TRAVELLING TO TURKU/ÅBO

Åbo/Turku is to be found on the South-Western coast of Finland. You can find more information about the city here. Notice that the two names refer to the same city. Åbo is the Swedish name and Turku the Finnish. Here are some tips on Travelling to Turku.

A.                 Arriving in Åbo/Turku by plane

The closest airport to Turku is Turku Airport, about 15 minutes away from the city center with the local bus. (Line 1).

Most of the international flights to Turku stop in Stockholm (Arlanda Airport), Sweden, in Copenhagen (Kastrup), Denmark or in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The easiest way to reach Turku is usually to fly via Stockholm or Copenhagen with Blue1 or SAS (Star Alliance). The flights via Helsinki are mainly operated by Finnair or SAS.

B.                 Arriving in Turku via Helsinki or Tampere by rail or bus.

You may easily reach Turku by flying into Finland to Helsinki (Vantaa airport) or Tampere and continue by rail or bus to Turku.

For flights to Helsinki check for instance Finnair's web page. From Helsinki there is a bus from the airport to the center of Turku. One has to change bus one time on a bus stop (it is easy to do). The busride takes about 2½ hours.

The cheaper airline company Ryanair flies to Tampere from London-Stanstead, Riga and Frankfurt-Hahn. From Tampere there is a bus from the airport to the city centre and the railway station after each flight arrival and trains departing regularly to Turku. There is also a bus to the airport from the railway station at approximately two hours before the departure of the Ryanair flights. The train ride to Turku takes about 2 hours.
Here you can find a timetable for the buses from and to the airport: www.airpro.fi/linjaautojenaikataulut

C.                 Arriving in Turku via Stockholm by boat

If you have time to spare you can fly to Stockholm and then take a boat from Stockholm to Åbo/Turku. The boat trip takes one night or one day. If you take the boat as a daytrip you will see the Swedish and Finnish archipelago (including the Åland insels) which is very beautiful. For information about boattrips see Silja Line and Viking Line.

From Turku harbour there is a bus to the center which stops at the market place, line 1. (The same line that goes to the airport.)

D.                Travelling links:

Taxi: telephone: 0210041
Buses: www.expressbus.com

Finnish railway: www.vr.fi/heo/eng/index.html

Airline companies:
Blue1: www.blue1.com
Finnair: www.finnair.com
Sas: www.sas.fi

Ferry lines:
Silja Line: www.silja.fi/?ChangeLang=english
Viking Line: www.vikingline.fi/index.asp?lang=en