Ultimate guide to Åland ferries – all you need to know
Åland is known for its extensive archipelago, and Åland ferries are a vital part of the local transportation infrastructure. The ferry system plays a crucial role in connecting the various islands within the archipelago, providing essential transportation for both residents and visitors.
In this post, I will tell the key aspects of the ferry system in Åland.
Lines
First, here’s a map of the ferry routes and ports in Åland. You have to book your departure on the Northern, southern, and cross lines (red, green, and yellow on the map). To the blue and black connections, booking is not needed.
The northern line connect Åland to Finland in Vuosnainen, and the southern line in Galtby. The grey dotted line on the right side of the picture is the border between Åland and Finland area.
It is fairly easy to navigate between the lines, once you know the names of the ports along your route. The map above is your best tool for that!
Northern line
The northern line consists of two routes:
1. From Åland: Hummelvik-Enklinge-Kumlinge-Lappo-Torsholma
Duration 2,5 hours from Hummelvik to Torsholma.
From Torsholma to Åva you can drive through Brändö, along a road, which is perhaps the most picturesque in the whole archipelago area!
You have to stay the night in one of the islands in between Hummelvik and Vuosnainen.
2. From Åva to Vuosnainen (Finland).
Duration 40 minutes.
From Åva you can also go to (northern) Jurmo in 10 minutes.
Southern line
From Åland:
1. Långnäs-Överö-Sottunga-Husö-Kyrkogårdsö-Kökar
Duration 2,5 hours
2. Kökar- Galtby (Finland)
Duration 2,5 hours
You have to stay the night in one of the islands in between Långnäs and Galtby.
Read more: Kökar – far out in the Åland archipelago
You can travel the routes both ways, naturally.
Cross line
Cross line route: Långnäs-Överö-Snäckö-Sottunga-Överö-Långnäs.
How to read the timetables
You can find all the timetables here:
When you scroll down on the page, you can find a list of timetables, it looks like this:
The confusing bit starts here, not all the timetables are labeled with the same route names as in the map. To help you, the first 5 belong to the northern line and transverse line is the same as cross line.
This is what the actual timetable looks like.
Always check first the dates on top the timetable. There are several different timetables for different times of the year. This timetable is for 7th June – 17th August.
On the top row you can see the route: Hummelvik-Enklinge-Kumlinge-Lappo-Torsholma. You can find these destinations on the map.
On the left side there are weekdays: måndag=monday, tisdag=tuesday, onsdag=wednesday, torsdag=thursday, fredag=friday, lördag=saturday, söndag=sunday.
On mondays, there are 3 ferries, the first ones leaves from Hummelvik at 5:15 and arrives to Torsholma 7:40. It stops at every port mentioned in between those two end ports. This means that you can also hop in from one of those ports, i.e. you can travel from Kumlinge to Lappo.
So easy peasy, once you have found the right timetable!
Another, in my opinion easier option to use the online booking system to check the timetables. Once you have registered, it is easier to check the timetables for example on your phone. You need to know which are the starting and destination ferry ports of your journey.
We’ll go through this in the next chapter
How to book Åland ferries
You can find the booking system here:
The page is in Swedish, but you can use google translate by clicking the globe-symbol on top of the page.
First you need to register. Go to the book page from the top right on the page (the ferry-symbol).
Once you are on the book page, you can register (top right corner). After that, you can log in from this same place. Here you can also change the anguage to english.
Now we can start looking for ferries. First you have to know, where you are leaving from and where you want to go. Let’s say, you are in Långnäs and want to go to Kökar.
Choose from the dropdown list your From and To ports and the date, click search, and the system will show you the ferries on that day.
On this page you have to add you vehicle, even if it is a bicycle. Add it from the top, where there is 1 x passenger (if there’s more passengers, add them all) and no vehicle, click change on the right side of the vehicle and choose, which type of vehicle you have.
If you registered a car and you have logged in, the car will show here and you just choose it.
Then choose, which ferry you want to take and click it.
Click continue, check all the details are correct, and click continue again. Now you have to pay for your booking, and then it’s all done!
This way you can also check timetables for different days!
When you have made your booking, you are ready to drive to the ferry.
Driving to the ferry
The staff who are loading the ferries will have your booking information based on your car’s register number.
In some ferries the will scan a QR-code, which you can find on your profile, when you are logged into the booking site, or in the confirmation email. Remember to have that ready on hand.
The staff will organise the loading of the vehicles in the correct order depending on where they get off.
On bigger ferry ports make sure that you drive on the correct lane based on your destination. And be aware that you have to be ready at the port 15 minutes before the departure!
Traveling By Bike
If you travel by bike, you also have book to the ferries. The cyclists’ waiting area in the port is usually on the right side of the car lanes. The crew will show when cyclists can enter the ferry, usually, it is after the motor vehicles, but it can vary.
Pedestrians
If you are a pedestrian, you don’t need a booking, although they recommend that on Aland Traffic’s website. Pedestrians can usually enter the ferry before cars.
On the ferry
The ferries have a cabin for passengers. There is a cafe/restaurant and toilets on board. You can just sit back and enjoy the beautiful views along the journey!
