Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous region of Finland, and the seat of its government and parliament.
Getting to Mariehamn
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.
- 01Mariehamn
- 02Västerhamn
The terminal is open when a boat is due to leave.
- 03ÅSS'
Guest harbour; showers, toilets, laundry (not included), Wi-Fi, septic tank emptying, garbage disposal, electricity and water.
- 04MSK's
Worth seeing
- 01Pommern
By far the most popular attraction in the whole of Åland!
- 02The Åland Maritime Museum
- 03Kobba Klintar
- 04Maritime Quarter
- 05Åland Museum and Åland Art Museum
- 06Mariehamn Museum
Things to do
Football: IFK Mariehamn plays soccer in Veikkausliiga, Finland's top tier. Their home ground Wiklöf Holding Arena (capacity 4500) is shared with the women's team Åland United; it's central in town. The playing season is April–Oct.
- 01Gröna
Östernäsvägen 1.
- 02Lilla Holmen
- 03Mariebad
Where to eat
Iconic Ålandspannkaka, the Åland pancake, is available in every café in town. Draken Kebab. Popular restaurant serving pizza and kebab.
- 01Draken Kebab Stan
Nygatan 1,.
- 02Draken Kebab Hamn
Hamngatan 11 (next to the ferry terminal).
- 03Hesburger Mariehamn
Torggatan 13A.
- 04Pizza24
Choose a pizza from the list, pay with a card, the machine will bake the pizza (3 min), and finally you will receive a hot pizza in a take-away box.
- 05Pub Albin
Sjöpromenaden (at the ÅSS marina, right next to the sailing ship Pommern),.
Getting around Mariehamn the local way
Cruise ferries from Sweden and Finland dock tax-free at Mariehamn, Eckerö or Långnäs; a small airport and a separate archipelago ferry network fill the rest, and Ålandstrafiken's buses radiate from Mariehamn.
- 01Stockholm/Turku/Helsinki cruise ferries (Viking Line, Tallink Silja)ferry
Stockholm or Turku or Helsinki to Mariehamn or Långnäs harbour
- Where
- Board at the mainland terminal; the Åland stop is one leg of a Sweden-Finland cruise crossing, so buy a ticket to Mariehamn or Långnäs specifically
- When
- Turku-Mariehamn/Långnäs and Stockholm-Mariehamn/Långnäs run daily; day sailings from Turku call Mariehamn, night sailings mostly call Långnäs instead
- Fare
- not confirmed; Åland's exemption from the EU VAT area is what keeps these crossings and their onboard tax-free sales cheap, per Wikivoyage
- Takes
- not stated in the sources found
- Season
- year-round scheduled service; ferries may skip their Åland call or use a different port in severe weather or ice, with alternative arrangements for affected passengers
- Booking
- book directly with the ferry line
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence medium
- 02Eckerö Linjen (Grisslehamn-Eckerö)ferry
Grisslehamn (near Norrtälje, Sweden) to Eckerö on M/S Eckerö
- Where
- Eckerö terminal at the west side of Fasta Åland; connecting buses run daily from Stockholm-area pickup points
- When
- daily, roughly six sailings each way (10.00, 13.00, 15.00, 18.00, 20.00, 23.00 from Grisslehamn; 08.00, 09.00, 13.30, 14.30, 18.30, 19.30 from Eckerö), with published gaps such as a dry-docking closure and Midsummer/Christmas exceptions
- Fare (2026)
- not confirmed as a standard one-way passenger fare; the site's visible prices are for its bundled day-cruise (from SEK 50-195) rather than a plain crossing
- Takes
- 2 hours
- Season
- year-round, with a dry-docking suspension (7/1-28/1 in the 2026-27 timetable) and reduced sailings at Christmas
- Booking
- book online or at the terminal; connecting buses are booked separately
Sources: eckerolinjen.se (2026-09) · eckerolinjen.se (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence high
- 03Eckerö-Mariehamn connecting busbus
Eckerö ferry terminal to Mariehamn
- Where
- Timed to meet the Eckerölinjen sailings at the Eckerö terminal
- When
- daily, timed to ferry arrivals
- Fare
- not confirmed
- Takes
- not stated in the sources found
- Season
- year-round
- Booking
- book with the ferry ticket or separately per the operator's connecting-bus page
Sources: eckerolinjen.se (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence medium
- 04Långnäs-Mariehamn day bus vs. Viking Line night busbus
Långnäs harbour to Mariehamn, 25 km
- Where
- Timed connections meet arriving overnight ferries at Långnäs; Ålandstrafiken runs the cheaper daytime service, Viking Line its own late-night one
- When
- timed to ferry arrivals
- Fare (2026)
- regular daytime bus €2.50; Viking Line's own night bus €19
- Takes
- not stated in the sources found
- Season
- year-round
- Booking
- none for the local bus; check with Viking Line for the night service
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence high
- 05Ålandstrafiken archipelago ferries - Norra linjen and Södra linjenferry
Norra linjen: Vårdö-Kumlinge-Brändö (with cable ferry from Sund to Vårdö); Södra linjen: Långnäs-Föglö-Sottunga-Kökar, some continuing to Galtby
- Where
- Board at the harbour listed on the printed route timetable; consecutive bookings on some legs need an overnight stay
- When
- on demand for vehicles on the longer legs; scheduled sailings per the published route timetable
- Fare (2024)
- foot passengers travel free on many routes; vehicles must book and pay, and cost far more for a direct transit than one that includes an archipelago stop - about €122 for a car direct vs. about €38 with an overnight stop, per Wikivoyage's 2024 figure
- Takes
- not stated in the sources found
- Season
- year-round, heavier vehicle demand and booking pressure around Midsummer
- Booking
- vehicle passengers must book in advance, especially in summer; foot passengers do not
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence high
