Archipelago Trail
Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Archipelago Trail or Archipelago Ring Road (Swedish: Skärgårdens ringväg, Finnish: Saariston rengastie) is a route in the Archipelago Sea in Finland, which uses roads and ferry connections to visit many of the major island in this archipelago.
The archipelago is best experienced by boat, but the Archipelago Trail allows seeing much of it by road. The itinerary passes through the main villages of the western and northern archipelago, while the ferry passages give you some feeling also for the archipelago as seen by boat, with fine views of this unique land of sea and rocky islands. You could also stay for a few days in a cottage by the shore or make detours to minor remote islands by ferry.
The most convenient means of travel on this route is bike or car, but there are coaches allowing going without a vehicle. There is walking route part of the distance, partly through the woods, developed as part of a pilgrimage route to Trondheim, which offers quite a different experience; a detour to the woods is of course possible regardless. Two of the connections are mainly for tourists; in the off season completing the route may be difficult, especially by car, but variants are possible all year.
UnderstandThe Archipelago Trail was opened as a tourist route in 1996, with the additional ferries needed to complete the circuit, and is now well established. It is regarded as a corner stone for the tourism in the region.
PrepareThe archipelago communities are well organised; this is not the wilderness but inhabited rural Finland.
Get inTurku is well connected, with some aeroplane connections, daily ferries from the Stockholm region via Åland, trains from Helsinki and Tampere, and coaches from most anywhere in Finland.
Get aroundThe route can be taken clockwise or contraclockwise. The former is more common and is what is described here. You could also turn back at any point.
GoKaarina is part of the Föli bus cooperation, so here you can still get off one bus and on a later one, within two hours from boarding the first.
Stay safeGoing by this trail does not involve any major hazards.
Go nextYou will probably get on from some of the starting points. See above (and the city/region articles) for connections.
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Archipelago Trail" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons