Pargas



Pargas (Finnish: Parainen) is a small town in Finland Proper, the only real town in the Archipelago Sea. The town regards itself as the capital of the south-west part of the archipelago. There is a wooden old town, a giant limestone quarry by the centre (origin of Nordkalk Corporation and its siblings), industry and rural country-side.

Understand
This guide is only on Pargas proper. The municipality consists of the former municipalities Pargas ("Pargas proper"), Nagu, Korpo, Houtskär and Iniö.

Pargas is in a traditionally Swedish speaking area. Because of the industry (later: proximity to Turku) there are nearly as many Finnish speaking in the town, though. The municipality is officially bilingual and you get service in both languages nearly everywhere.

As in the rest of Finland you get along in English with most people.



Get in


Pargas centre is some 25 kilometres from Turku by road.

The only road to Pargas is Skärgårdsvägen ("the Archipelago road", Finnish: Saaristotie, regional road 180) from Kaarina through Pargas to Korpo (Finnish: Korppoo), starting at national road 1 (E18) and crossing regional road 110, both leading from Helsinki to Turku. There is a bike route all the way from Turku, mostly following the road).

The bridges between the mainland and Pargas centre will be replaced 2022–2025; the construction work and the state of Rävsundsbron cause (mostly minor) traffic disruption. Bikers are well catered to at the worksite detours. However, the Rävsundet fairway is closed until April 2025.

There is a ferry connection from Långnäs on Åland to Galtby in Korpo. You can continue by Skärgårdsvägen to Pargas, with two shorter ferry passages (5 min + 20 min; ferries each half an hour in daytime on the longer passage).

There are connections also from the north, at least in summer, via Kustavi and Iniö to Houtskär and via Rymättylä to Nagu, and from there to Pargas along Skärgårdsvägen. The most convenient route is via Kaarina any part of the year, unless you are visiting some of the islands en route.

By bus
Since 2016 most services to Pargas are by TLO (timetables). Livery for buses to Pargas centre (lines 801 and 802) is the same as for buses in Turku, but Föli tickets are not valid for Pargas. TLO also operates coaches going farther (lines 901–903) with a different livery (Skärgårdsbuss, "archipelago bus"). All these lines depart from Turku bus station. Except 802 they are "regular" services, stopping on either all local bus stops (801) or all coach stops (9xx). The Föli route planner can be used, although it ignores some lines for some stops (if you have no 801 or no 9xx in the list, you could try some other stops). Also, some coach stop signs have got changed into bus stop signs with no change in where coaches stop, check in the route descriptions if relevant; all services except 802 stop at all stops in Kaarina and Pargas.

Vainion Liikenne retains the (few) weekend services directly from Helsinki to Pargas and the archipelago farther out.

The fare Turku–Pargas is €5.50 for adults, half for children (4–12 years). A person with a baby and pram gets their journey free (as in Turku). Bikes can be taken on the bus if there is room, for a fee (€5).

Services from Turku:
 * 801 to Pargas centre every hour, except for a few hours in the night, every half an hour daytime except Sundays, some more in rush hours. It uses stops for local buses and drives along Uudenmankatu and Uudemaantie in Turku and via Oskarinaukio in Kaarina centre.
 * 802, a rush-hour express service to Pargas, along Highway 1 and Skärgårdsvägen. The stops in Turku are at the bus station, by the cathedral, by the university and by the railway station Kupittaa.
 * 901–903 via Pargas to Nagu and Korpo, mostly with a transfer option to Houtskär, four to eight times a day; from Turku bus station, using stops for coaches. They drive along Uudenmaantie (road 110), Paraistentie and Skärgårdsvägen.

There are direct connections from Helsinki a few times a week, via Kaarina and Pargas to Nagu and Korpo, by Vainion liikenne (possibly in Skärgårdsvägen livery). Otherwise you have to transfer in Kaarina or Turku. You might be able to avoid paying for separate tickets by buying the tickets from Matkahuolto (make sure the ticket seller knows about the transfer). Check the transfer arrangements: some coaches from Helsinki bypass Kaarina centre along the motorway, so transfer is at the cathedral or the bus station in Turku, others leave the motorway in Kaarina, allowing transfer by Kaarina centre or in Piispanristi (or in Turku like for the others).

The buses terminating in Pargas drive along Kalkvägen and through Pargas centre, the ones going farther keep to Skärgårdsvägen, except the short detour to the bus station.

The electronic displays on some stops show minutes before passing (or departure) of the next 801 bus, not of the coaches to Korpo, nor of the school buses.



