Plan your journey and arrival

When to arrive and how to reach Jyväskylä? Which documents to bring with you?

Recommended arrival dates

22 August 2025 for degree students, and 25 August 2025 for exchange students (autumn semester)
2 January 2026 for exchange students (spring semester)

Inform your tutor of your arrival

Please inform your student tutor of your exact time of arrival in Jyväskylä well in advance. If you have informed your student tutor of the exact time of your arrival at least one week before your arrival, they will meet you at the Jyväskylä Travel Centre. If your travel plans change, please keep your tutor updated.

Before arrival checklist

Accommodation

Remember to apply for accommodation as soon as you have been admitted to the University of Jyväskylä. Please note that student housing in the autumn semester cannot be guaranteed and you may have to look for housing in the private market).

If you receive a housing offer, you must either accept or refuse it by the given deadline. Please follow the payment instructions given in your housing offer.

Residence permit (non-EU/EEA nationals)
If you are a citizen of a non-EU/EEA/EFTA country, please apply for a residence permit as soon as you get your admission notification. For further instructions, please see the Migri website.

Health insurance
Obtain health and travel insurance.If you are a citizen of an EU/EEA country, make sure to obtain a European Health Insurance Card from the local social security office in your home country.

Student Union membership
Degree students: register as an attending student before your arrival.

Exchange and visiting students: paying the Student Union membership fee is optional, but if you pay the fee, send the receipt of the payment to the Student Service Desk via HelpJYU.

Arrival plans
Make plans to arrive on the recommended arrival dates above. Please note that student apartments are available from the first working day of the month onward. Make sure to read carefully the instructions on how to pick up your keys from your student housing provider.
Each incoming student will be assigned a student tutor , i.e., a fellow student assigned to assist new students. The student tutors help incoming students in practical matters at the beginning of their stay. Inform your student tutor of your exact time of arrival in Jyväskylä at least one week prior to arrival. If your travel plans change, inform your tutor about this. Your tutor will contact you by email a couple of weeks before the semester begins.

Documents
Bring your passport, ID card, driver's license, residence permit (if applicable).
Bring your health insurance, EHIC card (EU/EEA nationals)

Financial matters
If you come from a country that uses the euro as currency, bring your online banking codes with you. Most Finnish banks do not open a bank account for students from the eurozone.
If you come outside of eurozone, consider bringing some euros in cash. Please note there is no money exchange point in Jyväskylä.
Reserve enough funds to pay the rent and the Student Union membership fee (if applicable). If you are a degree student, please remember that you will also need to pay the student healthcare fee each semester.
Budget your first month in Finland. You can get a few ideas from this article by JYU degree students: How to budget for student life in Finland

How to get to Jyväskylä?

The city of Jyväskylä is located in Central Finland, some 270 kilometres north of Helsinki, and is best reached by train or bus. The connections are relatively frequent, and the journey from Helsinki to Jyväskylä takes approximately 3.5—4 hours by train. Trains and buses are more convenient and environmentally friendly ways to reach Jyväskylä than plane.

Most of the flights to Finland arrive at Helsinki Airport (about 20 km from the centre of Helsinki). From Helsinki Airport you may continue by plane to Jyväskylä. We do not recommend flying to Jyväskylä, as there are plenty of buses and trains connecting Helsinki and Jyväskylä.

If you choose to fly to Jyväskylä, please book the connecting flight in advance. The flight time to Jyväskylä is approximately 45 minutes. The Jyväskylä (Tikkakoski) Airport is located about 23 km from the centre of Jyväskylä. Please note that there is no bus service from the airport to the centre of Jyväskylä. You can take a taxi from the airport to the centre of Jyväskylä, the journey takes around 20 min and costs approximately 50€. It is recommended to book a taxi in advance by calling +358 100 6900 as there may not be any taxis available at the airport upon your arrival, especially if you arrive late at night or early in the morning. You can also use the free telephone inside the terminal building to call for a taxi, or use the JYTAKSI APP to order a taxi (download from App Store or Google Play Store) free of charge. If you do not book the taxi in advance, be prepared to wait for it for a little while. For more information, see the Finavia website.

