Sund

Sund is a municipality in mainland Åland. Here you can find two of the archipelago's main sights, Kastelholm castle and the ruined fortification of Bomarsund.

Get in

Sund is some 20 km north-east from Mariehamn. Highway 2 connecting Mariehamn and Vårdö passes through Sund. From the Finnish mainland there is a connection via Brändö and Vårdö.

You can get in by boat, car, bike or bus.

See

• 1 Kastelholm Castle (Kastelholms slott). May–Jun and Aug–Sep daily 10:00–17:00; Jul daily 10:00–18:00. A medieval castle located in the mid-part of the mainland is worth paying a visit. Partly a ruin today, it was founded in the 1380s. There are guided tours, also in English. An audio tour available for Android devices. There are lots of staircases in the castle so the tour is not suitable for disabled. The normal entrance ticket include also entrance to the Vita Björn prison museum but Museum Card visitors must pay Vita Björn separately. €8/5; family ticket 2+2 €20; Finnish Museum Card valid for the Castle. (updated Nov 2018)
• 2 Jan Karlsgården Open Air Museum (, very close to Kastelholm Castle). May–Sep: daily 10:00–17:00. The museum consist of a number of traditional buildings moved here from other parts of Åland to form a late-1800s agricultural farm. The main building is from Jan Karls homestead, hence the name. The area is open year round, but access into the buildings only in summer season. Kastelholm area tourist information centre and a good restaurant-cafeteria next door. Free. (updated Nov 2018)

  

  In the Jan Karlsgården Open Air Museum

• 3 Prison museum Vita Björn. May-Sep: daily 10:00–17:00. The Vita Björn served as Åland's prison for 200 years until 1975. There are four cells giving a glimpse on how prisoners' treatment changed from the 1700s to 1950s. The house include also the residence for the warden and his family and some prison related items like chains and a whipping pole are visible. Guide leaflets in separate languages. The entrance fee is usually included to the Kastelholm Castle ticket but Museum Card visitors must pay it separately. Entrance fee in cash only. €2/1; cash only. (updated Aug 2021)
• 4 Bomarsund Fortress (Bomarsund fästningsruin). The huge fortress (over 300 meters in diameter) was built by the Russians during the years 1830–1854 but it never completed as the establishment was thoroughly ruined during the Crimean War when attacked by the allied English-Frenchmen. On the other side of the strait, next to the bridge to Prästö, there is a small museum where pictures and objects from Bomarsund are on display. Free.  

Eat

• 1 Smakbyn, Slottsvägen 134. Fine dining restaurant operated by Åland's celebrity chef Micke Björklund. (updated Aug 2023)

Drink

• 1 Åland Distillery, Slottsvägen 134 (by Kastelholm Castle), ☏ +358 184 3730. Has three own home-distillers. They make spirits and gin from the fruits at the vineyard. The apple vodka is called Ålvados, which is a kind of Calvados. They also make wine – Västergårds Äppelvin – with apples that have ripened on the farm's own trees. You can visit the vineyard, walk around among the fruit trees and see how the wine is produced. The guided tour ends in the old threshing house and here you can sample the drinks directly from the wine cellar. 

Sleep

• 1 Puttes Camping (Bomarsund village), ☏ +358 457 313 4177, puttes.camping@aland.net. Campsite with cabins. (updated Aug 2023)

Go next

• Finström
• Saltvik