Åland Islands - Ahvenanmaa

Åland (Åland) [1] is an autonomous province In Finland.

Regions

Cities

Mariehamn is the only city in Åland.

Municipalities

• Brandy
• Eckerö
• Finström
• Föglö
• Geta
• Hammarland
• Jomala
• Kumlinge
• Kökar
• Lemland
• Lumparland
• Saltvik
• Sottunga, The smallest municipality in Finland
• Sund
• Vårdö

Other items

• Kastelholm Castle (Sweden. Kastelholm) - A castle built in the 14th century Sundin in the municipality
• The ruins of Bomarsund Fortress - Sundin in the municipality
• Orrdalsklint - The highest point in Åland (129 m) Saltvik in the municipality.
• Note - Lighthouse and the westernmost municipality in Finland. Excursions are organized during the summer From Eckerö.

Understand

In addition to the actual Åland Islands, Åland consists of hundreds of small islands, most of which have a ferry or other ferry connection. Åland is a good cycling destination; the terrain is flat and the distances are short.

Climate

Approximately similar to the climate in the southern part of Finland. In winter, Åland is usually a couple of degrees warmer than in Finland.

Come

By plane

Norway[2] fly to Mariehamn Airport (located at Jomalan municipality) From Helsinki. On top of that From Stockholm fly NextJet [3]. Both companies operate the route with propeller turbine aircraft twice a day, Norra uses ATR-72 type and NextJet Saab 340 type aircraft.

By road

There are several ferry routes to Åland from both Finland and Sweden. If you are coming from Sweden, then Viking Line car ferries from both Kapelleskär and Stockholm will go to Mariehamn. When coming from Norrland, the best option is to drive to Grisselhamn, from where you can get ridiculously cheap (normal price 9e / car) to Eckerö, 35 km from Mariehamn.

From the Finnish side, ships from various shipping companies can travel from Helsinki and Turku to Mariehamn, and from the direction of Turku you can also get to Långnäs, Lumparland. A cheaper option is to travel through the Turku archipelago. Option 1 is to drive by car to Korppoo, where there are two ferry lines, from Parais to Nauvo and from Nauvo to Korpo. The distance between the ports of Nauvo is 30 km, which can be folded with your own car.

Ålandstrafiken's connecting vessel to Lumparland, mainland Åland, departs from Galtby in Korpo. The journey from Galtby to Kökari takes 2.5 hours.

The second route goes from Kustavi to Vårdö, which is 40 km to Mariehamn. The port of Kustavi in ​​the direction of Åland is located in Vuosnais, where you have to travel by ferry.

The route runs from Vuosnais to Brändön Åva, from where there is an exchange connection to the Vårdö ferry. Please note that there are 22 kilometers between the ports and if a continuation is on schedule, then don’t stop for a break under any circumstances unless you want to be late! The ferry service is several hours apart on the Brändö-Vårdö line. Especially in summer, you may get stuck, as the ferry place must be booked a day in advance and those who have booked will be able to stay in line. On top of all that: There is a time of 25 minutes between the arrival in Åva and the departure of the Vårdö ferry. From here, from another port, there is a ferry to Vårdö via Kumlingen.

If you want to survive these intervals cheaply, then an overnight stay in one of the archipelagos is a must. Otherwise, prices will rise high, especially in summer. Cheap camping plus ferry fares are much cheaper than a direct one day route.

By boat

Silja Linen and Viking Linen by boat from Helsinki and From Turku To Åland. In addition, Åland can be reached on ferries.

Move

On the main island of Åland, you can move from place to place with your own car, bus or bicycle. The small islands can be reached by archipelago ferry. Ålandstrafiken operates both Åland's bus and ferry services.