By boat


Pargas is a good destination also by yacht, but note the bridges. Getting to Turku via the centre of Pargas is somewhat awkward with sailing vessels, as there are long passages along narrow sounds. The nice Kyrksundet sound through the town, providing a short route to Turku, is accessible only with motorboats of moderate size (low bridges; max draught 0.8 m).

Marinas:
 * Accommodations by the shore usually have moorings for visitors. Check the listings below for some of those, and your chart for more options. Natural harbours can be used, but convenient ones are sparse near the centre, or in general where you can get by road.
 * Accommodations by the shore usually have moorings for visitors. Check the listings below for some of those, and your chart for more options. Natural harbours can be used, but convenient ones are sparse near the centre, or in general where you can get by road.
 * Accommodations by the shore usually have moorings for visitors. Check the listings below for some of those, and your chart for more options. Natural harbours can be used, but convenient ones are sparse near the centre, or in general where you can get by road.

Moorings for shorter visits:

By bike
There is a good and well signposted biking route from Turku and Kaarina. The Archipelago Trail route leads on cycleways and quiet local roads from Turku via Kaarina and Pargas to the ferry to Nagu (farther on it mainly uses narrow road shoulders). Regional biking route 22 leads through Kaarina from the north and merges with the Archipelago Trail at the first bridge.

Get around
The town is not big. Most services are by the Strandvägen road or nearby, especially in the pedestrian street Köpmansgatan. Strandvägen goes along the Kyrksundet sound (in the north end separated from it by the park Centralparken) from the roundabout on Skärgårdsvägen (the one with masts) to the marina in the south. The old town is across the sound.

There is a zone with residential areas around the centre. Some services such as sport venues, beaches and the health care centre are here, in a radius of about one kilometre.

For the area outside town the options are more or less bike, car or taxi. The buses and coaches from Turku can be used along their routes. There are also school buses and other arrangements, which you might be able to use with some detective work. Timetables for coaches, ferries, shared taxis etc. on the municipal pages.

A boat is handy for some destinations, and e.g. some recreation areas are unreachable without one. The waters of Pargas proper are sheltered, so any boat will do, except along the shores towards Erstan in the west and Gullkrona fjärd to the south.

Bikes are for rent at Hotel Kalkstrand, Café Hallonblad and Solliden Camping. At these places and at the tourist office, there is a free biking map available, with 12 km of routes to nearby destinations such as the quarry lookout, Bläsnäs beach and the church. More comprehensive biking maps are probably for sale. There are cycleways in the town area and along Skärgårdsvägen, elsewhere you share the road with cars; the traffic is light on most roads, but speeds may be quite high (50–80 km/h) on roads leading farther.

By taxi
The is in the southern end of the centre, by the market square and Kyrksundet. There is a taxi rank also at the bus station, empty most of the time. Don't rely on getting a taxi late in the night, unless you have an agreement with an individual taxi business or driver. In late 2023, an on-call-around-the-clock system was reintroduced.


 * Taksi Länsi-Suomi, iTaksi: see Turku
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
 * Taksi Länsi-Suomi, iTaksi: see Turku
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
 * Taksi Länsi-Suomi, iTaksi: see Turku
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
 * Taksi Länsi-Suomi, iTaksi: see Turku
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi

See




Do


Most accommodation businesses also arrange activities.

Outdoor sports options include swimming, beach volley, golf, disk (frisbee) golf, horseback riding, boating, canoeing and fishing.



For renting yachts, smaller boats and canoes, see Archipelago Sea.

Events




Buy
Most shops can be found in Köpmansgatan, a few near the church, some by Strandgatan or farther away.


 * There are three large grocery stores (K-market, S-market and Lidl) by the north part of the centre and a smaller (M-Market) in the south.

For souvenirs, consider e.g.

Eat
Most restaurants are in the centre, in the pedestrian street Köpmansgatan or nearby. Consider also cafés and restaurants in the See, Buy and Sleep sections.

Drink
There are a number of pubs or similar. Some nightlife may be found at the hotel. The real nightclub is Frendi:



Connect
Area code 2. Good GSM coverage in the town. In the outer archipelago and some rural areas there may be local lack of signal.

Postal code 21600 Pargas for the town with surroundings (the area of the former municipality).

Go next

 * The Archipelago Trail, which comes from Kaarina and continues to Nagu and beyond. A good way to see the archipelago without boat, using the ferries instead. By bike, car or bus.