'''Mariehamn''' (Finnish: ''Maarianhamina'') is in Aland.

Understand

History

A youthful town, Mariehamn was founded in 1861 while Aland and Finland formed part of the mighty Russian Empire. Maria, consort of Tsar Alexander II of Russia gave the town her name.

Mariehamn grew up round the farming village of Overnas, situated on a peninsula. The harbours built in sheltered bays came to be of great importance. The streets of Mariehamn are wide and straight. Housing sites were large from the beginning, but today they have been divided to provide space for several houses. A distinctive feature is the Esplanade, an avenue of lime trees stretching from west to east, from harbour to harbour.

The russian heritage is mainly responsible for the layout of the town. It follows the same basic guidelines as can be found in many russian cities, with large avenues with promenades in the middle of the street. Apart from that, the only russian signs left from that era is the multitude of tombstones in the graveyards in Aland.

Get in

By plane

There are regular flights from Helsinki, Turku and Stockholm. They are mainly used by business travellers.

Least expensive are flights from Helsinki (Air Aland). Rates vary.

Flights from Stockholm-Arlanda (Air Aland) do not run on weekends or vacation periods. They are more expensive (149 ?), but sometimes there are reduced rates (19 ?!).

Flights from Turku (Turku Air) do not run on weekends. They are the most expensive at 180 ?.

The airport is just 3 km north of the city centre. There is a restaurant in the building, usually open every day. There is no airport bus.

By boat

Viking Line and Silja Line ships travelling between Finland (Helsinki, Turku) and Sweden (Stockholm) dock briefly at Mariehamn or Langnas (in the night) for tax reasons. If the stop is at Langnas, there is usually a bus or taxi connection to Mariehamn, costing as much as the boat ticket.

There are also a service from Kapellskar with connecting bus from Stockholm, which takes less time than the Stockholm boat.

This is by far the quickest and easiest way to get to Mariehamn by boat. Book your trip at www.vikingline.ax (ax being the top level domain for Aland), and check the bus option. The bus leaves about 1.5 hours beforehand fron Cityterminalen in Stockholm, and from there you'll be herded all the way off the bus, through the (mostly non-existent) customs, aboard the passenger ferry and off again when in Mariehamn.

Tallink runs daily from Tallinn.

Birka Cruises runs daily from Stockholm, using their own terminal in the Western port, facing the Adlon hotell and pizza restaurant.

Viking, Silja and Tallink all use the same terminal in the Western port. The terminal is open 24 h. Tickets can be bought when a boat is due to leave. Facilities are limited. There are several lockers, a money exchange machine (EUR-SEK), toilets and a customs office. Just outside, there is a cafe and a small kebab restaurant.

Please note that the sea can get pretty rough in the autumn. The Alands hav (the part of the Baltic you'll be travelling through) is infamous for its nauxeating rolling dunes.

Get around

There are four city bus lines (A-D) and they are free (no tickets). Services are reduced in summer with two lines only. No city buses run on Saturday evenings or Sundays.

On the other hand, you'll easily walk from one end of town to the other in less than 15 minutes.

See

  • The '''Pommern''' [http://www.pommern.ax/welcome.htm] (earlier name Mneme) is a windjammer turned into a museum ship. She is a four masted barque that was built 1903 in Glasgow at J. Reid & Co shipyard. She is one of the Flying P-Liners, the famous sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz. Later she belonged to Gustaf Erikson (Aland) who used her to carry grain from Spencer Gulf area in Australia to harbours in England or Ireland until the start of World War II.
  • '''The Aland Maritime Museum''' [http://www.sjofartsmuseum.aland.fi/sjomuseum/in-english.pbs ] preserves memories of the sailing-ships, one of its exhibits being the red-brown captain_fs saloon from the fourmasted barque Hertzogen Cecilie, one of Gustaf Erikson_fs ships. She ran aground off the coast of England in 1936 and before she sank her saloon was salvaged and brought to Aland.
  • Boat building traditions are kept alive at the '''Maritime Quarter''' in the Eastern Harbour. Among the red sheds there is a boatyard and a smithy as well as a boat and shipbuilding museum. Several small ships have been built there, including the galleass Albanus and the schooner Linden.
  • The '''Aland Museum''' [http://www.aland-museum.aland.fi/museum/english.pbs] exhibits the history of Aland from prehistoric times up to the present day. The '''Aland Art Museum''' displays pictures by both old and young Aland artists and the Mariehamn Gallery at the Western Harbour has a model of Mariehamn in the 1920s with its wooden houses.
  • Do

    Nightlife in Mariehamn is sparse and centers around the two restaurants "Dino's" and "Indigo" - although heavily frequented by locals they don't compare well to establishments in larger cities.

    At 12-02 AM those restaurants close, and almost everybody migrate to nearby nightclub "Arken". Considering Alands history (a Swedish archipelago until 1809, then Russian and later Finnish since 1918 - Alanders speak Swedish, they use some russian expressions and they drink like Finns) the later hours are dominated by the occasional bar-brawl, heavily intoxicated teens and vomiting.

    That's about it. The "Arken" closes at 4 AM, and then it's all over.

    Buy

    The shopping street is the northern part of Torggatan.

    Shops usually close at 17:00 or 17:30 on weekdays and at 14:00 on Saturdays. Some close at 20:00 on Thursdays.

    Most shops accept Visa and MasterCard, but some of them do not accept Visa Electron.

    ATM's ("OTTO") are thin on the ground. There are some in the city centre, outside the four bank offices along Torggatan. Another one is situated in Strandnas, at the Alandsbanken bank office.

    Almost everything is more than 20 % more expensive in the Aland Islands than anywhere else in northern Europe. Despite this, stores occasionally lacks goods to sell. Mariehamn is without a doubt the worst place for shopping within a 1.000 mile radius.

    Eat

  • Restaurant Pommern - in the same building as Hotel Pommern ( a fair walk from the ship Pommern) is aranged with ship's fittings. The menu is delicious and some items are quite cheap.
  • Drink

    Sleep

    Camping

  • '''Grona Uddens Camping'''[http://www.gronaudden.com/indexe.php ] Grona Udden
  • Cottages

  • '''Kungsnas stugor''' Onningebyvagen 510
  • '''Strandbergs Stugor''' Varvsvagen L 183
  • Guesthouse

  • '''Guesthouse Kronan'''[http://www.goaland.net/intro.asp?companyId=17172&lang=en ] Neptunigatan 52. Inexpensive, especially for singles. Very close to the main ferry port. Open all year.
  • '''Guesthouse Neptun''' [http://www.goaland.net/intro.asp?companyId=17172&lang=en ] Neptunigatan 41
  • '''Pensionat Solhem''' Lokskarsvagen
  • '''Overnasgarden''' Ostra Ytternasvagen - 2 and 4 person chalets also available
  • Hotels

  • '''Hotel Arkipelag''' [http://www.hotellarkipelag.com] Strandgatan 31
  • '''Hotel Pommern''' [http://www.hotellpommern.aland.fi ] Norragatan 8-10
  • '''Park Alandia Hotel ''' [http://www.vikingline.se/parkalandiahotel] Norra Esplanadgatan 3
  • '''Hotel Savoy''' [http://www.alandhotels.f] Nygatan 12
  • '''Hotel Adlon ''' [http://www.alandhotels.fi] Hamngatan 7
  • '''Hotel Cikada''' [http://www.cikada.aland.fi/eindex.html] Hamngatan 1
  • '''Hotel Esplanad''' [http://www.cikada.aland.fi/espen_ny.html] Storagatan 5
  • '''Strandnas Hotel''' Godbyvagen 21
  • Get out