Mariehamn

Mariehamn is the capital, and the only town of the Åland islands. The town's Finnish name, Maarianhamina, is rarely used, as less than 6% of the population of 12,000 (2021) speaks Finnish.

Understand



 * Tourism website

History
A youthful town, Mariehamn was founded in 1861 while Åland and Finland formed part of the mighty Russian Empire. Maria, consort of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, gave the town her name. The name Mariehamn is Swedish for Maria's harbour.

Mariehamn grew up round the farming village of Övernäs, situated on a peninsula. The harbour's 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 (linden) 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 Åland.

During the Russian times seafaring expanded from shipping local goods to Stockholm to global trade, continuing after the independence. Between the world wars Gustaf Erikson got famous by gradually buying most of the big sailing ships still left in the world, and successfully operating them. One of the former German P-liners acquired by him, Pommern, has become a symbol of Mariehamn. Many of the beautiful wooden houses were built by shipowners. Shipping still contributes considerably to the wealth of the town.

Get in
Mariehamn is well connected by cruise ferries: from Stockholm, Norrtälje, Turku, Helsinki, Tallinn, and occasionally even Riga. For those cruise ferries that call in Eckerö or Långnäs, there are buses to Mariehamn. Note that while a single bus trip from Långnäs harbour to Mariehamn costs only €2.50 in daytime, the night bus by Viking Line costs €19.

The airport is small, with flights mainly from Stockholm, Turku and Helsinki.

Mariehamn is a common first port for those arriving by yacht from Sweden.

NB! As Åland is outside European Union VAT area the customs regulations are different from normal traffic between EU countries. The amounts of alcohol and tobacco that are allowed in duty free import into EU apply also here, but free import of taxed EU products for personal use may not.

By ferry


The passenger port is at the western edge of the centre, in, the Western Port. The terminal is open when a boat is due to leave. Facilities are limited. There are several lockers, toilets and a customs office. Just outside, there is a café and a small kebab restaurant. Visiting cruise ships have their own terminal 300 m north from the main terminal, facing the Adlon hotel and pizza restaurant.

There are a few cruise ferry services from Stockholm specifically to Mariehamn. The cruise ferries that travel between Turku and Stockholm in the day call in Mariehamn, while ferries passing in the night mostly call in Långnäs, 25 km away (with bus or taxi connection), as do the ferries between Kapellskär (Norrtälje, Greater Stockholm) and Turku or adjacent Naantali. There are also ferries from Grisslehamn (Norrtälje) to Eckerö, the shortest and cheapest passage, with bus connection to Mariehamn. The cruise ferries have tax-free sales, often slightly cheaper than the equivalent on-shore products.

There are buses between Stockholm, Uppsala and Norrtälje, often specifically connecting to the ferries.

It is possible to come island hopping with smaller ferries from Finland. This is much less straight-forward and not necessarily cheaper, but can be rewarding as an experience in itself. You end up in Långnäs or Vårdö, with bus connection to Mariehamn.

For the specific services, see Åland.

By yacht
For those with a yacht, Mariehamn is conveniently between Sweden and the Finnish mainland, with only a short passage over the Sea of Åland. There are two marinas, one in the west harbour (Västerhamn) and one in the east (Österhamn). The distance between them by sea is considerable, so know your plans. Åland has border control service, check procedures if you are arriving from outside Schengen, have a pet or otherwise need customs clearance (Åland is not in the EU VAT zone).

Get around


As of summer 2023 there are five local bus lines operated by Ålandstrafiken, and identified by direction: N for northern line, S for southern, Ö for eastern, and V for western. The J line drives south all the way to Järsö. The bus routes are circular, so do not be surprised if the bus does not return the same route as it arrived. The local transport hub is on Nygatan. Single ticket cost €2.5 (€1.25 for children 6-11 years old, children less than 6 yo free). The ticket is valid for 2 hours.

Your other options to get around is by taxi, car, bike or foot. The town is quite compact, a car is mostly useful to get to the surroundings.

Long distance buses leave from the, next to the library.

Bikes are available from or  (see their webpage for prices and conditions). And probably from every accommodation business for their own customers.

See

 * Inside Ålands sjöfartsmuseum 3.JPG
 * Inside Ålands sjöfartsmuseum 3.JPG
 * Inside Ålands sjöfartsmuseum 3.JPG

Do



 * Football: IFK Mariehamn play soccer in Veikkausliiga, Finland's top tier. Their home ground Wiklöf Holding Arena (capacity4500) is shared with the women's team Åland United; it's central in town. The playing season is April-Oct.
 * RockOff is a music festival in the last week of July, in Torget the main square.
 * Football: IFK Mariehamn play soccer in Veikkausliiga, Finland's top tier. Their home ground Wiklöf Holding Arena (capacity4500) is shared with the women's team Åland United; it's central in town. The playing season is April-Oct.
 * RockOff is a music festival in the last week of July, in Torget the main square.
 * RockOff is a music festival in the last week of July, in Torget the main square.

Buy



 * The northern part of is the main shopping street. 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 scarce. There are some in the city centre, outside the four bank offices along Torggatan. One is situated in Strandnäs, at the Ålandsbanken bank office.

Notice that most prices are somewhat higher than on the Finnish and Swedish mainland. There are local products widely available but groceries are mostly the same as in Finland mainland.

Eat
Iconic Ålandspannkaka, the Åland pancake, is available in every café in town.

Drink
Nightlife in Mariehamn is sparse and revolves around the two restaurants Dino's and Indigo – although heavily frequented by locals they don't compare well to establishments in larger cities. Between midnight and 02:00 those restaurants close, and almost everybody migrates to the nearby nightclub Oliven (formerly known as Arken). Considering Åland's history (a Swedish archipelago until 1809, then Russian and later Finnish since 1918 – Ålanders 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. The Oliven closes at 04:00, and then it's all over.





Cottages

 * Gröna Uddens Camping. See above.

Stay safe
Crime is extremely low in Åland. The only prison (having 3 cells) was closed in 1975 and is nowadays a museum (see Sund). In statistics, the situation seems very different as drunken fights and assaults on cruise ships are recorded as occurring in Mariehamn!

Go next
Mariehamn is the natural starting point for all the other destinations on Åland such as Kastelholm Castle and Bomarsund Fortress ruins in Sund or the Post and Customs museum in Eckerö.