The Ring Road on the West Coast of Finland

I just got home from a 250 km journey that included a 200 km bike ride on the coast of Finland. Locally, this trip is called the 'rengastie' and it is a very popular summer travel destination in Finland, especially now that people are staying close to home due to the pandemic. You can complete the journey with nearly every vehicle imaginable; there are plenty of caravans and cars, public buses, bikers and hikers. The one thing you can't avoid is the ferries because the route is essentially an island hop, and the ferries are the best part of it. Apart from one ferry, they are all free making the route accessible to everyone.

We left on Thursday afternoon from Turku and decided to take on the route in a clockwise direction starting from a ride to Parainen.

From Parainen we boarded our first ferry to Nauvo island where we stayed on the highest peak of the island. The peak was approximately 60 meters high so it wasn't really a mountain, but the sunset view was everything.

The next morning, we drove to Nauvo city to eat breakfast and swim. Even though the tourist season was over and the route had quieted down a lot, the weather was perfect.

From Nauvo, we headed to Korppoo which was simply a quick drive through. We stayed our second night in Houtskari.

The only ferry that requires a ticket leads to Iniö and takes around 50 minutes.

From Iniö, you continue on another ferry to Kustavi and then you have 68 kilometres back to Turku. We decided to split this and camped at Kesäranta campsite for the last night where we had a lovely sauna and chill.

The ride back to Turku went well, the side of the highway is in a good condition and the hills are not too steep. Once we arrived, we went back to the cathedral to take the 'after' photo and ordered some pizzas to the riverside.

It was beautiful

I would still recommend circling the ring this way around.