Aland Islands

[magbrin]

Do you ever wish you could turn the clocks back 10 - 15 years? We are on our way back through the Baltic States having spent some time in Finland, including the Aland Islands (roughly half way between Finland and Sweden). We spent a week on the islands at the end of September. We found 7 amazing coastal spots, on 7 consecutive nights. The main islands are quite compact so filling and emptying facilities were never far away, in the main town of Mariehamn. There are very few restrictions on where you can park, and we were blessed with beautiful weather - although one night was quite stormy. It reminded us of how easy it used to be to wild camp in Scotland and Europe. Unfortunately things have changed over the years, but in Aland it really took us back! Please get in touch if you would like more information.

 

[TJBi]

Do you ever wish you could turn the clocks back 10 - 15 years? We are on our way back through the Baltic States having spent some time in Finland, including the Aland Islands (roughly half way between Finland and Sweden). We spent a week on the islands at the end of September. We found 7 amazing coastal spots, on 7 consecutive nights. The main islands are quite compact so filling and emptying facilities were never far away, in the main town of Mariehamn. There are very few restrictions on where you can park, and we were blessed with beautiful weather - although one night was quite stormy. It reminded us of how easy it used to be to wild camp in Scotland and Europe. Unfortunately things have changed over the years, but in Aland it really took us back! Please get in touch if you would like more information.

Have you submitted these locations on the Location App?

 

[Moocher]

Absolutely stunning views.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Do you ever wish you could turn the clocks back 10 - 15 years? We are on our way back through the Baltic States having spent some time in Finland, including the Aland Islands (roughly half way between Finland and Sweden). We spent a week on the islands at the end of September. We found 7 amazing coastal spots, on 7 consecutive nights. The main islands are quite compact so filling and emptying facilities were never far away, in the main town of Mariehamn. There are very few restrictions on where you can park, and we were blessed with beautiful weather - although one night was quite stormy. It reminded us of how easy it used to be to wild camp in Scotland and Europe. Unfortunately things have changed over the years, but in Aland it really took us back! Please get in touch if you would like more information.

That height barrier looks a bit low though, were you in a mini?

 

[Moonraker 2]

Wow that's wonderful. Sadly I will never go there.

 

[magbrin]

No, van parking was outside the arrier

 

[magbrin]

Have you submitted these locations on the Location App?

No, sorry, don't have them, but Happy to give details to anyone interested, as well as other useful information, Including ferries.

 

[Tim120]

No, sorry, don't have them, but Happy to give details to anyone interested, as well as other useful information, Including ferries.

Yes please, I would be interested as I have not been to that part of the world. Did you enter Finland via Estonia or Sweden?
Any info much appreciated either on here or via message.

 

[magbrin]

Yes please, I would be interested as I have not been to that part of the world. Did you enter Finland via Estonia or Sweden?
Any info much appreciated either on here or via message.

We arrived home from our trip this morning. We went via Estonia. We had thought of coming back via Sweden, Norway and Denmark, but because of the time of year, and because we hadn't seen all we wanted to in the Baltic States, we followed the Russian and Belarus borders back through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The Aland Islands (not to be confused with Oland Island, Sweden) belong to Finland but the spoken language is Swedish. There are plenty of places where you can park, and there are very few restrictions. Services are less easy to find, but the best one we found was at the port in Mariehamn.

Basically we left home in near Inverness in our VW Crafter conversion for our 8 week trip. We crossed from Newcastle to Amsterdam, drove to Kiel and took a ferry to Klaipeda, Lithuania. We travelled north via Riga, Latvia and Tallinn, Estonia then crossed to Helsinki and spent a few days in the Finnish Lakes in Southern Finland and then on another ferry to Aland.

 

[gasgas]

That sounds lovely, a very unusual trip. Glad to hear you didn't suffer from any Russian missile welcoming.

 

[Tonybvi]

Welcome home Angus and Margaret. Sounds like you had a great trip and we’re looking forward to hearing all about it when we next meet up.

 

[Lilofee]

Hi there, we are planning to set off with our Land Rover Defender and a roof tent to explore the islands and a bit of Finland in July/August. We'll be traveling there via Sweden and are starting to get super excited! Just wondering what were your favourite islands/spots? Did you book ferries in advance or just wing it? Was it easy to find a spot for the night, away from people? Any advice and tips would be massively appreciated, thank you in advance!

 

[magbrin]

Hi there, we are planning to set off with our Land Rover Defender and a roof tent to explore the islands and a bit of Finland in July/August. We'll be traveling there via Sweden and are starting to get super excited! Just wondering what were your favourite islands/spots? Did you book ferries in advance or just wing it? Was it easy to find a spot for the night, away from people? Any advice and tips would be massively appreciated, thank you in advance!

The ferries are amazing - better than any other we have experienced! We booked our outward journey, from Finland, but only booked our return (to Finland) a day or two before leaving. There are lots of ferries, so booking may not be necessary with just a Landrover. The islands are small enough that we covered most of them in a week, but would happily have stayed longer. Lots of wild, quiet places, but no hills! Not a lot of people, anywhere, but we were there in the second half of September. It may be busier in the height of summer. We used the iOverlander app, but mainly found spots we liked just by passing/looking out for good places - all on the coast. There are almost no restrictions and many of the spots we found were close to a basic toilet. Well, well worth a visit it was so easy and so relaxed!

 

[Lilofee]

The ferries are amazing - better than any other we have experienced! We booked our outward journey, from Finland, but only booked our return (to Finland) a day or two before leaving. There are lots of ferries, so booking may not be necessary with just a Landrover. The islands are small enough that we covered most of them in a week, but would happily have stayed longer. Lots of wild, quiet places, but no hills! Not a lot of people, anywhere, but we were there in the second half of September. It may be busier in the height of summer. We used the iOverlander app, but mainly found spots we liked just by passing/looking out for good places - all on the coast. There are almost no restrictions and many of the spots we found were close to a basic toilet. Well, well worth a visit it was so easy and so relaxed!

Thank you so much for your reply, we really appreciate it. We can't wait for our little road trip!