Åland Transportation & Tourist Tidbits

Åland Island Transportation & Tourism Tidbits

by Eva Meyer

Travel

“Åland mainland” refers to the land one can drive to without using a ferry or a cable ferry. ‘Åland mainland’ includes Eckerö, Finström, Geta, Hammarland, Jomala, Mariehamn, Lemland, Lumparland, Saltvik, and Sund. It does not include Brändö, Föglö, Kökar, Kumlinge, Sottunga, and Vårdö.When you cross the “Åland mainland” by car from the farmost northwestern point to the farmost southeastern point it takes you about one hour, about one hundred kilometers (or 62.14 miles).

When going from one island to the next there are small ferries that take cars, people, and sometimes big trucks transporting goods from one island to the next. The ferries follow extremely strict timetables, which differ in summer and in winter. The timetable predicts when the ferry is to leave and when it will stop at this or that island.

There are islands that can be reached within about a half hour using short distance ferries–for example, the Föglö islands. Cable ferries are used only for very short distances.

For those traveling to the very remote islands, they will sit comfortably in the ferry lounge for two and one-half hours, enjoying their meal onboard, talking to people–no wonder the ferry lounge is called the “archipelago residents’ living room” where all kinds of things will be told, discussed, and circulated.

In olden times, the means of travel was by boat, such as sailing boats, later motorboats, and for short distances, rowing boats. The sea was the true highway in those days!

Tourism or Sights to See

The town of Mariehamn is the place where all the big, daytime ferries land. The Viking Line ferries and the Silja Tallink ferries cross the Baltic Sea setting out either from Åbo, spectacularly land in Mariehamn, and finally continue to Stockholm, or vice versa. Most tourists explore the town of Mariehamn and its tourist attractions, such as the Åland Maritime Museum, the sailing ship Pommern (built in Scotland in 1903, and which sailed all the way to Seattle for lumber cargo in its young days!), the Åland Museum, and the Åland Art Museum.

What people are indeed aware of and do wish to see in Åland is the Swedish Era medieval castle Kastelholm in the municipality of Sund, as well as the Russian Era fortress ruins of Bomarsund, in the municipality of Vårdö.

Sunset in Åland. Photo by Rebecka Eriksson, courtesy of Visit Åland. 29

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