Turku Harbour

• The fastest way to Stockholm, Åland and the Turku archipelago.
• The harbour trip is easy to combine with a visit to Turku Castle and Forum Marinum.
• Linnanpuisto park offers a lush setting for a self-guided picnic.

The OnniBus blog has so far focused on travelling ashore. Now is the time to broaden the horizon to maritime tourism, since our red buses also take you to ports. This time, the destination on our epic holiday in Finland is the Port of Turku, the fastest sea route to Åland and Stockholm.

Turku has had a tourist ship connection to Stockholm since the late 1950s. The atmosphere of the cruises today is certainly different from the 50's, but the basic idea has survived: relaxing and taking a break from everyday life with some good food and drink, live music, and shopping. And with live music, we are not just talking about evergreens played out for the elderly. The absolute top Finnish artists perform on these cruises on a regular basis, especially on weekend departures. Partly for this reason, cruises continue to appeal to all age groups.

There are four ship connections to Stockholm every day, including both shipping companies Viking Line and Tallink Silja Line. The classic Stockholm cruise lasts a little less than 24 hours, while a picnic cruise returning to Turku via Mariehamn is about half that time. Package deals for a cruise and hotel are worth taking a look, if you intend to step ashore on Stockholm or Mariehamn. Both cities are a rather short sea cruise away and can almost be considered Turku’s neighbor cities.

COMPLETE YOUR HOLIDAY WITH A VISIT TO TURKU CASTLE

You can certainly arrive at the port about half an hour before the ship leaves, but instead we recommend you take a few hours to explore the surrounding area. Why? Well, right in the harbour is one of Finland's most famous historical monuments and the most popular attractions in Turku. You guessed it, Turku Castle!

The castle was originally founded at the end of the 13th century as an administrative castle of the Swedish Crown, and since then the castle has served as a prison and now as a museum. After exploring the museum, it might be time for a quick bite before the cruise. There is a cozy restaurant in the castle, but the authentic Turku way is to pack your own lunch and enjoy a picnic on the benches of Linnanpuisto park right by the iconic building.

A few hundred metres from Turku Castle towards the city centre lies the maritime museum Forum Marinum, where you can also tune in to the atmosphere of the upcoming cruise. In addition to the exhibitions, Forum Marinum's 'catalog' includes huge museum ships floating in the Aura River. There is plenty to see and do for a whole day, especially for families with children.

The Port of Turku is a historically significant piece of Southwest Finland and, at the same time, a fast gateway to the archipelago and to Stockholm.