About Turku — Finland's oldest city and first capital

Turku (Åbo in Swedish) stands where the Aura river meets the Archipelago Sea on Finland's south-west coast, about 170 km from Helsinki. Founded at the end of the 13th century, it is the oldest city in the country and was its capital — and for centuries its most important town — until 1812, when, after Finland became part of the Russian Empire, the capital was moved to Helsinki. That long history is written into everything here, from the great medieval castle at the harbour to the cathedral that rises over the old town, and Turku is often called the cradle of Finnish culture.

But Turku is no museum piece. It is a lively university city of students and festivals, a food destination, a working maritime powerhouse that still builds the world's largest cruise ships, and the gateway to one of the most beautiful archipelagos in Europe. In summer the banks of the Aura come alive with café boats, terraces and music; in winter the old quarter is hushed and atmospheric. Whatever brings you — the castle and cathedral, a river cruise, a ferry to Stockholm, a family trip to Moomin World, or a business visit to the shipyard — we will get you there straight from the terminal and back again for your flight home.

Turku Castle — seven centuries at the river mouth

Standing guard at the mouth of the Aura since the late 13th century, Turku Castle (Turun linna) is one of the largest surviving medieval buildings in Finland and the city's most atmospheric sight. Begun as a simple fortress not long after the city itself, it grew over the centuries into a great stronghold and royal residence, with banqueting halls, dungeons, a chapel and a maze of stone chambers; today it is a museum that takes you through the whole sweep of Finnish history, and one of the country's most visited historic monuments. It sits right beside the modern ferry harbour, so many travellers catch it on the way to or from a sailing — and a transfer can drop you at the castle gate just as easily as at the terminal next door.

Turku Cathedral and the heart of the old city

At the other end of the riverside walk rises Turku Cathedral (Turun tuomiokirkko), the mother church of Finnish Lutheranism and a national shrine. Its origins date to around 1300; built first in wood and later rebuilt in stone, it was badly damaged in the Great Fire of Turku in 1827 — the worst fire in Nordic history — and rebuilt again, its 102-metre tower now an unmistakable part of the skyline. Inside are medieval chapels, tombs and a small museum. Around it spread the Old Great Square (Vanha Suurtori) and the riverside lanes that form the historic core of the city, an easy and rewarding walk between the two great monuments.

Along the River Aura — the living centre

The Aura river is the soul of Turku, and the four-kilometre riverside walk between the castle and the cathedral is the single best way to take the city in. Café boats and restaurant boats are moored along the banks all summer, historic museum ships sit at anchor, and the little Föri ferry — a free, electric cable ferry that has carried people from one bank to the other since 1904 — is a beloved local institution. Along the way you pass the City Hall, the much-photographed "KissMyTurku" sign, riverside terraces and the Forum Marinum maritime centre, which tells the story of Finnish seafaring and the city's shipbuilding past.

Just back from the water, the Market Square (Kauppatori) is the lively hub of the city, anchored by the handsome 1896 Market Hall (Kauppahalli) — a covered food hall of delicatessens, cafés and local producers that is a destination in itself. South of the centre, the old prison hill of Kakola has been reborn as a stylish district with a boutique hotel, brewery and spa and its own little funicular. Turku is also one of Finland's great food cities, with a Michelin-recognised restaurant and a clutch of celebrated kitchens along and near the river.

Museums and culture — Capital of Culture

For a city of its size Turku is unusually rich in museums. Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova is two museums in one — the excavated medieval streets and cellars of old Turku beneath a museum of contemporary art. The open-air Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum preserves a whole quarter of wooden artisans' houses that survived the 1827 fire, with workshops shown as they were two centuries ago. The Sibelius Museum is Finland's only museum dedicated to music, and the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art celebrates one of the country's foremost sculptors. Turku was a European Capital of Culture in 2011, and the lively arts and student scene it nurtured still fills the riverside through the summer.

The Meyer Turku shipyard and maritime Turku

Turku has built ships for centuries, and it still does so on a scale few places in the world can match. The Meyer Turku shipyard, on the western edge of the city, is one of the world's leading builders of cruise ships: it constructed Royal Caribbean's record-breaking Icon Class — Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas and Legend of the Seas, among the largest cruise ships ever built, each carrying several thousand passengers — as well as the Mein Schiff fleet for TUI Cruises and vessels for Carnival and Costa. Production of further Icon-Class ships continues today. The yard draws a steady stream of business and maritime visitors — shipowners, suppliers, engineers, classification and delivery teams — who fly into Helsinki and need a reliable, on-time transfer to Turku, often to a tight schedule. We handle exactly that kind of journey: a professional driver waiting in arrivals, a quiet comfortable car, and a fixed price for the expense report. For everyone else, the Forum Marinum maritime centre and the tall ship Suomen Joutsen on the river tell the story of the city's seafaring life.