On the ferry

The archipelago ferries run the following routes:

• Transverse line Snäckö-Överö-Långnäs, shifts in two directions on weekdays, only in low season. This line is free.
• Crossing line Snäckö-Sottunga-Överö-Bergö-Långnäs, Mon-Thu and Sun two shifts, one on Saturday, three on Friday. Sottunga, Överö and Bergö are only served on certain routes and by appointment. Driven only in the fall and spring. This line is free.
• Crossing line Snäckö-Sottunga-Överö-Bergö-Långnäs / Hummelvik, four shifts on Fridays, three on Mondays and Wednesdays, two at other times. Sottunga and Bergö are only served on certain routes and on orders, an order is also required for some Överön flights. Driving only in summer. This line is free.
• South line Galtby-Kökar-Kyrkögårdsö-Husö-Sottunga-Överö-Långnäs, out of season 3-4 daily pairs, 1-2 of which continue to Galtby, five in summer, of which 1-3 Galtbyn shifts. Överö, Husö and Kyrkögårdsö are only served on certain routes and by appointment. This line is chargeable, 12-25 euros per car depending on the route and season. The entire route cannot be booked.
• Föglö line Svinö-Degerby, 10-13 daily shifts. This line is subject to a charge of EUR 12 per car, regardless of the season.
• North line Hummelvik-Enklinge-Kumlinge-Lappo-Torsholm, 2-3 shifts in winter, 3-4 at other times. From Torsholm there is always an exchange connection to Viggen (main road) to mainland Finland, 22 km from Lapland to Asterholm. The entire route cannot be booked.
• Northern line Vuosnainen-Åva, 4 shifts in winter, 4-6 in spring and autumn, 5-7 in summer. For some flights, there is an exchange connection from Torsholm to Asterholm or Hummelvik. This line is subject to a charge of EUR 12-15 per car, depending on the season.
• Jurmo line Åva-Jurmo, 15-20 shifts depending on the season. This line is free.
• Asterholm bus Torsholm-Lappo-Asterholm, 7-12 shifts depending on the season. For ferries, an interchange to the north line. Some shifts continue to Torsholm. This line is free.
• Enklingen line Kumlinge-Bärö-Enklinge, 6-13 daily shifts depending on the season. Some shifts may need to be ordered. Bärö is driven 2 times a day by appointment. This line is also free.

At the castle

Åland also has scheduled ferry lines, although everyone has a traffic break at a certain time.

• Lappo-Björkö
• Snäckö-Seglinge
• Finland-Embarsund
• Lumparland-Ängö
• Vårdö-Simskäla
• Sund-Töftö

By bus

Talk

Swedish is spoken in Åland. Some people understand Finnish, but they are often reluctant to speak it. Therefore, English is usually a better option if you do not speak Swedish

Buy

Åland is an expensive place on a Finnish scale as well. However, below is a list of grocery stores in the archipelago:

• Tarmo Convenience Store Lappo Handelslag, grocery store in Brändön Lappo, right in the harbor.
• K-Extra Torsholma, a small grocery store located in the village of Torsholma, Brändö. 3 km from the port.
• Brändö Andelshandel, S-store in the church village of Brändö. Gasoline available.
• Föglöbutiken, K-Extra in the church village of Föglö. The selection is relatively large.
• Kumlinge Andelshandel, S-store in the center of Kumlingen. Basic selection.
• Seglinge Andeshandel, shop in the village of Seglinge, 1 km from the castle beach. Open on weekdays, also on Saturdays in summer.
• Vårdö Närbutik, the municipality's only grocery store, is K-Extra.
• Enklingebutiken, a grocery store covering basic needs.
• Sottunga's grocery store is located in the harbor.
• There is also a shop in Kökari Karlby.

Please note that store opening hours are really limited. Most shops have opening hours on weekdays. 9-17 and Sat 9-13. Not everyone even has Saturday opening hours. In summer, these are a little freer.

Eat

Local specialties include:

• Black bread
• Åland pancake
• Various fish dishes - Åland has a strong fishing tradition.

Juo

Tap water is usually drinkable, but it is made from seawater, so the taste is not as good as elsewhere in Finland. Bottled drinks are more expensive than mainland Finland, with the exception of supermarkets and discount stores in the Mariehamn region.

Stay safe

Åland is a very safe place, the biggest possible security risk is falling into the water by some means due to your own carelessness.

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