Turku is a popular city to visit especially on summertime. Turku being the oldest city in Finland has some history and there have been people living since Iron age. Turku has even been the capital of Finland for a while and many people speak highly of it’s restaurants. But how to get to Turku since there is so many ways you can travel?
How to get to Turku by train?
You can arrive at Turku by train from two directions; from Tampere and from Helsinki. Unfortunately they have significantly reduced the amount of trains from Tampere but there is a train arriving from Helsinki almost every hour. There was also a railway from Uusikaupunki many many years ago but only cargo trains use that now. There might be a day or two during the summertime, when you can travel that route with an old steam train.
There are three train stations in Turku. The Central Train Station is where most trains from Helsinki and Tampere make their final stop. This station is closest to the city centre and for the tourists, it’s the easiest way to hop off the train.
Two trains in the morning and 2 on the evening continue a little further to the Harbor Station, which is close to the terminals of Viking Line and Tallink-Silja. Third station is at Kupittaa which is a technology area with many companies in IT and biochemistry business. Kupittaa Station is when arriving from Helsinki and it’s one stop before the Central Station.
How to get to Turku by Bus?
Long distance busses take you to Turku from all directions. They all stop at Central Bus Station which is about one kilometer away from the Central Train Station, about 750 meters from Market Square and 850 meters from Turku Cathedral.
The main stop for city internal bus traffic has traditionally been at the Market Square but currently it’s under construction and bus stops have been moved around city central. You can check the schedules for internal bus traffic from Föli -pages. If you look at the bus routes in the city, they are star shaped. Every route goes to the city centre but none circles around or goes to a place without going through the centrel first.
How to get to Turku by Airplane?
Turku Airport is located near the main road to Tampere, about 8,5 kilometers from city centre. Currently Airplanes come to Turku from Lithuania (Kaunas), Poland (Gdansk), Latvia (Riga), Helsinki, Åland (Mariehamn) and Sweden (Stockholm).
From Airport you can get to city centre by Bus number 1, taxi or by renting a car from the Airport.
How to get to Turku by boat, ship or ferry?
Large Ferries (Viking Lines and Tallink-Silja) arrive at the Terminals next to Turku Castle from Sweden via Mariehamn. Both Ferries arrive every morning and every evening. Finnlines Cargo Ships arrive from Sweden to Naantali, which is a town near Turku.
If you get to Turku by your own boat or ship, you can “park” it on guest places at Aura river. You can leave it there for free for 3 hours if you use a parking disc or leave the vessel at the guest harbor on the west side of Aura river.
How to get to Turku by Car?
There are highways and motorways leading to Turku from all directions. The biggest roads are highway 1 from Helsinki, highway 9 from Tampere, highway 8 from Rauma and highway 10 from Hämeenlinna (although you should consider taking the old oxen road of Häme instead if you like scenic roads). In addition to these, both ends of the Archipelago Trail are in Turku. Navigating in the Turku centre is fairly easy. All blocks are square shaped so if you miss a turn, just take the next one and you can get back to the correct route. There aren’t many one-way streets either.
There are three parking buildings in the centre and one underground parking cave. All parking costs at the centre. The easiest way to pay parking is via mobile app (e.g. EasyPark) except the parking buildings and cave where you need to use their own payment machine. You can also use bank -or credit cards in addition to cash for paying.
From Helsinki:
The motorway leading from Helsinki brings you to Kupittaa first but the same road continues past the Central Bus Station and Central Train Station all the way to the Terminals at the Harbor. Louhi Parking cave is a handly place to park your car since you can take the elevator up and pop up right next to the market square. The entrance to Louhi is next to the road from Helsinki, quite near the Central Train Station.
Even if there are many Parking buildings in the city centre, Louhi is in my opinion the most convenient place and it’s also not as tight as the rest.
From Tampere:
The road leading from Tampere comes right at the Central Bus Station and continues to the Turku Cathedral. You can exit from the road from Tampere to the road from Helsinki at the Bus Station and you can continue for example to Louhi Parking cave mentioned above. If you don’t like to stop on uphill traffic lights, I’d recommend not continuing past the Bus Station.
From Rauma:
The road number 8 coming from Rauma and Pori leads drivers to a beautiful Puistokatu, which also has a nice looking Cathedral along the street. This street leads all the way to River Aura. You can also join to the road coming from Helsinki right after the road goes under the railway. So you can drive to Louhi or to the Harbor.
From Hämeenlinna:
The road number 10 coming from Hämeenlinna leads you straight to the Turku Cathedral and river side. This road follows quite much the old Oxen road of Häme and at Lieto you can turn in to historic part of it. There you can take a visit to the hill of Vanhalinna and “King’s spring”
If you want to get to Louhi parking cave from this direction, exit from this road at the Turku University Central Hospital and join to the road from Helsinki. During high season, there are not many available parking places at the centre.
What other ways could there be to get to Turku?
By cycling or walking:
Cycling is nowadays taken into consideration in traffic planning. There are separate ways for bicycles outside the centre and yuo can use those to get safely downtown. There are separated lanes for bicycles in the centre as well. You can also use most of those ways if you want to walk to Turku..
By a helicopter:
In an emergency cases MediHeli (an ambulance helicopter) or Super Puma from Coast Guard can take injured people or people in danger of dying to the Turku University Central Hospital near the Kupittaa Railway Station. There is a helipad on top of the hospital building.
This might not be the way you want to get to Turku since you would have to be in pretty bad condition.
By parachuting:
There is some Parachuting action and training next to Turku Airport so in principle this could also be a way to get to Turku
By canoe or by rubber dinghy:
You might get to Turku along the River Aura upper reaches by canoe, kayak or by rubber dinghy (inflatable boat). There is a small dam near the student apartments and Turku Waterworks so you do need to carry it for some distance. When you’ve done that, you have open waters all the way until the Baltic Sea.
by a HyperLoop:
According to some articles I’ve read, a tube called HyperLoop would go via Turku and continue to Sweden under the sea. So maybe sometime in the future, you can get to Turku hyperfast.
