I am looking to stay at a sustainable farm, ecotourism site, or lovely not too expensive B&B in or near archipelago with my 8 year old the weekend of May 19 to mix with a lecture I am giving in Turku. Or is it too early yet and the boats do not run? We don't have a car and need public transit.
Also want to know good kayaking or canoing spots near Tampere where I can rent a boat sometime in May and June.
If anyone else shares an interest in exploring the outdoors through hiking or walking or boating in Southern Finland, who might have kids in the 8 year old range, let me know.
Cheryl and son in Tampere
Good places to stay in Archipelago and kayaking-canoeing
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litcritchick
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:44 pm
This place is very near Turku (you could get there by bus or taxi) but not in the archipelago. It is a farming institute which operates as a hostel during summer when many of the students have left. My son stayed there last summer and had a great time. Not sure if it qualifies as a sustainable farm, but certainly the farm shop had a ton of organic stuff (I bought organic flour and rapeseed oil there). Very friendly, great food.
http://www.tuorlanmajatalo.fi/index.php
As for the archipelago.... Aland is probably the easiest place to find accomodation and yes, the big ferries are running. Island hopping on the small ferries is also a possibility but not sure how easy it is without a car or bike.
http://www.lomarengas.fi/en/www/index.html.stx
http://www.visitfinland.com/W5/index.ns ... ings_To_Do
I actually find it extremely difficult to navigate internet sites dealing with Finnish tourism. Whenever I have tried to book holidays for friends I always ended up walking into the Finland Tourist Office in Helsinki. (BTW, I noticed the Tourist Board has disappeared... replaced by a handicrafts shop, wonder where it went).
Problem is that tourism as an industry is sooooo decentralised you have to skip from one site to another, and if you don't know your Pohjanmaa from your Uusimaa then it can be quite a challenge. There is no consensus in the way the different regions present their tourism offer either: for example, the http://www.aland.fi website has NO TOURIST INFO at all...
http://www.tuorlanmajatalo.fi/index.php
As for the archipelago.... Aland is probably the easiest place to find accomodation and yes, the big ferries are running. Island hopping on the small ferries is also a possibility but not sure how easy it is without a car or bike.
http://www.lomarengas.fi/en/www/index.html.stx
http://www.visitfinland.com/W5/index.ns ... ings_To_Do
I actually find it extremely difficult to navigate internet sites dealing with Finnish tourism. Whenever I have tried to book holidays for friends I always ended up walking into the Finland Tourist Office in Helsinki. (BTW, I noticed the Tourist Board has disappeared... replaced by a handicrafts shop, wonder where it went).
Problem is that tourism as an industry is sooooo decentralised you have to skip from one site to another, and if you don't know your Pohjanmaa from your Uusimaa then it can be quite a challenge. There is no consensus in the way the different regions present their tourism offer either: for example, the http://www.aland.fi website has NO TOURIST INFO at all...
> Also want to know good kayaking or canoing spots near Tampere
What constitutes a good kayaking or canoing spot?
We have been thinking of getting a boat of some kind and I like the idea of canoes (or kayaks - I don't really know the difference). We're just thinking of short trips out from our home, which is on the same lake as Tampere but > 100km to the north.
What constitutes a good kayaking or canoing spot?
We have been thinking of getting a boat of some kind and I like the idea of canoes (or kayaks - I don't really know the difference). We're just thinking of short trips out from our home, which is on the same lake as Tampere but > 100km to the north.
A page for Turku archipelago (their service search function doesn't seem to have much, though): http://www.saaristo.org/
And bookings for Turku archipelago:
http://www.suomensaaristovaraus.fi/inde ... ommodation
I don't know of any sustainable farm or ecotourism places to stay at, although I'm sure there might be some. But there are lots of places to stay. Most of the bigger islands are accessible through busses, and smaller by additional boats.
Kimito island has B&Bs, and lots of nice small towns/villages, but I really don't know that much about Kimito (more than visiting my aunt & her family there
).
The archipelago road again runs through Pargas (where I hail originally from) through Nagu and Korppo, and all the way to Houtskär and Iniö, and it's a really pretty route to drive and I'm pretty sure you can take a bus all the way. I also think you can take a boat to Åland from Houtskär.
One interesting B&B might be the one in Skärgårdsfolkhögskolan (um... the Archipelago Folk High School) in Houtskär. They apparently do some work in the national park, and have their own boat that they do trips to the smaller islands with. http://www.hkf.fi/ (They don't seem to have anything in English, sorry.)
And bookings for Turku archipelago:
http://www.suomensaaristovaraus.fi/inde ... ommodation
I don't know of any sustainable farm or ecotourism places to stay at, although I'm sure there might be some. But there are lots of places to stay. Most of the bigger islands are accessible through busses, and smaller by additional boats.
Kimito island has B&Bs, and lots of nice small towns/villages, but I really don't know that much about Kimito (more than visiting my aunt & her family there
). The archipelago road again runs through Pargas (where I hail originally from) through Nagu and Korppo, and all the way to Houtskär and Iniö, and it's a really pretty route to drive and I'm pretty sure you can take a bus all the way. I also think you can take a boat to Åland from Houtskär.
One interesting B&B might be the one in Skärgårdsfolkhögskolan (um... the Archipelago Folk High School) in Houtskär. They apparently do some work in the national park, and have their own boat that they do trips to the smaller islands with. http://www.hkf.fi/ (They don't seem to have anything in English, sorry.)