Former capital of Finland and a festive summer city, Turku hosts active entertainment facilities, fascinating parks and several interesting historical attractions. More than that, this seaside city is the gateway to the lovely archipelago around the city, offering excellent surroundings for refreshing summer activities such as sailing, kayaking or just enjoying the shades of green and blue in the scenic maze of islands and the touch of the fresh Finnish sea air.
Summer city. Today Turku is best known as a summer destination with several interesting festivals offering you diverse attractions from chamber music to rock and many things in between these two. Turku also hosts lovely surroundings for outdoor activities, such as walking in the lovely tracks of protected Ruissalo Park, or biking in Turku along the bike lanes and roads of the beautiful surroundings of the seaside city. There are some enjoyable spas near Turku available, not to mention the nearby family theme park, the Moomin world in Naantali.
Nature and sports. Apart from the attractions of the city area, Turku offers plenty of attractions also with its surroundings. The coastal area around the city is diverse and consists of capes, bays, small islands and narrow waterways in between them. What is even better, many of the islands are connected to each other with bridges or cable ferries, making the archipelago an enjoyable place for touring and for water activities such as sailing, fishing or kayaking in Turku. Several golf courses are available for golf around Turku.
Culture and entertainment. After a refreshing day out in the archipelago, you can always get back to the city activities, or enjoy the possibilities offered for nightlife in Turku. Concerts and theater performances are available in this festive Finnish summer city, which is also a good place for shopping in Turku.
Turku, historical city and its lovely archipelago
Located in Northern Europe, in the southwestern corner of Finland, Turku is the former capital and one of the biggest cities in the country. Turku was built at the mouth of river Aura during by the Swedish in the early 14th century, around the Turku castle, which has remained one of the most remarkable Nordic castles and the best known sight of Turku.Summer city. Today Turku is best known as a summer destination with several interesting festivals offering you diverse attractions from chamber music to rock and many things in between these two. Turku also hosts lovely surroundings for outdoor activities, such as walking in the lovely tracks of protected Ruissalo Park, or biking in Turku along the bike lanes and roads of the beautiful surroundings of the seaside city. There are some enjoyable spas near Turku available, not to mention the nearby family theme park, the Moomin world in Naantali.
Nature and sports. Apart from the attractions of the city area, Turku offers plenty of attractions also with its surroundings. The coastal area around the city is diverse and consists of capes, bays, small islands and narrow waterways in between them. What is even better, many of the islands are connected to each other with bridges or cable ferries, making the archipelago an enjoyable place for touring and for water activities such as sailing, fishing or kayaking in Turku. Several golf courses are available for golf around Turku.
Culture and entertainment. After a refreshing day out in the archipelago, you can always get back to the city activities, or enjoy the possibilities offered for nightlife in Turku. Concerts and theater performances are available in this festive Finnish summer city, which is also a good place for shopping in Turku.
Practical information for your trip to Turku
Weather in Turku is changeable, as the city has a temperate climate with four seasons.
Photo: Pixel0908, used under Creative Commons License (By ND 2.0)
The summers are warm between the period of May and September, and the winters from late November to early April are cold and usually snowy, although Turku is located in the warmest area of Finland. Rainfall in Turku is evenly distributed throughout the year. Overall, Turku is a summer destination at its best between June and September.
How to get there. Located in Southern Finland, Turku can be reached by boat, rail, road or air. There are frequent ferries to Turku from Stockholm in Sweden. There is also a small airport offering flights to Turku from the capital Helsinki and from some Scandinavian airports. Making the city easily reachable, it is located only a two hour drive away from the Helsinki, from which you can also travel to Turku with a high-speed train or by bus. public transport in Turku consists of frequent buses, and taxis are well available, but if you want to tour in the coastal area around Turku, your best bet is to use car rental in Turku.
Visitor services in the former Finnish capital are good, with hotels in Turku available for many tastes, and with a good amount of restaurants in Turku waiting to feed hungry visitors. Local language in Turku is Finnish, which is accompanied by Swedish in the coastal areas. However, in most places you can also get by with English. Turku is a city where you will not have to afraid for your safety. The countryside around the city is also very peaceful and welcoming.
