CITY OF TURKU- SHORT TRAVEL GUIDE
The Finnish name Turku originates from an Old East Slavic word,meaning "market place.
Turku, a city on the southwest coast of Finland. Straddles the Aura River. Dating from the 13th century, it's known for Turku Castle, a medieval fortress with a history museum, perched at the river mouth.
Restaurants line the cobbled riverside streets. On the eastern bank lies the Old Great Square, a former trade hub, surrounded by grand buildings. The nearby Turku Cathedral Houses a Royal Tomb and a museum.
The City of Turku was born already in the 13th century in the place where the river Aura runs to the sea. Many consider that the history of the city begins with a letter, in which Pope Gregory IX gave the permission to move the bishopric to what we nowadays know as Turku.
There are around 191 603 residents in Turku. It's the 6th largest city population in Finland,The entire region has over 310 000 residents.Turku sub-region ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region.Turku is the oldest city of Finland and the former capital of the country. Turku is officially a bilingual city and roughly 5% of its inhabitants speak Swedish as their mother tongue.
Turku is also a very multicultural city and some 14,000 of its inhabitants speak something other than Finnish or Swedish as their mother tongue. There are 130 different nationalities living in Turku. The biggest ethnic groups in Turku are Russian, Estonian, Iraqi, Iranian, Somali and Swedish communities.
Climate
Turku has a humid continental climate.Like much of southern Finland, the city experiences warm summers, with temperatures ranging up to 30 °C (86 °F), and relatively cold winters with frequent snowfall. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average temperature of 17.5 °C (64 °F), whereas the coldest month is February. The average year-round temperature is 5.5 °C (42 °F). Winter usually starts in early December, and spring in late March. Record lowest temperature is °C (°F) −35.5 (−31.9) , Record highest temperature in the summer is 35.9 (96.6)
Transport
Turku has an efficient network of public transport and the city is well connected to other parts of Finland.Using the Turku region public transport service, Föli, you can search for information on travel routes in Turku and in the Turku Region.
After Helsinki Turku has the second largest port in the country, servicing cargo and passengers, there are several cruise lines departing from Port of Turku to Various destinations.Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers traveling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Marieham.
Culture
Turku includes several theatres, museums and art galleries, and a city philharmonic orchestra. The city's cultural centre organises a number of regular events, most notably the Medieval Market in July each year. Turku is also the official Christmas city of Finland, and 'Christmas Peace' in Finland is declared on every 24 December from the Brinkkala Hall balcony in Turku.
The Turku music festival and the Rock festival Ruisrock (held on the island of Ruissalo) are among the oldest of its kind in Scandinavia. The city also hosts another rock festival, Down by the Laituri, and one of the largest electronic music festivals in Northern Europe, UMF(Uuden Musiikin Festivaali, "New Music Festival"), in addition to a vibrant nightlife, centred on the Market Square.
There are also numerous museums, such as the Turku Art Museum and the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art. The Åbo Akademi University maintains the Sibelius Museum, which is the only museum in Finland specialising in the field of music.Another place is Turku Biological Museum, There are also several historical museums that display the city's medieval period, such as the Turku Castlel, which has been a functional historical museum since 1881, and the Aboa Vetus museum, built in the late 1990s over the 14th century archaeological site. The Luostarinmäki handicrafts museum, converted from residential buildings that survived the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, was the first Scandinavian venue to receive the "Golden Apple" tourism award.
Things to Do
You can do a Turku walking tour, it's not hard to get from one place to the other by walking. It's fun to walk by the river and through the gardens from one touristic attraction to the other.
If you are a foodie there are number of restaurants in Turku, You can find many international dishes in Turku, For Locals food has created an entirely new meaning to food culture because of so many nationalities that live in Turku.
You can visit places like Turku Cathedral.Turku Castlel,Pharmacy Museum of Turku, Kylämäki Village,Luostarinmäki,St Michael’s Church and Market Square. Visit Kiis My Turku for more information.
Another experience is Archipelago, there are 40,000 small islands in Turku some connect each other by bridge, more information about Turku Archipelago and Tours Visit Turku provide information for Travelers. The The City of Turku Local Government website provides more information about Libraries and Exhibitions and Cultural events updates.
