Åland Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Boat

Viking and Silja lines have year-round daily ferries to Mariehamn from Turku as part of their links with Stockholm; you can stop off 'between' countries or sail return from either. Viking also sails to Mariehamn from Helsinki and from Kapellskär (north of Stockholm) in Sweden. Birka Cruises sails only between Stockholm and Mariehamn. Tallink (www.tallink.com) runs a new route from Stockholm to Tallinn via Mariehamn.

Eckerö Linjen (28000; www.eckerolinjen.fi; Torggatan 2, Mariehamn) sails from Grisslehamn in Sweden to Eckerö - this is the cheapest and quickest route from Sweden to Åland. There are three to five connections a day from Grisslehamn during the high season and two or three during the low season. The trips have a bus connection to/from Stockholm and Mariehamn. The boat trip takes two hours (remember the time difference!), and a combined boat and bus trip from Stockholm to Mariehamn takes five hours.

Ferry fares vary widely by season and class of travel. As a rule, they are very cheap: off-season, these ferries make their money on sprightly pensioners buying duty free with the grey krona. The passenger fare from Grisslehamn to Eckerö is €8.90 in high season (€5.50 off season).

Free travel for pedestrians and cyclists on the archipelago ferries all the way to the central Åland islands is possible from mainland Finland via Korpo (southern route, from Galtby passenger harbour) or Kustavi (northern route, from Osnäs passenger harbour), but you usually have to break your outward journey in the archipelago; car drivers are required to do this.

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Air

The airport is 4km northwest of Mariehamn and there is a bus into the centre. A taxi to the centre costs about €14. Finnair (634 500; www.finnair.fi) has a daily service from Helsinki. There's a Finnair office in Hotell Arkipelag (Strandgatan 31, Mariehamn).

Executive Express European (02-415 4957; www.european.se) flies three times a day Monday to Friday between Turku and Mariehamn and twice daily between Mariehamn and Stockholm Arlanda. It suspends flights between mid-June and late July.

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