Turku
Finland's oldest city, grown up along the river Aura between a medieval cathedral and a granite castle, with twenty thousand islands offshore and a Michelin star on the hill above.
- Arrival
- Turku Airport · TKU
- To the city
- About 14 minutes by taxi
- Private jets
- Turku, customs on four hours' notice
- Best time
- June to August
The city
A river town at the edge of the archipelago.
Turku began on the eastern bank of the Aura in the early thirteenth century, and the river is still the spine of the place: the cathedral, consecrated in 1300, at one end of the walk along the water, the castle at the other. On Kakola hill the old prison has become a hotel and a cluster of restaurants, reached by a funicular since 2019, and a short way off Kaskis took the first Michelin star awarded outside Helsinki.
In summer the riverbanks fill and the Archipelago Trail is fully open: 250 kilometres of road looping through some twenty thousand islands and skerries over twelve bridges and nine ferries. In winter the days are short and dark, and Turku keeps the title of Finland's official Christmas City.
- Turku Cathedral Consecrated in 1300 and restored after the Great Fire, with a spire of just over a hundred metres.
- Turku Castle Granite walls that once held a court and a prison, now a museum with guided tours.
- The Archipelago Trail A 250-kilometre circuit of bridges and small ferries through the islands south-west of the city.
Arriving
A short hop from Helsinki.
Turku Airport lies north of the city, about fourteen minutes by taxi, with a 2,500-metre runway.
- Stockholm 40 min
- Amsterdam 2 h 10
- Rome 3 h 10
- Tokyo 10 h 30 long-range jet
- Johannesburg 12 h 45 long-range jet
When to go
June to August.
Summer on the Baltic here is short and mild. From June to August afternoons reach 20 or 21 °C and the islands are at their best; August is the wettest month of the three. From December to February the days stay around freezing.
- -3° J 46
- -3° F 31
- 1° M 32
- 7° A 35
- 14° M 34
- 20° J 41
- 21° J 67
- 20° A 81
- 14° S 66
- 9° O 65
- 3° N 68
- 0° D 57
Where to dine
The best tables on the Aura.
Kaskis and Smör are in the MICHELIN Guide; Karu and MOVE·5D are picked by Time Out.
- Kaskis One Michelin star Modern €€€€ Kaskenkatu, Kaskenmäki hill
- Smör MICHELIN Guide Modern Nordic €€€€ Läntinen Rantakatu, on the river
- Karu Time Out Japanese-inspired tasting menu Aurakatu, city centre
- MOVE·5D Time Out Immersive tasting dinner Logomo, Junakatu
Elsewhere in Finland
More reasons to come.
Flying to Turku?
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