It’s hard to put a finger on what makes Turku so cool. As the former capital of Finland (and the country’s oldest city), it offers plenty in the way of historic sites and cultural attractions. It’s also a hip university town with plenty of bars, restaurants, live music venues and fantastic shopping. It’s perfect for a weekend trip from either Helsinki or Sweden. Come along and see how we spent ours…
After settling into our room at the wonderful Radisson Blu Marina Palace we headed out in search of an early dinner. One of the first things we noticed were all these young people in costumes.
Figuring we were missing out on some kind of fun party, we continued our search for food and ended up at local favourite, Tintå (Läntinen Rantakatu 9, tinta.fi). Even though we arrived quite early, there was only space at the bar. We’d heard such good things about the pizza there that we grabbed a couple of stools anyway and dove into the menu.
This place has over 100 different wines so it was tough to choose. We ended up asking our server for his recommendations, which did not disappoint. But never mind the wine (blasphemy, I know) – the food here is incredible!
With a couple of glasses of wine in our full bellies, it was time to begin the evening. We wandered the streets in the centre of town for awhile checking out the windows of the kind of cool shops we’d come to expect in Finland.
We also spent a good hour inside Turku’s public library, which is so beautiful and interesting inside I’ve saved it for another post entirely. After stepping out of the library we encountered an interesting gang that included a long-bearded wizard, Batman and this pirate with a brilliant Scottish accent:
I wish I went to school in Turku! Finally we found our first bar, the Cosmic Comic Cafe (Kauppiaskatu 42 in the forum, cosmic.fi), which as the name suggests, serves up beer and comics – as well as some local live music.
Andrea Spirov is a content developer and entrepreneur currently travelling the world with her husband, John, and living as an expat when she isn’t. With a Masters in Media and Communications, Andrea is a specialist in online and is fascinated by the intersection of conversations and technology. Born in the United States, Spirov is a dual American and Australian citizen and has travelled extensively in North and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She currently blogs at InspiringTravellers.com and also takes on freelance projects and consulting work in social media and community management.
