How To Travel To Åland
Åland, an autonomous and demilitarized region of Finland, is located in between Finland and Sweden in the northern Baltic Sea. The map below gives you an idea of Åland’s location.
You can travel to Åland from both of these countries. You can use a plane or ferry, and I will now explain how to use the ferries.
Map source: Ålandstrafiken
How to travel to Åland from Sweden
From Sweden, there are three options, a ferry from Stockholm to Mariehamn, from Kapelskär to Långnäs, or from Grisslehamn to Eckerö. Read more and book from the ferry companies’ websites:
How to get to Åland from Finland
From Finland, there are more options.
Ferry from Turku
Ferry options:
1. Turku to Mariehamn
2. Naantali to Långnäs
3. Helsinki to Mariehamn
Read more and book from the ferry companies’ websites.
If you wonder, which ferry company to use, Viking Line is my favorite.
Archipelago route
You can also travel through the archipelago either using Åland’s local ferries’ northern or southern route. The northern route leaves from Kustavi and the southern route from Korppoo. Let’s have a look at those options. The map above will help you to figure out the routes.
Post about how to use archipelago ferries:
Post about how to use and book the ferries in Åland:
Northern route
The northern route goes through Kustavi, which is 75 km from Turku. Note that there’s one ferry before the Vuosnainen ferry port, so you should take time to travel there. Set your navigator to “Vuosnainen”.
From Vuosnainen the ferry drives to Åva, you are on Brändö island now. You can continue to visit Jurmo in the north or drive southwardbound. Brändö offers some magnificent landscapes and cultural history.
The next ferry port is called Torsholma, from where you can continue towards Lappo, Asterholma, Kumlinge, and Enklinge, all the way to Hummelvik, which is in Åland mainland.
You can stop on each island and explore them. You have to spend at least one night in one of the islands because it is forbidden to travel directly from Finland to Åland or vice versa with these ferries.
Southern route
The southern route goes through Parainen.
By car:
Set your navigator to “Galtby ferry port”. You will drive through the city of Parainen, and the islands of Nauvo and Korppoo. Note, that there are two ferries on the way, take plenty of time traveling, at least three hours.
By bus:
There’s a bus connection from Turku to Galtby. Get timetables here. From the list choose lines 901-904. You can choose any bus that goes to “Galtbyn satama”. The bus stop is right by the ferry at Galtby.
From Galtby the ferry goes to Kökar, the southest of Åland’s municipalities. You have to stay the night here because traveling straight through to Åland mainland is forbidden.
Read more: Kökar – far out in the Åland archipelago
From Kökar you can continue to Långnäs in the Åland mainland, but I suggest staying in Kökar for a couple of days! There’s a lot to see and do.