- 06Houtskär/Iniö-Torsholma small-island ferriesferry
Houtskär (Näsby or Roslax) and Iniö (Norrby or Kannvik) to Torsholma in Brändö via several smaller islands
- Where
- Board at the named landing points; part of the wider Archipelago Trail route from Turku toward Åland
- When
- a few times weekly, and requires booking by the previous day
- Fare
- free for foot passengers; bicycle transport is possible on some services, usually with advance booking
- Takes
- not stated in the sources found
- Season
- not stated in the sources found; the wider Archipelago Trail is described as most usable in summer
- Booking
- compulsory booking by the previous day
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence high
- 07Mariehamn Airport (MHQ)scheduled flight
Mariehamn Airport (Jomala) to Helsinki, Turku and Stockholm Arlanda
- Where
- Airport is under 3 km north of Mariehamn in Jomala; there is no airport bus, per Wikivoyage
- When
- daily flights on all three routes
- Fare
- not stated in the sources found
- Takes
- under an hour from Helsinki; about half an hour from Turku or Stockholm
- Season
- year-round
- Booking
- book directly with the airline
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · finavia.fi (2026-09) · confidence high
- 08Bring your own bike on the cruise ferriesbicycle
any cruise ferry crossing to Mariehamn, Eckerö or Långnäs
- Where
- board via the vehicle deck and secure the bike for the crossing
- When
- n/a - tied to the ferry schedule
- Fare
- most cruise ferries charge extra for bicycles, amount not stated in the sources found
- Takes
- n/a
- Season
- year-round
- Booking
- none beyond the ferry ticket
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence medium
- 09RO-NO Rent, Mariehamn harboursbicycle hire
Östra Hamnen (east harbour) and Västra Hamnen (west harbour), Mariehamn
- Where
- two RO-NO Rent locations at the town's two harbours
- When
- n/a
- Fare
- not confirmed; check current rates on the operator's site
- Takes
- n/a
- Season
- not stated in the sources found
- Booking
- walk-in or via the operator's site
Sources: rono.ax (2026-09) · confidence high
- 10Mariehamn local bus lines (N/S/Ö/V/J)bus
five lines radiating from the Nygatan hub in Mariehamn across Fasta Åland, including the J line to Järsö
- Where
- central stop on Nygatan; lines are named by compass direction, and some run in a loop rather than back out the way they came
- When
- not stated in the sources found beyond the 2023 route map
- Fare (2024)
- single ticket €2.50 (€1.25 for children 6-11, younger free), valid 2 hours
- Takes
- not stated in the sources found
- Season
- year-round
- Booking
- none, pay on board
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence high
- 11Kommunaltrafiken scheduled taxis to archipelago harboursshare taxi
connects ferry harbours with local destinations in most archipelago municipalities
- Where
- arranged through the municipal service, not a stand you walk up to
- When
- not stated in the sources found
- Fare (2024)
- free along the main road; a small fee for journeys beyond it
- Takes
- not stated in the sources found
- Season
- not stated in the sources found
- Booking
- reservation usually required the day before
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence medium
- 12Ice and winter effects on the ferry networkservice status
all cruise-ferry and archipelago-ferry approaches to Åland
- Where
- n/a
- When
- n/a
- Fare
- n/a
- Takes
- n/a
- Season
- winter; severe weather or ice can make a ferry omit its scheduled Åland call or use a different port
- Booking
- n/a
Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence high
Not yet confirmed: alandstrafiken.ax returns HTTP 403 to every scripted request tried - bare curl, a full browser user-agent, and forcing HTTP/1.1 - and even direct PDF timetable links under sites/default/files return 403. This looks like a JavaScript proof-of-work challenge as the brief warned, not a UA check; a human with a real browser should confirm the north/south line timetables and current fares directly on the site.; vikingline.com returns HTTP 200 for every page tried but the body is Akamai/PerimeterX's 'Pardon Our Interruption' bot-block page, not real content, on both the homepage and the Mariehamn route page - so no Viking Line fare, duration or vessel data could be confirmed from their own site despite the 200 status. Someone should reach the site with an actual browser.; No fare could be confirmed for the Stockholm/Turku/Helsinki cruise-ferry crossings to Mariehamn/Långnäs, or for standard passenger fares on Eckerö Linjen's Grisslehamn-Eckerö crossing (the site's visible prices are for its bundled onboard day-cruise product, not a plain one-way ticket) - ask at a ferry line's own booking page.; No source found names the airline(s) actually flying Mariehamn-Helsinki, Mariehamn-Turku or Mariehamn-Stockholm; only the airport operator (Finavia) and route existence were confirmed. Ask Finavia or the airport directly.; Crossing durations for the Stockholm/Turku/Helsinki-Mariehamn cruise ferries were not found in any source checked (Wikivoyage describes only which port is called on which service).; The demilitarised and EU-VAT-exempt status of Åland is well documented as the reason ferry tax-free sales exist, but no source checked quantifies how much cheaper a ticket actually is versus a non-exempt Baltic crossing - treat 'unusually cheap' as directional, not a fare claim..
The field note on Åland (Mariehamn and Fasta Åland) reads this entry in full, one option at a time, with every source beside it.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Arild Vågen (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.