Finland's West Coast
This fantastic villa is considered one of the 20th century's architectural masterpieces and the pinnacle of Alvar Aalto's career. It is the former home of…
Must-see attractions in Finland's West Coast
Finland's West Coast
Alvar Aalto’s crowning achievement, Lakeuden Risti Church, is recognisable by its oddly secular steeple–clock tower (built with funds from a voluntary…
Finland's West Coast
The Unesco World Heritage–listed Bronze Age burial complex Sammallahdenmäki dates back more than 3500 years. Thirty-six stone burial cairns of different…
Finland's West Coast
About 8km west of Jakobstad, this gem of a museum is the private achievement of Pentti Kronqvist, who has made several expeditions to study the indigenous…
Finland's West Coast
This dynamic, modern regional museum is divided into three sections. Downstairs, Terranova has a brilliant evocation of the region’s natural history –…
Finland's West Coast
The creation of local artist Alvar Gullichsen, this spoof museum–art installation is a classic display of oddball Finnish humour. In great detail, it…
Finland's West Coast
This lighthouse island, 18km northwest of Kokkola, offered safe passage through tangled waters, starting in 1889. Now it makes a popular day trip for…
Finland's West Coast
The lovely 17th-century Vanha Kirkko is one of the highlights of Uusikaupunki. In keeping with the maritime roots of its parishioners, it has a star…
Finland's West Coast
In the attractive village of Solf (Finnish: Sulva), about 15km south of Vaasa, is this fine open-air museum and crafts centre. Its 60 traditional wooden…
Finland's West Coast
Neristan was once the working-class quarter of Kokkola, home to sailors, fisherfolk and artisans. The narrow streets are lined with their colourful wooden…
Finland's West Coast
Founded by the celebrated art patron Maire Gullichsen (of Villa Mairea), the city's art museum occupies the old customs house, in a prime riverfront…
Finland's West Coast
Legend has it that the first Swedish crusade arrived in the 1150s at the village of Kalanti, about 9km east of Uusikaupunki. Led by King Erik, the party…
Finland's West Coast
Picturesquely sited next to the little Rauma river, this stone beauty was built around 1520 as part of a Franciscan monastery on the site. The interior…
Finland's West Coast
Built in the mid-19th century, the neo-Gothic Central Pori Church is unique for its cast-iron steeple and stained-glass windows. The unusual art-nouveau…
Finland's West Coast
Reposaari is a tiny island dotted with colourful wooden houses. Only 3km long and half a kilometre wide, the island village is as quaint as can be, with…
Finland's West Coast
Revamped for the Finnish centennial, this museum focuses on the nature, history and culture of the Satakunta region. Fascinating exhibits range from…
Finland's West Coast
Medieval Närpes Church, 1km south of Närpes' town centre, is surrounded by over 150 kyrkstallar (church stables), built in the 15th century for…
Finland's West Coast
Wandering around the Old Town, it’s easy to forget that Rauma is a port, but its maritime museum is an engaging reminder of the town’s seafaring…
Finland's West Coast
With its distinctive fan-shaped tail, Alvar Aalto's Public Library is a stunner. Inside, the grid windows cast spectacular decorative light and shadows on…
Finland's West Coast
Although Alvar Aalto designed the town theatre in 1968, its construction was not completed until the 1980s (under the supervision of his wife and partner,…
Finland's West Coast
Dating from the 1400s, this is one of the region’s oldest churches. King Gustav III of Sweden personally signed off on the plans to expand the church into…
Finland's West Coast
Originally the stamping ground of sailors and factory workers, Skata occupies several blocks north of the centre (beyond Skolparken). The oldest street is…
Finland's West Coast
This quirky place is part museum, part workshop and part historical-preservation lesson. Housed in a 19th-century building in the Old Town, Tammela…
Finland's West Coast
Marela is arguably the most interesting of Rauma’s museums and definitely one of its most elaborate buildings. The preserved home of a wealthy 19th…
Kuntsin Modernin Taiteen Museo
Finland's West Coast
The beautiful former customs house now hosts changing exhibitions of pop art, kinetic art, surrealism and postmodernism. At its core is the collection of…
Finland's West Coast
About 8km west of Jakobstad, Fäboda's small sandy beaches framed by rocky inlets and thick forests offer idyllic swimming, sunbathing, surfing and…
Finland's West Coast
Behind Kristinestad's Old Customs House is the 'old' Kristinestad church, better known as Ulrika Eleonora Kyrkan. Built in 1700, the red-wood charmer has…
Finland's West Coast
Wahlberg was a wealthy tobacco-factory owner, and his home contains the fine furnishings and other trappings of a 19th-century bourgeois family. The attic…
Finland's West Coast
The glittering blue-tiled wave-like crest of the town hall incorporates architect Alvar Aalto's 'signature' (aalto is Finnish for wave).
Finland's West Coast
Changing exhibitions of traditional and modern art stretch over two sides of a courtyard and two storeys.
Finland's West Coast
Works by Degas, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso are among this gallery's strong international collection.
Finland's West Coast
Rauma Museum encompasses four sites, the most interesting of which is Marela, the period-furnished home of a wealthy 19th-century merchant family. The…
Finland's West Coast
A little walled oasis 1km southeast of the kauppatori, Aspegren’s Gardens was created by priest Gabriel Aspegren in the 1700s. Butterflies flit around the…
Finland's West Coast
This little museum is a three-in-one deal – thanks to donations by three local collectors. The dazzling mineral collection includes fragile crystals and…
Suojeluskunta & Lotta Svärd Museo
Finland's West Coast
Designed by Alvar Aalto, this historic house was built in the 1920s for the use of the civil guard and the Lotta Svärd organisation (a voluntary women's…
Finland's West Coast
The Gothic church in the centre of town was built around 1860, when architects suspected that the original Vanha Kirkko was unstable. The massive…
Finland's West Coast
During the Crimean War, a British attack was repelled at Halkokari, the harbour-turned-beach that's about 2.5km north of Neristan. The captured gunboat at…
Finland's West Coast
Finland’s richest man, shipping magnate Otto Malm, was the last person to live in Malm House, occupying it until 1898. Nowadays the house is the main…
Finland's West Coast
Pori's neoclassical Old Town Hall was designed by CL Engel in 1831 and completed a decade later. The restaurant Raatihuoneen Kellari is housed in the…
Finland's West Coast
This Empire-style building used to house the sail-making department of the Wendelin shipping company. Nowadays, the Sjöfartsmuseum showcases Kristinestad…