If you arrive at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport, take a bus or a taxi to the centre of Tampere. For more information, please see the Finavia (Tampere-Pirkkala) website. You can continue your journey to Jyväskylä by train or bus.

If you choose to travel by train, take the Ring Rail Line train from Helsinki Airport to Tikkurila and change trains there. The journey from the airport to Tikkurila railway station takes about 8 minutes. Trains leave about every 10 minutes. There are direct train connections from Tikkurila to Jyväskylä, but in some cases you will have to change trains in Tampere.

If you wish to go the Helsinki city centre first and catch a train from there, take the I or P train, or the local bus number 615 (platform 21) to the Helsinki Central Railway Station and continue your journey from there. It will take 30—40 minutes to get to the Helsinki Central Railway Station.

The journey to Jyväskylä takes approximately 3.5—4 hours. Please check the train connections and purchase tickets on the VR (Finnish Railways) website. Please note that you are not entitled to student discounts on train tickets if you don't have a valid student card yet (your digital student card will start working only once your study right at JYU has started. For exchange students, this is only after the recommended arrival date).

There is also a direct bus connection from Helsinki Airport to Jyväskylä. The trip will take 3.5—5 hours, and you may have to change buses once or twice. When purchasing your ticket, make sure to check when and where you may have to change buses.

Bus timetables and tickets: Matkahuolto and OnniBus
Buses leave next to the Terminal 2 at the airport (see the map of the airport).

Both OnniBus and Matkahuolto buses leave from the Helsinki Vantaa Airport, as well as the city centre. Onnibus buses operate from the Kamppi Bus Station in Helsinki city centre, a short walk from the Helsinki Central Railway Station. You can get to the city centre by taking the I or P train, or the local bus number 615 (platform 21) to the Helsinki Central Railway Station. Onnibus tickets can be purchased by credit card in advance and, depending on seat availability, also from the driver. It is recommended to purchase bus tickets in advance as tickets are often sold out.

Student discounts on transportation

After the study right has begun, an exchange student or a degree student of a Finnish university will be entitled to receive a 30%—50% student discount on trains and long-distance buses by presenting a Finnish student ID or a Frank student card / a Slice app student card issued jointly by the bus company Matkahuolto and the Finnish rail service VR. Please note that you cannot obtain these cards before coming to Jyväskylä and will not be able to get the student discount on your first journey to Jyväskylä. Unfortunately, you cannot get a student discount on trains or buses with the ISIC card (International Student Identity Card). Doctoral students are not entitled to receive the student discounts on transportation.

Arrival during weekends and public holidays

If you are arriving in Jyväskylä during a weekend or on a public holiday, please note that most of the services and institutions are closed (university, banks, accommodation offices, etc.) and handling urgent matters can be difficult. For this reason, we recommend arriving on a business day (Monday to Friday).

Checklist for your first days in Jyväskylä

Pay the Student Union membership fee (if you have not done so in advance, optional for exchange and visiting students).
Register at the university (degree and visiting students only) and apply for a student card if you have not done so in advance (applicable to those who have joined the Student Union).
Contact your department/faculty at the University.
Check out the courses you would like to take and sign up for them through the study system Sisu.
If you are a citizen of an EU member state, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, and the continuous duration of your stay exceeds three months, register your right to reside in Finland at the Finnish Immigration Service.
If you are a citizen of a Nordic country (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland), register your right of residence at a Local Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
Obtain a Finnish personal identity code by submitting your personal identity data to the Population Information System and inform the JYU Student Services of it. You may obtain a Finnish personal identity code in the following ways:
- When applying for a residence permit
- When registering your right to reside in Finland as a citizen of an EU member state, Liechtenstein or Switzerland
- By visiting the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) at Hannikaisenkatu 47 C (3rd floor or visit the pop-up of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency on campus after the orientation programme in September and January.
If you study in Finland for two years or more, apply for domicile (home municipality) when registering at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV).
If you are a degree student, open a Finnish bank account (Your tutor will help you with this.)

Plan your journey and arrival

Table of contents

Recommended arrival dates

Inform your tutor of your arrival

Before arrival checklist

How to get to Jyväskylä?

By ferry

By plane

By train

By bus

Student discounts on transportation

Arrival during weekends and public holidays

Checklist for your first days in Jyväskylä