Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

of over 6,000

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

. Constitutionally, it is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-speaking autonomous

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Sea travel is a vital part of Åland's economy and a major local employer. The main ports are located at the capital Mariehamn in the south, at Berghamn in the west and at

Långnäs Långnäs is a port in Lumparland on the eastern mainland of Åland, about 30 km over the road away from Åland's capital Mariehamn. Road ferries to Kumlinge (Snäckö) and Galtby via Föglö (Överö) and Kökar start here. Långnäs is an al ...

on the east shore of

Fasta Åland Fasta Åland ( fi, Manner-Ahvenanmaa or , meaning mainland Åland) is the largest and most populous island of Åland, an autonomous province of Finland. The island is home to the provincial capital Mariehamn. About ninety percent of the archipel ...

(the main island).

Air

Nordic Regional Airlines Nordic Regional Airlines Oy (abbreviated as Norra and often stylised as N°RRA, previously ''Flybe Nordic'') is a Finnish regional airline based on the grounds of Helsinki Airport. Norra is owned as a joint venture by Finnair, Finland's flag carr ...

flies to

Mariehamn Airport Mariehamn Airport ( sv, Mariehamns flygplats is located in Jomala, Åland (a territory of Finland). The airport is located some north-west of Mariehamn town centre. It served 61,568 passengers in 2017 and is operated by the state-owned Finavia ...

, operating for

Finnair Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...

. On the island of

Kumlinge Kumlinge is a municipality consisting of a group of islands in Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. Kumlinge, which is also the name of the largest island in the group, means "rocky passage." The municipality has a population of () and cov ...

there is an air strip and a helicopter landing place that is not frequented by regular flights but only by chartered flights.

Roads

The islands have quiet roads that are much appreciated by cyclists. Several main roads ( sv, huvudväg) have separate cycle lanes. There are

Ålandstrafiken Ålandstrafiken is a ferry company based in Åland, an archipelago of over 6,500 islands in the Baltic Sea, and a Swedish-speaking autonomous province of Finland. The company operates inter-island services as well as links to ports in western Finla ...

local bus services operating in conjunction with the inter-island ferries. Road vehicles registered in Åland have

number plates A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or Trailer (vehicle), trailer for offi ...

with blue lettering starting with ÅL. Red granite is used as a road surface so both gravel and tarmac roads tend to be red in Åland.

Sea

The

Silja Line Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is a subsidiary ...

Viking Line Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operate ...

and

Tallink Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea ...

ferries operating between

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

and Stockholm call briefly at Åland, at either Mariehamn or

, Lumparland. As well as providing useful transport links, this also permits the sale of duty-free alcohol etc. on board the ships. This is due to Åland's special constitutional status and exemption from normal

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

rules on Value Added Tax and other tariffs, negotiated by Finland as part of talks leading to membership of the EU in 1995. Vessels must call at an Åland port to qualify. A network of ferries operated by

provide inter-island services (and links with Galtby,

Pargas Pargas ( fi, Parainen) is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the cent ...

and Vuosnainen,

Kustavi Kustavi (; sv, Gustavs) is a municipality of Finland. It is in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the smallest municipality in southwest Finland in ...

ferry harbours in Mainland Finland).

Eckerö Linjen Eckerö Linjen is a Finnish shipping company operating a ferry between Berghamn harbour in Eckerö in the Åland Islands and Grisslehamn in Sweden. The company is owned by the Åland based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Linjen should n ...

operates a ferry service between Berghamn port in

Eckerö Eckerö is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish and ...

, Åland and

Grisslehamn Grisslehamn is a locality and port located on the coast of the Sea of Åland in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. The locality had 249 inhabitants in 2010. The name Grisslehamn was first mentioned in a document from 1376 about t ...

port in

Norrtälje Municipality Norrtälje Municipality (''Norrtälje kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Norrtälje. It is the largest and northernmost municipality of Stockholm County and was created in 19 ...

, Sweden, while

Finnlines Finnlines Plc ( fi, Finnlines Oyj, sv, Finnlines Abp) is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Bal ...

operates a service from

Naantali Naantali (; sv, Nådendal) is a town in southwestern Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important tourist centre of the country. The municipality has a population of (), and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, west ...

, Mainland Finland to

Kapellskär Kapellskär () is a port about north of Stockholm, in Sweden. It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County. Services The port is served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, operated ...

(also in Norrtälje Municipality), Sweden via Långnäs.

References

External links

Air ÅlandVisit Åland website: travel informationDestination Åland provides online booking of ferries to and from Åland as well as accommodation on Åland
Transport in Åland {{Finland-transport-stub