Turku

The closest mainland area to Sweden, the southwest is Finland’s most historic area. It’s centred around the noble port city of Turku, the seat of Finland’s oldest university. Until the 19th century Turku was the nation’s capital and it is a place redolent with history as well, as an important modern city and gateway to the country for ferry travellers.



It also is the jumping-off point for exploration of he myriad islands of the southwestern archipelago, which in summer shine like a galaxy of emeralds offshore. Some are accessible by road and ferries, but for others you’ll need to charter or hire a boat of your own. This is one of the areas of Finland where Swedish-speaking culture is strongest, reinforced by plenty of summer visitors from across the water. These visitors now come in peace, but once were fairly unwelcome arrivals, crusading inland from coastal bases and performing forcible baptisms on the Finnish tribes.



North from Turku are a series of picture-pretty coastal towns. Naantali is a popular family destination thanks to its theme park devoted to the much-loved Moomin trolls; further north, Uusikaupunki is so laid-back as to be almost horizontal. The citizens of Rauma managed to never burn the toast and send the whole town up, meaning that it boasts the best-preserved area of old wooden buildings in Finland. Beyond here, bigger Pori shakes off its workaday feel for an excellent summer jazz event, one of Finland’s best festilvals.



Interesting:

- Forum Marinum
- Luostarinmäki Handicraft museum
- Turku Castle & Historical Museum
- Turku Chathedral
- Sibelius Museum
- A lot of Pubs & Cafés

Around Turku:

- Naantali
- Rymättylä
- Turrunmaa Archipelago
- Uusikaupunki
- Rauma

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku
http://www.turku.fi