Did you know that the largest archipelago in Europe lies between Finland and Sweden? This group of about 6500 islands belongs to Finland but has an autonomy and most people there speak Swedish as their mother's tongue. Åland (or Ahvenanmaa in Finnish) is an interesting mini-world of it's own.
Two best ways to explore Åland are a sailing boat and a bike. I and Sami Itkonen didn't have a boat so we picked the latter option. Salo => Korpo => Kökar => Föglö => Lumparland => Lemland => Mariehamn => Kastelholm => Orrdal => Bomarsund => Vårdö => Kumlinge => Seglinge => Brändö => Nådendal => Åbo (see map). Six days, 500 kilometers, at least 10 ferry trips (free for bikers and pedestrians!). Rain, sunshine, superb views, peaceful nature walks.
Hurry up, rain approaching!
Boarding - at 6.30 am. :-)
A few hours of zigzag between the islands.
Kökar: about 300 inhabitants.
A cozy church guards the west coast.
Not a bad place to take a swim. We did.
Sailing boats at Mariehamn, the capital.
Pommern, one of the last big sailing ships (built 1903).
The captain had a fancy dining table.
Mmmm, barbecue at Vesa's place.
Cafeteria "Uffe på berget" and the flag of Åland.
Kastelholm castle.
They seem to like midsummer poles, hey it's August already!
Sami playing a medieval man at Orrdal.
This stone field was under the sea a long ago.
More stones and nice twisted trees.
On top of the world - 129 meters above sea level.
Bomarsund fortress: a war 150 years ago didn't leave much behind.
Sunrise at Vårdö.
Silence at Kumlinge, nobody around at 8 am Saturday morning.
There are still quite a few windmills around.
Kumlinge church.
Having a picnic and trying to get the tent dry.
Back on the mainland: the president's summer place at Naantali.
Copyright Arto Teräs <ajt@iki.fi> 2001.
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Last update 19.02.2008.