Travel Guide – Beer in the classroom in Turku

Turku is actually on the decline. Once the largest and most important city in Finland, it is now a distant fifth place. Today, however, Turku trumps with other powerful arguments. The city is wonderfully small and beautiful, offers a rich cultural offer, and forms the gateway to the most beautiful archipelago in the world (I’ll just say that now). Since I’m a big fan of “small towns” and castles, I couldn’t miss a visit to Turku just like that.

Turku is located about 170 km northwest of Helsinki, in the southwesternmost tip of the Finnish mainland. We travelled around Finland by train, as the route network between the larger cities is well-developed, and you can get from A to B quickly. On the website of the Finnish Railways you can easily find all the information about travel times and ticket prices. Actually, you could also buy the ticket online, but we wanted to be on the safe side and bought it directly at the counter at Helsinki Central Station. The ticket for the route costs around 30 euros (one way). However, depending on the time of day, there are price differences. When a ticket is purchased, seats are automatically reserved at no extra cost.

So we leave Helsinki behind us at 9:00 in the morning and whiz through the Finnish countryside. Unfortunately, we don’t see much on the way, as the viscous gray veil makes everything seem dim from a distance of over 20 meters. Two hours later, rested, we reach the train station of Turku, which is located just outside the city center.

Slept
Sokos Hotel Hamburger Börs – Kauppiaskatu 6 |
Since everything in Turku is quite close to each other, the distance from the train station to the market square is easily manageable on foot. The market square itself is a huge, empty, square area surrounded by mostly unattractive buildings from the 60s and 70s. Around the market square are the stops of the local bus lines. This is the hub of regional transport. Right next to the market square is the entrance to the Original Sokos Hotel Hamburger Börs, where we spend the night.

As uninviting as the hotel looks from the outside, it is surprisingly pretty from the inside. We have a spacious room on the top floor with a unique view over the market square. Also on the top floor is the sauna area, which is almost obligatory in Finnish hotels. Swimming with a view guaranteed.

Thanks to its central location, the hotel is an ideal starting point for exploring Turku on foot.

The

Aura River is the heart and soul of Turku. In summer, the banks form the living room of city life, so to speak. But even in the cold winter months, a walk is worthwhile because many sights, cafés, and restaurants are located in the immediate vicinity of the river. If you walk from the cathedral in the historic center of the Aura 4 kilometers downstream through the history and modernity of Turku, you will finally reach the monumental Turku Castle.

Experience | Art and culture
Turku is a real treasure trove for art and architecture lovers. In some buildings, historical parts of the building have been skillfully combined with modern extensions – for example, the library and the art museum. Other buildings have been creatively repurposed.

The Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova is one of the museums not to be missed. In the basement, you are guided through the historic walls of Turku. In an interactive way, the story of medieval life in the monastery district on the Aura River is told. On the upper floors, on the other hand, modern art is exhibited.

What Turku looked like before the great fire of 1827 can be experienced in the Luostarinmäki Crafts Museum. The neighborhood was spared from the fire and today looks as if time has stood still. In the winter months, the museum is only open over the Christmas period (always closed on Mondays, admission 6 euros)

If you like to visit museums and also want to use public transport for smaller excursions, then it is worth buying the Turku Card (24 hours 21 euros / 48 hours 28 euros).

Shop | Market, department store, shack
Around the market square are the large department stores such as Stockmann and Konsorte. However, it’s worth not just walking past the shopping giants with a wrinkle in your nose, but taking a look inside. For example, you can discover the Finnish cult brand Marimekko (known for Sex and the City, among other things) as well as Finnish design pieces in the household goods department. As you can see, even Finnish department stores have style.

More unusual pieces by young designers, on the other hand, can be found in the small wooden hut of “Turku Design Now”. The store really offers some eye-catchers and I couldn’t bring myself to leave the store without a “useless” purchase. I chose a reflector with a squirrel motif from the designer with the melodious name “Klo Design”. By the way, the reflectors are the accessory of the winter in Finland. Almost everyone has one of these things on their bags or coats (for safety in the dark). So now I’m well prepared for the Finnish winter.

A mandatory visit should be mentioned at this point. Even if you would rather not buy moose meat, you should take a look at the old market hall. Here you can buy bread, meat and fish for everything that Finland has to offer in terms of culinary specialties. There are also seats where you can eat your groceries right away.

Time Out | Archipelago Islands
Just outside Turku is a unique natural paradise – the countless small archipelago islands. Winter is not necessarily high season here. Nevertheless, we have already looked around for a possible summer house on Ruissalo as a precaution.

In
small towns, not everything has to be conservative and boring. Turku’s culinary landscape offers unusual taste experiences for small and large budgets. If you want to be guided directly to the hotspots without having to look for a lot, the Turku Food Walk card is a good choice. Otherwise, I can recommend the following restaurants:

Lunch stop with locals | Blanko Aurakatu 1
The Blanko restaurant is located right next to the Aura. The cozy restaurant is a popular place for lunch among the people of Turku. Right at the entrance, there are three daily menus to choose from on a slate (price per menu around 10 euros). I picked the salad plate of the day with goat cheese, which tasted delicious.

Sweet Break | Café Art Läntinen Rantakatu 5
Café Art regularly wins barista awards. This is where the highest art of coffee is celebrated. In addition to the coffee variations, there are also great cakes and muffins. We liked it here so much that we visited it twice in two days.

High Culinary Art | Smör Läntinen rantakatu 3
The Smör restaurant is located in a historic cellar vault that has been beautifully renovated and offers a cozy ambience for a dinner for two or with friends. Here, seasonal cooking is done and the very best quality is offered. If good food and wine are worth something to you, then you should definitely not miss this restaurant. I finally had the opportunity to try the so-called blinis (originally from Russia).

Greetings from Wicki | Harald Aurakatu 3
The Winkinger restaurant Harald can be found in various Finnish cities. I once mentioned that themed restaurants are not really my cup of tea, but if you want to try your way through the meat and fish selection of Finnish cuisine (moose etc.), which seems exotic to us, then a dinner at Harald is worthwhile.

Drinking
Beer in the Classroom | Koulu Eerikinkatu 18

A school where beer is brewed? Something like this can only be found in Turku. A former school building has been converted into a brewery, restaurant, and bar. However, the interior of the rooms has been left practically as it was in school days, and so you can drink home-brewed beer between scribbled math formulas and biology posters. Be sure to plan a trip here after dinner – in my opinion, one of the best places in Turku.