The archipelago town of Pargas consist of the islands of Pargas / Parainen, Nagu / Nauvo, Korpo/ Korppoo, Houtskär/ Houtskari and Iniö. The “largest” archipelago town in the world became reality, when five municipalities amalgamated in 1.1.2009. You can easily get here by bus or car, by bike or on foot. There are good connections to the nearest airports. The archipelago town of Pargas lies in Southwestern Finland in the beautiful Archipelago Sea.
You can find more information on how to get here!
Car
Pargas Town is 23km from Turku, 173 km from Helsinki and 180 km from Tampere. Pargas consist of the islands of Pargas / Parainen, Nagu / Nauvo, Korpo/ Korppoo, Houtskär/ Houtskari and Iniö.
From Turku, take either road 110 or motorway E8 towards Helsinki and then turn right onto Road 180, the archipelago road towards Pargas, Nagu and Korpo. The road to Korpo is 75km long. To continue on the Archipelago Trail on Korpo follow the signs to Galtby harbour and continue on the ferry to Houtskär. At the crossroads before the village of Näsby turn onto road 12003 towards Iniö. After the ferry to Iniö continue on the Archipelago Trail. From Kustavi follow road 192 towards Turku. If you wish to drive via Naantali you take road 1893 at the first roundabout and follow the signs towards Naantali. Naantali lies 16k from Turku.
Iniö lies 81 km from Turku. Take road 192 towards Kustavi and then take the road 1922 towards Iniö this will take you to the Iniö ferry MS Aura.
The full Archipelago Trail distances and ferries at a glance
Turku – Pargas
Distance: 23,8km (road 110) and 25,3km (E18)
Ferries: 0
Driving time: approx. 35 min
Cycling: approx. 1h 30min - 2h 30min
Nagu – Galtby, Korpo
Distance: 20km (Archipelago road) and 23,4km (Norrstrandvägen on Nagu)
Ferries: 1, Nagu (Pärnäs) – Korpo (Retais), 5 min
Driving time: ca 50 min (Skärgårdsvägen) 1h (Norrstrandvägen)
Cycling: ca 1h 25min (Skärgårdsvägen) ca 1h 35 min (Norrstrandsvägen, gravel road)
Korpo village and shops is 3,2km further on from Galtby.
Näsby, Houtskär – Norrby, Iniö
Distance: 31,1km
Ferries: 3
Kivimo färjan: Kivimo – Roslax, 5 min
Björkö färjan: Mossala – Björkö, 5 min
MS Antonia: Houtskär (Mossala) – Iniö (Dalen), 60 min
MS Antonia only operate during the summer and charges a fare for passengers and vehicles. Timetable and prices here.
Summer 2021 MS Antonia operates 14.5-29.8.2021.
Driving time: ca 2h 36min
Cycling: ca 2h 36min
Norrby, Iniö – Kustavi
Distance: 23,9km via Viherlahdentie
Ferries: 2
Skagen färjan: Skagen (Skagen) – Storströmmen (Skagen), 5 min
M/s Aura: Iniö (Kannvik) – Kustavi/Gustavs (Heponiemi), 25 min
Driving time: ca 1h 36min
Cycling: ca 1h 45min
Gustavs centrum – Taivassalo
Distance: 16,8km
Ferries: 0
Driving time: ca 16 min
Cycling: ca 55 min
Taivassalo - Åbo
Distance: 51,5km
Ferries: 0
Driving time: ca 50 min
Cycling: ca 2h 45min (via väg 192)
Pargas – Nagu
Distance: 33,1km
Ferries: 1, Pargas (Lillmälö) – Nagu (Prostvik), 10 min
Driving time: ca 1h
Cycling: ca 2h 15min
Galtby, Korpo – Näsby, Houtskär
Distance: 21,1km
Ferries: 1, Korpo (Galtby) – Houtskär (Kittuis), 30 min
Driving time: ca 1h 11min
Cycling: ca 1h 25min
Norrby, Iniö – Keistiö, Iniö
Norrby, Iniö – Taivassalo
Distance: 29,9km
Ferries: 2
Skagen färjan: Skagen (Skagen) – Storströmmen (Skagen), 5 min
M/s Aura: Iniö (Kannvik) – Kustavi/Gustavs (Heponiemi), 25 min
Driving time: ca 1h 41min
Cycling: ca 2h
Taivassalo – Nådendal
Distance: 45,5km
Ferries: 0
Driving time: ca 40min
Cycling: ca 2h 20min (via väg 192)
Nådendal – Åbo
Distance: 15,5km
Ferries: 0
Driving time: ca 20 min
Cycling: ca 1h (alla rutter)
Ferries
The larger Archipelago Trail has a total of 8 ferries whilst the small Archipelago Trail has 3. You can take many other ferry combinations to smaller islands. You can even continue to the Åland Islands on 2 different routes. Here are links to the ferry operators:
Finferries has a useful smartphone app.
Bus
There are many daily connections between Turku and Pargas and further out into the archipelago.
Longer routes can be found on Matkahuolto.
The archipelago bus, 901-904, operates Turku – Pargas – Nagu – Korpo – Houtskär. Frequent daily departures. Timetables change seasonally and are found in Swedish or Finnish here.
Local bus 801 operates between Turku and Pargas. The buses are yellow, timetables in Swedish or Finnish.
There are regular, direct bus connections to Turku from many Finnish cities as well as a direct bus route from Helsinki Airport which can take as little as 2 hours. You can find timetables here.
Public transport takes you to many destinations in the Turku Archipelago!
Test Matkahuolto’s journey planner: can you find a suitable route and schedule?
The journey planner now includes a growing number of archipelago water traffic (free services and ones subject to fees).
Train
Flights
The closest airport is Turku Airport. From Europe it is easy to come to Turku via Stockholm or Helsinki (direct flights to Turku from these airports). Direct flights are also avalaible from for example Riga, Gdansk, Kaunas and Kraków. Seasonal flights also from London and Skopje. Turku Airport is around 7 km from the city center of Turku. Bus 1 (Föli) goes between the airport and city.
Helsinki Airport is 172 km from Turku. There are several bus and train connections between Turku and Helsinki every day.
Tampere Airport (Tampere-Pirkkala) is 163 km from Turku. There are several bus and train connections between Turku and Tampere every day.
By sea
It is a wonderful experience to explore our beautiful archipelago with your own boat. There are numerous harbours, marinas and natural harbours in the archipelago. You can read more here: