedules.

Order an R-ride with Matkahuolto's Routes & Tickets application or by calling +358 20-614-4400 (ppm, M–F 07:00–17:00).

You can order a ride within the service area and operating time, which is M–F 05:00–23:00, Sa Su 07:00–17:00. You can place an order immediately or in advance. Routes are created based on customer orders. The timetable is announced as a flexible interval so that passengers travelling in the same direction can be combined on the same routes.

In the summer, you can also order a ride to the beaches of Hirvijärvi and Paalijärvi, when you book an arrival at the beach at the following times (departure from the beach must also be ordered during these times):


 * M–F 10:00, 13:00, 16:00 and 19:00
 * Sa Su 10:00, 13:00 and 16:00

By foot
As the town is small, pretty much everything is within walking distance – although for the western sights you need to walk 2.5 km and for Lempivaara 4–5 km.

By bike
There is a bike sharing system using Bluetooth and the Donkey Republic. Prices: about €1.50/1 hr, €4/5 hr, €12/24 hr. For longer stays becoming a member is cheaper: €9 or €18/month covers all trips of less than 1 hr respectively 12 hr, also in other towns using Donkey Republic – but you need to register as member in the country of your card (available: most countries in western Europe and USA). Customer service info@kaakau.fi@undefined, daily 09:00–21:00. Several towns in south-east Finland use the same system, which is in use also elsewhere in Finland and abroad.

By scooter
You can rent electric kick scooters for use in the centre from Finnish Swup.

By taxi

 * Taksi Häme, iTaksi: see Tavastia_Proper
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi

Eat




Go next

 * Forssa
 * Helsinki
 * Hyvinkää
 * Hämeenlinna
 * Lahti
 * Tampere