Ferries to Åland and Stockholm

Turku is one of Finland's great ferry gateways. From the harbour at the river mouth — right by the castle — Viking Line and Tallink Silja Line run large overnight cruise ferries to Stockholm, calling on the way at the Åland Islands (Mariehamn or Långnäs); the crossing takes around eleven hours and the morning and evening sailings are an experience in themselves, threading out through the archipelago. The same routes make Åland — the autonomous, Swedish-speaking island province in the middle of the Baltic — reachable in just a few hours. These sailings have fixed check-in deadlines, and missing one is expensive, which is exactly why so many travellers pre-book a timed transfer straight from the airport to the terminal: your driver tracks your flight and gets you to check-in with time to spare.

The Archipelago Sea and Ruissalo

Off Turku lies the Archipelago Sea, one of the largest archipelagos in the world by island count — tens of thousands of islands, skerries and islets scattered across the Baltic. The famous Archipelago Trail (Saariston rengastie) loops out from the city across bridges and small cable ferries, island by island, and is one of the finest road trips in Finland; we are happy to drive you out to its villages, marinas and island inns. Closer in, the green island of Ruissalo — joined to the city by a causeway — is a beloved retreat of oak woodland, a botanical garden, summer villas and the Saaronniemi beach, and the home of the Ruisrock festival. In summer the historic steamship SS Ukkopekka cruises between Turku and Naantali, serving local fish on the way — one of the loveliest ways to see the inner archipelago.

Naantali and Moomin World

A short drive north-west of Turku — about 15 km — lies the little spa town of Naantali, and for families it is often the real reason to fly in. On the wooded island of Kailo, just off the harbour, Moomin World (Muumimaailma) brings Tove Jansson's beloved Moomin stories to life at child scale: the blue Moominhouse you can walk through, Snufkin's camp, Hemulen's garden, the Groke's cave and daily theatre shows. It opened in 1993 and is one of Finland's most popular family attractions; the 2026 summer season runs from 9 June to 21 August. Naantali itself is a gem in its own right — a preserved Old Town of 18th-century wooden houses and harbour cafés, a medieval Convent Church, and Kultaranta, the summer residence of the President of Finland, whose rose gardens open for guided tours on summer Saturdays. The town is also home to the Naantali Spa Hotel, one of the largest spa hotels in the Nordics. We drive families straight from the airport to Moomin World or a Naantali hotel and collect you when you are ready — far simpler than a train, a change and a local bus with children and luggage in tow.

Where to stay in Turku and Naantali

Turku has hotels for every kind of trip, and naming a few helps you place your transfer. By the Market Square in the heart of the city, Scandic Hamburger Börs is a landmark four-star hotel with a rooftop bar, while the historic Solo Sokos Hotel Turun Seurahuone and the central Original Sokos Hotel Kupittaa, Scandic Julia and Scandic Plaza Turku are all well placed for the old town and the river. On the riverbank, the Radisson Blu Marina Palace Hotel looks straight out over the Aura, a short walk from the centre and a few minutes from the castle. For something different, Hotel Kakola occupies the dramatically converted former prison on Kakola hill, with its own brewery and spa.

For a spa break or a family stay, the Ruissalo Spa Hotel sits among the oaks on Ruissalo island with pools and a beach, and Holiday Club Turun Caribia offers a water park close to the centre. Out in Naantali, the Naantali Spa Hotel and Kultaranta Resort put you on the waterfront within walking distance of Moomin World and the Old Town. Whichever you choose, just enter the hotel name or address in the booking form and we will take you straight to the door from the terminal — and back to the airport for your flight home — at a price agreed in advance.

Turku through the seasons

Turku rewards every season, and the drive from the airport is the same easy two hours whatever the weather. Summer is the city at its liveliest — the riverbanks lined with café boats and terraces, Moomin World and the archipelago in full swing, ferries sailing morning and night, and a packed festival calendar. Autumn quietens the riverside and turns Ruissalo's oaks to gold. Winter wraps the castle, the cathedral and the old wooden lanes in snow and an early dark, with the Christmas season opening in the most Finnish way of all. Spring brings the thaw, the first café boats back to the water and the start of the cruise season. Whenever you fly in, your driver is there in arrivals to meet you and take you straight to your door.

Combining Turku with Helsinki, and travelling for business

Because Turku and Helsinki are Finland's two oldest cities, joined by an easy motorway, many visitors take in both — a couple of days of castle, cathedral, river and archipelago in Turku, then the capital, or a relaxed final day in Turku before a Stockholm sailing or a flight home. We are happy to handle every leg at fixed prices agreed in advance, including the run out to Naantali or the ferry terminal.

Turku is also a serious working city. It is home to the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi, a major life-sciences and maritime-technology cluster, and the Meyer Turku shipyard, and it hosts conferences and trade events year-round. For business travellers a pre-booked transfer means a professional driver waiting in arrivals, a quiet car to prepare or unwind in, a fixed cost for expenses, and — for teams arriving together — everyone in one vehicle, timed precisely to the meeting or the delivery schedule.