Finland Guide
Helsinki and the south
Pihlajasaari island
Website: www.pihlajasaari.net
One of Helsinki's most enjoyable islands, ideal for a day-trip from the capital, Pihlajasaari island is barely a fifteen-minute boat ride from the Merisatama small-boat harbour on Merisatamanranta, opposite the junction of Merikatu and Laivurinkatu. Creaking 30-year-old wooden pleasure boats leave once or twice hourly from here (mid-May to Aug; €5 return) for the short trip across to the island, which also goes by its Swedish name of Rönnskär. The last trip back leaves the island at 7pm. Actually two small islands linked by a narrow isthmus and footbridge, Pihlajasaari is a summer haven of wild flowers, long grasses and swaying pine and rowan trees vying for space between the outcrops of smooth bare rock that are perfect for catching a few rays. In fact, on the smaller of the two islands, reached by turning left from the boat jetty and crossing the small footbridge, is Helsinki's best nudist beach – follow the signs for the naturistiranta and note that the outer limits of the area are obsessively marked by signposts so as not to offend the Finns' very un-Scandinavian unease with public nudity. Back on the main island, itself no more than one or two kilometres in length, a network of paths leads through the forest to a series of rocky beaches and a café near the southwestern tip, a pleasant place to sit and watch the enormous superferries glide towards their destination in Helsinki en route from Sweden.