Cycling the Turku Archipelago
Finland’s perfect introduction to touring by bike
Delightful touring by bike and ferry around the peaceful, idyliic Turku Archipelago off the southwest coast of Finland
The Turku Archipelago (Finnish: Turun Saaristo; Swedish: Åbo Skargård) is variously credited with anything from twenty to forty thousand islands. It depends how many reefs and skerries you include, and, as the land is still rising from the sea, the tally changes over a longer span.
The Archipelago is a region of exceptional beauty, where the the usual Finnish ingredients of rock, trees and water are woven into an ever-changing tapestry. While some of the inner islands are now linked to the mainland by bridges, the heart of the Archipelago is only accessible by boat. For the lucky few with their own yacht there are small, friendly guest-harbours on all the main islands. For the rest there are the ferries: everyday, matter-of-fact ships, they still gladden the heart of anyone with an ounce of romance in their soul as they break free of the mainland. And many of them are free!
It has been said that the longer you spend in the Archipelago, the more there is to see. It is, above all, a place to slow down, to take time, to look and to listen. If you pick the right spot - not hard to do - all you will hear is the breeze in the trees or waves lapping on the granite shoreline.
All this makes it ideal for touring by bike. In fact it’s an ideal place for a first cycle tour. A ring of larger islands is obvious on the map and is followed by the usual touring routes (see below). The standard Archipelago Trail is a circuit of around 200km, normally starting and finishing in Turku. It is possible to drive the whole circuit in a day, but that would be missing the point entirely (as motorists so often do).
While the main roads aren’t excessively busy, the recommended cycle route deviates wherever possible onto quieter back-roads, some of which have a gravel or packed earth surface. Superlight road-bikes are therefore not recommended, but you don’t need a burly mountain bike either. If you book the complete package from Turku TouRing (including accommodation and bike hire) you’ll get a sturdy upright roadster. Turku TouRing run their packages from June to mid-August.
The circuit usually takes five days so there’s plenty of time to explore side-roads or leave the bikes and wander into the forest - an open, sunny mingling of pine, spruce and birch, their floors carpeted with moss, lichen and, in autumnn, a profusion of bilberries and fungi. Or stroll down to a fretted granite shoreline and watch the passing yachts. It’s easy to lose track of time in the Archipelago, especially in summer, when it hardly gets dark at all.
The third day in particular is a magical alternation of bike and ferry, slipping from Korppoo to Mossala to Inio. In Inio church a model of a three-masted sailing ship hangs from the ceiling. Land and sea are bound close together here.
Back on the mainland, the last stop before Turku is the lovely old town of Nantaali, clustered round a small harbour, overshadowed by the grand 15th-century Convent Church. There’s more of a buzz here than in the Archipelago but there are some great restaurants in which to celebrate the completion of a perfect little tour. And then it’s back-streets and cycle-tracks all the way into bustling Turku.
Follow this link for more about cycling in Finland.
