Nordic Adult Education 2026

Things to do in Turku

Self-guided activities for visitors

Authored by Sanni Laine and Anne Suominen.

Nature and the outdoors

Lovely parks, if the weather is nice!
  • Puolalanpuisto: The area features many Art Nouveau and stone buildings from the early 20th century, as well as decorative wooden houses.
  • Vartiovuori Hill: The park is known for its observatory building at the top of the hill, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel in the 1810s, as well as the traditional Turku Summer Theatre.
  • Kupittaa Park: The oldest and the largest urban park, in Turku.
  • Samppalinna Hill: The name of the site comes from an ancient fortress that once stood there. The park’s plant selection includes more than 60 different species of woody plants.

Into the late-spring nature – Ruissalo

What to do in Ruissalo
  • Ruissalon Telakka (Shipyard): food, drinks & an interior design shop.
  • Botanical Garden (12 €). Greenhouses and café: Thursday–Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. Outdoor garden Every day from 8 am to 8 pm.
  • Cafés/restaurants (e.g. Honkapirtti, Cafe Vanha Tammi, Villa Saaro).
  • And of course, walking along the nature trails and enjoying nature.
  • Read more here
Let your mind and body rest, in the beauty of Finnish nature

With 75% of its area covered in trees, Finland is Europe’s most forested country. For those living here, the forest is a place to relax and think, look for inspiration, reconnect with nature, and recharge.

Living close to forests might even be one of the reasons for the famous Finnish happiness. Research shows that spending time in nature has real, quantifiable health benefits, both mentally and physically. Even a couple of minutes around trees or in green spaces is said to improve health.

Text from Visit Turku 

How to get to Ruissalo
  • Educarium – Market Square (20-minute walk).
  • Buy snacks/packed food in the city centre.
  • Market Square A8 – Ruissalo (bus line 28, 20 min)
  • Note: If you happen to still be in Turku on 9 May, you can also travel by water bus – the service starts 9 May 2026)

Food, drinks and entertainment

Culture, history and art

Step back in time…

Luostarinmäki

Wander around old Turku and learn something new about its history – and after your tour, sit down for a coffee and a pastry.

Luostarinmäki offers a glimpse into 19th-century craftspeople’s lives and urban living. It is the only unified wooden house district that survived the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, and its buildings still stand in their original locations. Read more: https://luostarinmaki.fi/en/home-page/

Turku Castle

The castle has over 700 years of history and has guarded the mouth of the Aura River since the late 13th century.

Today, it offers visitors cultural experiences, exhibitions, and restaurant services in a historic setting. Read more: https://turunlinna.fi/en/home-page/

 

Interesting museums!

Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova (20€ together, 14€ separately): Finland’s only archaeological museum located underground, with a museum of contemporary art on the upper floors. Read more: https://avan.fi/en/opening-hours-and-tickets

Pharmacy Museum (7€): The Qwensel House was built in the early 18th century as the home of a wealthy bourgeois family. Its most famous resident was a pioneer of surgery, Josef Pipping – known as the father of Finnish surgery. The building survived the Great Fire of Turku in 1827 and today it offers a glimpse into bourgeois life with Rococo and Gustavian interiors. The exhibition includes the oldest preserved pharmacy interior in Finland (1858). It features workrooms and an herb room presenting medicinal plants prepared by hand, as was typical of the period. Read more: https://qwensel.fi/en/home-page/

Forum Marinum (16€): A centre for maritime knowledge – exhibitions offer both in-depth information and engaging experiences about maritime history. Read more: https://www.forum-marinum.fi/en/visit/

Sibelius Museum (10€): A music museum – the most extensive in Finland. The museum’s collections include about 1,400–2,000 instruments from around the world, as well as a vast music archive documenting especially Finnish musical life. The museum’s soundscape and audiovisual elements bring Sibelius’s compositions to life, vividly. Read more: https://sibeliusmuseum.fi/en/

Turku Art Museum (15€): Known for its extensive collection of Finnish art and its impressive National Romantic–style building. Read more: https://turuntaidemuseo.fi/en

Biological Museum (7€): Located in a beautiful Art Nouveau building founded in 1907, the museum presents Finnish fauna and flora from the Turku Archipelago all the way to the fells of Lapland. Read more: https://biologinenmuseo.fi/en/home-page/

Ett Hem (7€): Explore a bourgeois home from the 19th–20th century. Read more: https://etthem.fi/en/visit-us/

Kakolanmäki Museum (7€): Since 1853, the walls of Kakola have held some of the country’s most notorious criminals and have also confined the lost futures of thousands of men. The Kakolanmäki Museum introduces visitors to these stories.

The administrative and commercial centre of the city in the Middle Ages – Turku Old Great Square!

Stop by a café in a narrow alley (Cafe Elephanten), a handicraft shop (Brinkkala’s Outolintu), or an exhibition (Kriittinen Gallery, 0€: https://kriittinengalleria.fi/en/current-exhibition/).

