National Geographic Traveller UK 10.2019

MORNING

The way to Turku’s heart is

through its larder. Start at Turku

Market Hall — it may date back

to 1896, but it’s no antique. At

Herkkunuotta, bowtie-wearing

chef Mikko sells fresh ish and

creates dishes like cold-smoked

pike roe with fennel and sour

cream on archipelago bread (a

malty, sweet loaf), and herring

with Finnish strawberries.

Next, savour mature emmental

and organic goat’s gouda at

Juustopuoti before stopping

for a cake-and-cafeine kick

at MBakery Café. Nearby, the

280t-tall Turku Cathedral is a

gothic monument to the city’s

former life as Finnish capital. “The

cathedral is 700 years old, and has

seen it all — the ires, the wars,”

says my guide, Olga. Inside, it’s

austere, with hints to its history as

a Catholic church: Roman pillars,

vaulted ceilings and a cavernous

nave housing statues of bishops.

AFTERNOON

Still peckish? Stop for a light lunch

in the airy foyer cafe of Aboa

Vetus & Ars Nova before exploring

this double-bill museum. Ars

Nova celebrates contemporary

art, while Aboa Vetus is irmly

set in the past. Ruins lie beneath

the building, showcasing stone

houses and artefacts discovered

during excavation. Head around

the corner to Old Great Square to

peer down the medieval cobbled

street of Luostarin Välikatu,

then kick back and relax on a

Låna electric boat cruise along

the river. Pack a case of gin-and-

cranberry Hartwall Original Long

Drink cans — a Finnish summer

favourite — to sip as you as you

cover the 2.5-mile stretch from

the cathedral to the Baltic Sea;

you’ll pass red-brick warehouses,

art displays, defunct cranes from

shipbuilding’s heyday and even

a 700-year-old castle fortress

along the way.

EVENING

So good it should be illegal

— Kakola Prison has been

transformed into the city’s latest

hedonist hotspot, with access to

this new area via a free funicular.

Grab a bag of pick-me-up at

Frukt, which sources seasonal

cofee from small producers and

roasts it on the spot, or, if you’re

ater a stronger tipple, head next

door. “Welcome to the smallest

bar in Turku,” says Peter, owner

of Kakola Brewing Company.

The ive-seater space serves pints

ranging from a sour ale spiced

with raspberry to a dry hopped

saison. “Hopefully next spring

we’ll open a tap room so you can

see into the production area,”

Peter adds. Nearby Kakolanruusu

restaurant’s thick walls evoke

the prison it once was, but the

creative sharing plates are no

canteen cuisine: try the mackerel

escabeche with oyster emulsion

and green juniper.

FOLLOW THE TRAIL

Up for a challenge?

The 745-mile St Olav

Waterway historic

walking route launched

in May, taking

trekkers from Turku

through the Finnish

archipelago, across the

Åland Islands and to

Trondheim in Norway.

stolavwaterway.com/en

THE HOT LIST

Where to sauna

AIRISTO SPA

Strip off and slip into the

wood-heated igloo-shaped

sauna. Or go all out and try

the electric, infrared, steam,

wood and alter-scented

smoke varieties. To cool

off, make your way to the

outdoor solar-heated pool or

opt for a sea plunge to take

your temperature down a few

degrees. airistospa.i/en

HERRANKUKKARO

On the shoreline, just 40

minutes’ drive from Turku,

is the world’s largest

underground smoke sauna,

the maasavusauna, big

enough for 124 people. The

kyläsavusaunathe (village

smoke sauna), meanwhile, is a

more intimate affair, holding

groups of up to 30. Don’t

miss the outdoor heated

baths and saltwater pool

overlooking the Baltic Sea.

herrankukkaro.i/en

FORUM SAUNA

An ideal place to try out

a vasta (a fragrant bunch

of silver birch twigs with

which you gently whip

yourself); the practice is

said to aid circulation and

soften skin. There’s also an

infrared sauna, mud therapies

and leech treatments.

visitturku.i/en

SAARONNIEMI

This popular summer beach

west of Turku turns into an

ice swimming hotspot come

winter. From early October

until late April, brave bodies

come here to heat up in the

sauna before the big chill.

visitturku.i/en

HOTEL STALLBACKEN

It doesn’t get much more

traditional than a wood-ired

sauna at this quaint B&B. Be

enveloped in löyly, the steam

produced by throwing water

on hot stove stones, then,

make your way outside to roll

in piles of refreshing snow.

hotelstallbacken.i/en

DAY ONE TAKE IN TURKU

IMAGE: GETTY

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