Daina’s Turku and Naantali Trip in Finland

I arrived in Turku airport in the afternoon and was met by Ms. Niina Oksanen from Turku Touring at arrivals. We were transferred to the Sokos Hotel Hamburger Borss in the Turku city centre and shortly departed for an evening including dinner and entertainment on the steamship Ukkopekka to Loistokari Island with Nina. On the cruise we were able to take photos of the stunning achipelago of Turku and there was even an opportunity for dancing on the pier with live music. After the cruise we returned to the hotel in Turku and retired for the night.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel before checking out and continued on to a guided sightseeing tour of Turku with an English-speaking guide. Whilst touring the city we saw many gems of the city including the Cathedral, which is considered the country’s national shrine due to it’s magnificent and detailed architecture. In addition, the Turku Castle was beautiful, and the Luostarinmaki Handicrafts Museum very interesting. The museum is an open air museum of the largest area to survive the Great Fire of Turku completely and it has early 19th century buildings in their original location and handicraft items.

After the tour we inspected two hotels: the Holiday Inn Turku and the Radisson Blu Marina Palace, both of which were very nice. Following we had lunch at Restaurant Mami, serving a variety of different delicious dishes, and then went on to another hotel inspection; the Scandic Julia, which was beautiful. Until four o’clock we had free time to explore and browse or buy in the shops until transferring to Naantali by bus and checking into our new hotel, the Naantali Spa Hotel, where we had time to explore the spa and sauna. Dinner was held at Restaurant Le Soleil and we stayed the night at the Spa Hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel and checking out we embarked upon a guided walking tour of Naantali. Later on we visited the Kultaranta Resort, a beautiful area with golf and archipelago surroundings which offer leisurely activities and atmospheres for visitors and then we went to Moominworld, where we also had lunch, which was tonnes of fun for everyone joining in. Finally we transferred to Turku airport by bus and checked in for our flight.

The trip overall was an excellent experience which I would highly recommend to friends, family and strangers. The activities and culture are both stunning and the beautiful landscape including the achipelago and the midnight sun were truly phenomenal.

featured image by Cheryl Q