Vanha Suurtori 3.

 

Turku’s unique spots and hidden gems

Cool local shops, thrift stores and Finnish design.

Turku is full of vintage stores, galleries, and restaurants, owned and beloved by locals. In fact, right across the city, there are delightfully different places just waiting to be discovered.

Find out more about these hidden gems here and see a new side of Turku: https://en.visitturku.fi/turkus-unique-spots-and-hidden-gems

 

The Art House

https://taiteentalo.fi/en/

Experience the creation and joy of Finnish art, up close.

You can reach Art House Turku easily by walking, cycling or using public transport. The special nature of the Old Town makes private driving more challenging.

The Art House Turku can be reached by many buses. The closest stops are Tuomiokirkkotori stop on Uudenmaankatu and Kåren’s stop on Hämeenkatu.

Bus timetables can be found on Föli map.

 

Kunsthalle Turku

https://turuntaidehalli.fi/en/

Get to know local art and artists. Located at Vanha Suurtori 5, 20500 (Turun Taidehalli / Vanha Raatihuone).

Entrance is free of charge!

Kunsthalle Turku does not provide parking space. Parking is possible near the Turku Cathedral or on Hämeenkatu nearby (payment required).
Bicycles can be parked near Kunsthalle Turku on the Old Great Square.

Sport and wellness

Bike rental Carfield – rent a bike and roam around Turku.

https://www.carfield.fi

High quality bikes and all the extra equipment you will need. All our bikes (with the exception of children’s bikes) are equipped with ”puncture proof” tires.

https://www.carfield.fi/bikes/#prices

Price for adults: 23€/ 6h

Services located at Brahenkatu 18 A, 20100 Turku

 

Hiking trails, kayaks, sup-boards and other outdoor activities.

https://maisaari.com (*website only available in Finnish)

Prices:

Row boat 3€/ hour

Kayak 5€ / hour

Sup board / hour, 10 € / hour (13 € / 2 hour)

2 Sup boards 13 € / hour

 

Picnic – on the Aura River!

Grab some snacks from the city centre and rent a boat, where you can enjoy your picnic and explore Turku at a relaxed pace: https://www.lanaturku.fi/?lang=en

Turku cycling roads

https://en.visitturku.fi/turkus-cycling-routes-x5

We love cycling here in Turku. The city has bike-friendly footpaths, plus there are amazing routes to explore nearby. It’s also a simple way to support Turku’s bold climate action plan.

In case you’re planning to stay longer, from this link you’ll find shorter and longer cycling routes around Turku. The shorter routes take approximately 2 hrs to complete.

 

Time to relax – At the spa!

Holiday Club Turun Caribia (19€): Kogressikuja 1 (less than a 10-minute walk). Read more: https://www.holidayclubresorts.com/en/hotels-resorts/turun-caribia/spa-and-treatments/

 

Ruissalo Spa (20 €): Ruissalon puistotie 640 (20 min: Market Square A8 – Ruissalo, bus line 28, https://reittiopas.foli.fi/?locale=en ). Read more: https://ruissalospa.fi/en/spa-pools-and-saunas/

 

Kakola Spa (44 €): Graniittilinnankatu 2. https://kakolaspa.fi/en/

* Funicular: Finland’s first outdoor, urban inclined elevator. It provides accessible access to Kakolanmäki, where no other public transport is planned (Linnankatu 55b).

 

Flowpark – A Recreational climbing park

https://www.flowpark.fi/en/turku

Flowpark is an ecological adventure park where you can test your courage. Adventure courses have been built on living trees without harming them. You may solve numerous tasks even at a height of twenty meters. Different tasks refer to ropeways, including swaying paths, liana jumps, swings and cable slides.

Every Flowpark is unique, so there are no two identical courses. Flowpark has been meant for people of all ages full of adventure spirit – there is a challenge for any ordinary guy as well as for experienced ‘wilderness foxes’!

You don’t need to have any advance skills for the Flowpark courses. You’ll be instructed how to use the equipment and how to act on the courses before you are allowed to enter the actual courses. Every customer will complete a test course, and after he or she has passed it, he or she is allowed to adventure independently on the courses. One proceeds on the courses continuously connected to a safety cable wire. Take a look at the safety instructions beforehand.

Located at Skanssinkatu 10, 20730 Turku

Opening hours (mon – fri): 11:00 – 19:00

 

Outdoor swimming pools:

Chill and relax at one of Turku’s outdoor swimming pools.

Samppalinna

https://www.turku.fi/en/samppalinna-outdoor-swimming-stadium

Volter Kilven katu 2, 20800 Turku.

Prices 8,40 €/ person

17 € / family ticket

 

Kupittaa

https://www.turku.fi/en/kupittaa-outdoor-swimming-arena

Blomberginaukio 12, 20520 TURKU

Prices 8,40 €/ person

17 € / family ticket