Green Exchange
NMS iICT provides, especially to the involved students, a possibility to widen their perspectives through exchange period, without severe increase in their carbon dioxide footprint! It is generally considered beneficial to have experience in living outside one's home country – to gain a wider perspective to how people think and act, and bring that perspective back home with you, as something even more than just an entry in your CV or portfolio. However, exchange periods in the modern world are usually facilitated by flying from home to the exchange country and then back again, which is a cause of concern through flying being considered the most taxing form of travel as the climate change is considered. The member institutes of NMS iICT all lie on the coasts of the Baltic Sea, enabling you to travel from one to another by sea, if not even by rail!
It might not be Slow Travel as the Hidden Europe magazine describes it, but it is greener than flying.
Stockholm–Copenhagen
The Swedish national railway company SJ (http://www.sj.se/) runs the X 2000 train connection between Copenhagen and Stockholm. The trip takes about 5 hours between the cities and there are trains leaving every hour. The price of a one way trip is typically between 50–90 euro, but may vary depending on advance booking, holiday seasons and other reasons.
Turku–Stockholm
The simpliest way to travel between Stockholm and Turku is to take a ferry. Ferries are run by Tallink Silja (http://www.tallinksilja.com/) and Viking Line (http://www.vikingline.fi/). Four ferries leave both harbour every day and the trip takes 11 hours. You can either sleep the night in a cabin or spend a day in restaurants and shops.
The prices vary greatly, based on season and the type of cabin. Off-season special prices can be just a few euros, whereas a typical cabin price can be about 50 euro.
Tallin–Turku
The route between Turku and Tallin best goes through Helsinki.
Tallin–Helsinki
There are several companies running ships between Helsinki and Tallin: Tallink Silja (http://www.tallinksilja.com/), Eckerö Line (http://www.eckeroline.fi/) and Viking Line (http://www.vikingline.fi/). Prices vary per company and season, but you may expect to pay 30 euro for this couple hours trip.
Helsinki–Turku
There are trains and busses between Turku and Helsinki every hour. The trains are run by the Finnish national railway company VR (http://www.vr.fi/) and the buss companies have an umbrella organization ExpressBus (http://www.expressbus.com/) where you can see the time tables and prices.
The ticket price is about 30 euro.
Tallin–Stockholm
You can travel directly between Stockholm and Tallin by sea. Viking Line (http://www.vikinline.fi/) and Tallink Silja (http://www.tallinksilja.com/) both have ships regularly traveling the distance. Prices vary greatly, cheapest being less than 30 euro, but generally expect to pay 60-150 euro to get a cabin as well. At least Tallink Silja has ships going directly without needing to change ships in Helsinki, Turku or Mariehamn.
Copenhagen–Tallin
There appears to be no direct ship lines between Tallin and Copenhagen. We recommend making this trip through Stockholm, but more adventurous may seek bus and train routes through Latvia, Lietuva, Poland and Germany.
