Oulu Transportation

It is not very good. You might notice that when you see bikes everywhere. For some reason the public transportation in Oulu is not so good. It might be because of people bike so much or it might be that that is why people bike so much. The routes won't cover east-west directions and there goes like one or two bus in an hour. Then there is the high price, almost double to Helsinki. Well, not excatly but it is 2,50 one way. It is expensive.
That is why I prefer my bike as muc as possible. Year around.

Oulu is easily accessible from Helsinki by train or plain. Train is usually cheaper, if you don't know 3 months in advance in which day you will be traveling. Train also shows you landscape better than a plain.
It take approximately 6 hours from Helsinki to Oulu, depending on which kind of train you will choose. The quickest is Pendolino with some 5 hrs, then InterCity and the regular train can take up to 7-8 hrs.

Th trip costs some 60 euros one-way, if you are a student in Finnish school you will get 50%, same with kids under 16. There are several shifts daily. You can also take a sleeping coupe, so you will travel by night.

Like all Finnish towns Oulu can easily be reached by car. It is no problem to find parking space free of charge.
The city is not very big and you can reach everything on food. Anyway, Oulu also offers an efficient public transport system.
The city owns a national airport and direct flights to Helsinki depart daily. A flight to Helsinki takes about an hour.

Oulu (Located in Oulunsalo) Airport is second largest in Finland, there goes nearly one flight every hour from Helsinki to Oulu and vice versa.It makes 700 000 passengers pass through Oulu Airport every year. If you come to helsinki and you are planning travelling to North, I guess by train, why don't you try airplane if you are under 24 or under. You get a ticket with good price, 64 euroa one way, and the trip takes only an hour. Check from more www.finnair.fi and Stand by.

Oulu is very reachable by almost any vehicle. You can use an airplane, train, boat, ship, bi/motorcycle, car... you can imagine. So it depend's only where you are coming from.
At very heart of Oulu you can walk, since almost every shop and attraction is near (the centre isn't so big), but when you want to see some 'off the beaten path' activity you certainly need a bike. Oulu has the most advanced bicycling / rollerskating roadnetwork in whole Finland. You can go almost everywhere within a 'bicyclingroad'.

Getting to Oulu is quite simple. With an airport on the edge of town and a train station in the city centre, Oulu is well connected to the rest of Finland and indeed the world. Once in Oulu, there are taxi’s and an extensive bus network.

Due to a very low budget and travel plans which changed with the circumstances (:))) I decided to try hitching. I went from Turku to Vaasa (300 km) on the first day and on to Oulu (another 300) on the second. And as incredible as it may sound, it never took me more than four hours! Finland doesn't (or didn't) have many long-distance motorways so you can lift your thumb almost anywhere. And never have to wait for more than five minutes! Almost all drivers who picked me up said that it was refreshing to see a hitcher 'after all these years'. At the end of the day, my experience was - you guessed - fantastic, but I can never guarantee that yours will be too. If you're travelling with another person, you can feel safe. If you're on your own... well, up to you!

From Helsinki by airplane (over 10 flights per day, 50 min.)
From Helsinki by train (app. 6 hrs.) or by bus (12 hours)
Local bus routenet is very large. Good map and timetable available. Also walking and cycling are very good options.