LPfi/Finland Proper1

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Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomen maakunta, Egentliga Finland) is a region in Western Finland with a population of 460 000. It is the south-west corner of Finland, including much of the archipelago but not the Åland islands.

Cities

Wooden houses in Uusikaupunki.

Cities and towns in blue, rural areas in green.

Greater Turku

The Turku metropolitan area is the third biggest in Finland. The definition here is not the official one.

• 1 Turku – the former capital of Finland, including 2 Raisio
• 3 Kaarina – residential areas, bird watching, manors and a former bishop's castle
• 4 Naantali – the Moomin World and wooden old town
• 1 Turku countryside – the countryside north of Turku (including parts of Turku itself): Lieto (Lundo), Masku (Masko), Paattinen (Patis), Rusko

Archipelago Sea

The Archipelago Sea is a large archipelago off Turku, reaching the Åland islands in the west and the Gulf of Finland in the east.

• 2 Houtskär
• 3 Iniö
• 4 Kimitoön – countryside and seaside islands
• 5 Korpo
• 6 Merimasku
• 7 Nagu
• 5 Pargas
• 8 Rymättylä
• 9 Velkua

Inland of Finland Proper

The inland countryside and the town Loimaa.

• 10 Inland of Finland Proper: Alastaro, Aura, Koski, Marttila (S:t Mårtens), Mellilä, Nousiainen (Nousis), Oripää, Pöytyä (Pöytis), Säkylä, Vahto, Yläne
• 6 Loimaa

Salo with surroundings

The eastern part of the region.

• 7 Paimio
• 8 Salo – former home of the Nokia mobile phones
• 11 Sauvo
• 9 Somero – an inland town

Vakka-Suomi

The west coast: the Vakka-Suomi proper and additional area in the south (in the Vakka-Suomi countryside article).

• 10 Uusikaupunki – small coastal town with wooden old town
• 11 Laitila
• 12 Vakka-Suomi countryside – the west coast countryside: Askainen (Villnäs), Kustavi, Lemu (Lemo), Mietoinen, Mynämäki (Virmo), Pyhäranta, Taivassalo (Tövsala), Vehmaa (Vemo)

Other destinations

National parks

• 1 Archipelago Sea National Park and Archipelago Sea Biosphere Reserve. These cover much of the Archipelago Sea, and are described in that article.
• 2 Kurjenrahka National Park and Vaskijärvi Strict Nature Reserve, with raised bogs, mires, lakes and old-growth forest

Islands

The islands listed are all significant tourist destinations, with infrastructure for visitors.

• 1 Bengtskär – skerry with lighthouse by the open sea
• 2 Gullkrona – island with popular guest harbour
• 3 Jurmo – remote barren island with special nature
• 4 Själö – lush island with research station and former leper hospital
• 5 Utö – the outermost inhabited island
• 6 Örö – former coastal fort; meadows with rare butterflies, old forests and nice cliffs and beaches

Understand

Countryside in Somero, seen from Hämeen Härkätie.

The name Finland was in medieval times applied only to this part of Finland, thus its present name.

Talk

The southern coast and the archipelago are mainly Swedish-speaking, while the inland, the western coast and the northern parts of the archipelago are Finnish.

Get in

The area is well connected with the rest of Finland. You can get in by direct trains from Helsinki and Tampere (and sleeping cars from Lapland), however if you are travelling along the Bothnian coast bus should be your transportation of choice. Turku and Naantali have cruise ferry connections with Sweden. Turku airport is Wizz Air's hub in Finland so there are a couple of direct flights to odd airports in Europe, in addition to some flights to Scandinavian destinations.

Get around

Trains of VR can be used between Turku, Loimaa and Salo. Regional traffic has been discussed since the 1990s, but as of 2020 plans are still in the blue.

The main towns are well connected with coaches, but check timetables in time nfor minor villages – there may not even be daily services. Also watch out for express coaches not stopping at your stop. If using route planners, note that they sometimes use odd names for the stops and sometimes only know about the main stops (if it is not an express service it will have stops at most a few kilometres apart).

Many islands in the archipelago have ferry connections, but outside the main routes you may need a boat of your own. There are charter and taxi boat services.

See

Stone labyrinth (jungfrudansen) in Nagu.

• Moomin World park for children in Naantali
• Kultaranta, the Presidential summer residence in Naantali
• The castle and cathedral of Turku
• Paintings from the Finnish Golden Age of Art (and other art) at Turku Art Museum
• Old crafts at the Luostarivuori Handicraft Museum in Turku
• Biotops of Finland with associated stuffed animals in panoramas at Turku Biological Museum

Do

Outdooring

• Hike along the Kuhankuono trail network around Kurjenrahka National Park
• Charter a sailing boat or a kayak and explore the Archipelago Sea

Festivals

• Ruisrock in Turku each July: Finland's oldest rock festival.

The Archipelago Trail

Main article: Archipelago Trail

Ferry at the Archipelago Trail

You can admire the unique land of sea and stony islands of the Archipelago within in just one day trip from Turku. It is accessible via road number 180 from Kaarina. The islands are interconnected with bridges and ferries. You can travel by bus, car or bike.

The entire Archipelago Trail ring road (Turku–Kaarina–Pargas–Nagu–Korpo–Houtskär–Iniö–Kustavi–Taivassalo–Turku) is 250 km long and can be taken from mid-May to end of September, with parts accessible all year round.

Go next

• Baltic Sea ferries from Turku port to Stockholm in Sweden
• King's Road from Turku via Helsinki to Vyborg in Russia