Turku the previous capital of Finland is located at the South - West Coast 165 km west from Helsinki. Turku is one of Finland's premier urban centres and a home to three universities. The country's first university was founded in Turku in 1640. Today more than 30,000 students attend the Turku School of Economics, the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. The campuses of the three universities are situated in close proximity to the River Aura, and within a walking distance of the city centre. Turku has been designated by the European Union to be the European Capital of Culture in the year 2011, together with Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. For more details about Turku, visit www.turkutouring.fi or www.turku.fi/english.

In order to get to Turku you can either fly Finnair, SAS/Blue 1 or Wizz Air. Your optional flying routes to Turku come over Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen or Gdansk. There are daily flights from Stockholm, which take about 45 minutes a flight. The flight from Copenhagen to Turku takes about an hour and 40 minutes and from Gdansk to Turku only about an hour. The flight from Helsinki to Turku takes about 35 minutes and multiple daily connections are available.

Turku airport is located only at 8 km distance from the city centre and busses and airport taxis will take you easily to your hotel from the airport. For more information, see www.finavia.fi/airport_turku. If you fly some other airline that doesn't have reasonably priced connecting flights to Turku or your arrival time coincides poorly with the connecting flights you have a direct coach connection from Helsinki-Vantaa airport to Turku bus station, busses running approximately once an hour. For more information about bus services, see www.matkahuolto.fi/en.

In case you decide to come by car or train via Denmark and Sweden, you will take an overnight/day crossing by one of the luxury ferries running from Stockholm to Turku and have a chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Finnish Archipelago. Boat connections also exist from Tallinn and Rostock over the Baltic Sea to Helsinki. From Helsinki you only have a 2-2½ hours drive to Turku. Trains offer access from central Helsinki to Turku approximately in two hours. For more information about train services, see www.vr.fi/heo/eng. Both busses and trains run once an hour.