The Aaland Islands
Ranked #4,383 in Travel & Places, #130,413 overall | Donates to International Rescue Committee, FIV Cat Rescue
The Åland Islands
The Aaland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea, situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia. Aaland is an autonomous, Swedish-speaking "administrative province", region, and "historical province" of Finland.
Åland or Aaland?
Apologies to Swedish speakers. I am using "Aaland" some of the time because of browser and font limitations. Given that the islands are Swedish-speaking, Åland (A with a small circle on top) is the appropriate spelling. The Finish name is Ahvenanmaa which English speakers would not recognize.
Economic Region of Aaland
A transnational Euroregion encompasses Åland and nearby coastal archipelagoes (skärgårdar).
Note that the map is showing a transnational region - the coastal regions of Sweden and Finland illustrated are not part of the province of Aaland.
The following terms of use apply to the above image: "Terms of use: All images are the property of Nordregio. They may be freely used as long as the logo of Nordregio is clearly visible and the source is cited accordingly." (Source: Nordregio at www.nordregio.se)
Links to Web Sites About Aaland
- Bank of Aland
- "A big bank in Aland. A small bank in Finland. A secure, stable bank with satisfied customers."
- Official site of the Government of Aaland.
- The site is mainly in Swedish. Selecting the British flag (Union Jack) or other language flags will take you to a page offering a brochure (and sometimes a video) on Aaland.
- Brochure/Film on Aaland
- Direct link to the brochure/film described above (film is about 30 mins)
- Aaland Provincial Government
- In Swedish. This link points to the page listing the Lantraag (President) and other elected members of the government.
- The Parliament of Aaland
- The Parliament of Aaland (in English).
- National Minorities of Finland, The Autonomous Regime of Aland
- Virtual finland: National Minorities of Finland, The Autonomous Regime of Aland
- Aaland Tourist Board
- The official tourist gateway to Aaland.
- The Aland Postal Service
- &
- Vote here
- Vote for your favorite Aaland stamp (till December 15, 2008)
- ÅLANDSTIDNINGEN
- ÅLANDSTIDNINGEN - one of Aaland's local newspapers
The Bomarsund Barrage
A revolutionary meeting of Russian soldiers in March 1917 in Dalkarby of Jomala in the province of Aland Islands, Finland
The Russian Presence in Aaland
- The Old Mail Route
- Queen Kristina established a decree, "The Mail route across land and sea" for a regular mail route from Stockholm via Åland to Helsinki in 1638. The road leads even further east along what today is called the "King's road" to St. Petersburg.
- Eckerö Mail & Customs House
- The stately Eckerö Mail & Custom's House was built in 1828 and drawn by the architects Carl Ludvig Engel and Carlo Bassi. The building is fashioned in the empire building style, known from, for example, the Helsinki centre and St. Petersburg.
Eckerö Mail & Custom's House represents together with Bomarsund the Russian occupation in Finland and Åland. Eckerö used to be the Russian custom's border with Sweden for more than a hundred years. Before the establishment of the Kaliningrad exclave, Eckero was the Westernmost point in Russia (and the Grand Duchy of Finland)
News from Aaland
- Scientists could re-create beer discovered in shipwreck from the 1840s
- The wreck lies off Aland Island, which is an autonomous part of Finland. The wreck was discovered in 2010 and is believed to have sunk in the 1840s. Rather than yielding treasures of gold, the discoveries carted off the ship so far have been more of ...
- Vikings, Taj and Telluride trippin'
- by Chris Aaland Otto hollered for Mommy two hours past bedtime last night that ?There's Vikings in my room.? Whether she was too tired, too busy watching TiVoed episodes of ?The Voice? or too busy laughing her ass off, Shelly sent me into his room to ...
Aaland women's soccer team
Will Shetland be at the Games?
- Big price tag for Åland trip
- Big price tag for Åland trip
October 3rd, 2008 By NEIL RIDDELL
THE CREAM of Shetland's crop of athletes and competitors are being urged to make an early decision on whether they want to travel to Åland for next year's Island Games after it emerged that members of the various squads will have to pay up to a four-figure sum to make thetrip.
Ferry route Södra Linjen from Langnäs to Kökar, Överö
Travel Tips
The Stockholm-Helsinki cruise ferries do call in, because of the duty-free, but don't really stop long enough to explore. Maybe a 24-hr stop-over? Or travel by road/ferry using the local ferries along the old mail route?
Turku will be the European Capital of Culture (with Talllin) in 2011, and there is a SMALL plane three* times a day to Mariehamn. But then you'd miss the Island Games in 2009!
Go twice!
*Mid-day plane does not go Tuesdays/Thursdays!
Turku will be the European Capital of Culture (with Talllin) in 2011, and there is a SMALL plane three* times a day to Mariehamn. But then you'd miss the Island Games in 2009!
Go twice!
*Mid-day plane does not go Tuesdays/Thursdays!
- Turku Air Oy - Timetable
- 30 min flight, check in 30 mins before flight.
- Air Aland
- The Swedish carrier Avitrans Nordic Ab now operates all flights for Air Åland.
(For Stockholm or Helsinki) - Silja Line
- &/or
- Viking Line
- Also, I would think there is a strong possibility of a Tallin-Turku cruise ferry, at least during the European Cultural Capital celebrations in both those cities in 2011!
- Alandstrafiken
- Information about the local ferries and bus traffic in the archipelago. You can also reserve a place for your vehicle on the ferries and buy tickets to both the ferries and the buses.
- Eckero Linjen
- Eckero Linjen has the shortest (2hrs*) sea crossing from Sweden. The route starts in Stockholm but you can pick up the ferry from Uppsala or Grisslehamn . The Aaland port of call, Eckero, is on the old mail route and used to be the customs port between Sweden and Russia from 1809 to 1917.
*The Stockholm-Helsinki cruise ferry transit times are geared to boat-time (meals, entertainment, shopping) not travel time. Well, maybe a little bit to tides!
Flying to the Islands
You can fly to Mariehamn via Helsinki, Stockholm, or Turku. From the USA I recommend flying to Helsinki (or Stockholm) on Islandair via Reykjavik [Keflavik]!
Related Lenses
Guestbook
Ever been to Aaland? Going to the Games?
-
-
Timincal
Sep 17, 2010 @ 8:30 am | delete
- Great photos of a beautiful part of the world.
-
-
-
smange
Feb 23, 2010 @ 2:51 pm | delete
- I love it. I spent a year researching Åland only to realise we weren't going to move there after all.
-
-
-
AppalachianCountry
Jul 6, 2009 @ 2:47 pm | delete
- Awesome lens. Thank-you for all the detail of this beautiful area of the world.
-
-
-
isabella
Feb 19, 2009 @ 12:07 am | delete
- Thank you for joining the Best islands Guides.
Your lens is hosted on the groups front page
-
About Me
by madoc
You may have noticed it can be quite confusing to be Tony Scott. There are so many of us. And, just maybe, most of us are left-handed...
Take the f...
more »
- 184 featured lenses
- Winner of 20 trophies!
- Top lens » Agrarian Reform: The Philippines
Feeling creative?
Create a Lens!
Explore related pages
- Finland Finland
- Rosemaling | Norwegian Decorative Painting | Norway's Folk Art Rosemaling | Norwegian Decorative Painting | Norway's Folk Art
- Snowy Owls: The Perfect Aerial Predator for the Arctic Snowy Owls: The Perfect Aerial Predator for the Arctic
- Major Online Newspapers and Magazines of Europe Major Online Newspapers and Magazines of Europe
- Nordic Countries of Europe - Geography Quizzes Nordic Countries of Europe - Geography Quizzes
- Hedningarna: scandinavian folk music Hedningarna: scandinavian folk music
