Vaasa
Vaasa, formerly (1855–1917) known as Nikolaistad, is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Ostrobothnia, located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia.
Vaasa, formerly (1855–1917) known as Nikolaistad, is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Ostrobothnia, located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. Vaasa city has approximately 71,000 inhabitants, while the Vaasa sub-region has a population of approximately 112,000. It is the 14th-most populous municipality in Finland, and the tenth-most populous urban area in the country.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Vaasa
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Hietalahti Stadium
Hietalahti Stadium, also known as Lemonsoft Stadion for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Vaasa, Finland. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Vaasan Palloseura.
1.7 km · Football stadium in Vaasa, Finland · Wikipedia - 02Wasa Theater
Wasa theatre is a professional Swedish-language theatre in the Finnish city of Vaasa. It is the regional theatre of Österbotten and was founded in 1919.
600 m · Finland-Swedish theatre in Vasa, Finland · Wikipedia - 03Vaasa Arena
Vaasan Sähkö Areena is a multipurpose arena in Vaasa, Finland. It was previously called the Kuparisaaren jäähalli and locals often use the old name in conversation.
2.6 km · ice hockey arena in Vaasa, Finland · Wikipedia - 04Vaasa University of Applied Sciences
Vaasa University of Applied Sciences also known as VAMK, is an international higher education institution in Vaasa, Finland. VAMK educates Bachelors of Business Administration, Engineering, Hospitality Management and Social Services as well as Registered Nurses and Public Health Nurses in Finnish, Swedish and English.
900 m · university of applied sciences in Vasa, Finland · Wikipedia - 05Korsholm Church
Korsholm Church is a church building in the city of Vaasa, in the region of Ostrobothnia in Finland. Originally the building was built for the Court of Appeal between 1776 and 1786, and designed by Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz.
6.6 km · church in Vaasa, Finland · Wikipedia - 06Ostrobothnian Museum
The Ostrobothnian Museum is a provincial museum of cultural history, which also serves as provincial art museum and a museum of natural science. The museum building, designed by Eino Forsman in 1927, and the museum’s exhibition wing, planned by architect Erik Kråkström in 1967 are located next to the Marianpuisto park in central Vaasa.
800 m · regional museum in Vasa/Vaasa in Finland · Wikipedia - 07Novia University of Applied Sciences
The Novia University of Applied Sciences is an institution of higher professional education in Finland. It offers Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in Swedish in Vaasa, Turku, Raseborg and Jakobstad.
1.2 km · Finnish university · Wikipedia - 08Vaasa Church
The Vaasa Holy Trinity Church, or simply the Vaasa Church, is a church located in the city center of Vaasa in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The 900-seat red-brick church, designed by architect Carl Axel Setterberg, was completed in 1869.
700 m · church building in Vaasa, Finland · Wikipedia - 09Vaasa Market Hall
Vaasa Market Hall is a Gothic-style market hall in the city center of Vaasa, Finland. The market hall includes seven different shops, such as the fish store Ruostsala Snickars and the café Wasa Konditori.
600 m · market Hall in Vaasa, Finland · Wikipedia - 10Finnish Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a monumental bronze sculpture complex located in the Market Square of Vaasa in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The statue celebrates the victory of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War in 1918.
400 m · bronze sculpture · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Market place and Finland's Statue
The market place is the centre of the city life.
- 02Old Vaasa
- 03Academill
- 04Waterfront
Take a walk in the park areas along the waterfront.
- 05Trinity Church
In the vicinity of the Neo-Gothic Trinity Church you will find City Hall, which also houses the Tourist office on the bottom floor.
From Wikivoyage: Vaasa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
The archipelago off Vaasa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the Kvarken Archipelago.
- 01Tropiclandia
A tropical spa with various slides, saunas and Jacuzzis.
- 02The Water Tower
Inside the tower there is a challenging indoor climbing wall.
- 03Zip Adventure Park
Climbing park, which also offers a 5-match, bungee trampoline and archery wars.
- 04Doo-Bop Club
A jazz club under McDonald's in the northern end of the Market Square.
- 05Skafferiet
- 06VPS
From Wikivoyage: Vaasa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
There are numerous cheap hamburger, kebab and pizza joints. At lunch time there is a huge variety of places to eat inexpensively. For the cheapest lunches head to a student lunch restaurant. A Finnish student card is required for the subsidised price, but even without it prices are very good value at around €9.
From Wikivoyage: Vaasa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Vaasa
- Airports
- Vaasa (VAA), 9 km · Umeå (UME), 102 km · Tampere-Pirkkala (TMP), 214 km
- Stations
- Vaasa Airport, 9.6 km · Vaasa railway station, 400 m · Port of Vaasa, 3.4 km · Vaskiluoto yard, 3 km
- Tampere / Pirkkala → Vaasa213 km · quickest by road, 4h 14m · €25–34
- Oulu / Oulunsalo → Vaasa276 km · quickest by air, 5h 36m · €80–120
- Turku → Vaasa296 km · quickest by road, 5h 35m · €33–46
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Vaasa
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Vaasa. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inE8 and E12 both continue to Norway: via Tornio to Tromsø and by ferry to Umeå and on to Mo i Rana, respectively.
- Get inThe ferry Aurora Botnia, operated by Stena Line/Wasaline crosses daily between Vaasa and Umeå, Sweden (with the port in Holmsund at the mouth of the river).
- Get inVaasa also has its own transfer bus between the ferry terminal and the city centre, part of the local bus services, see below.
- Go nextOr why not take the ferry over to Umeå in Sweden (see #By boat above).
From Wikivoyage: Vaasa, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01296 km
- 02301 km
- 03318 km
- 04324 km
- 05346 km
If you know how people move in Vaasa – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Vaasa
- Korsholmmunicipality in the region of Ostrobothnia in Finland3.4 km
- Vaskiluotourban area and 3rd major district in Vaasa, Finland2.4 km
- Palosaari4th major district of Vaasa, Finland1.5 km
- Hietalahtiarea consisting of two city districts in Vaasa, Finland1.6 km
- Smedsbyvillage in Korsholm, Finland4.5 km