Brändö

Brändö is a municipality in Åland and the main island of the municipality.

Northern Brändö archipelago. The Åva ring structure, clearly visible on maps, was caused by a magma chamber that did not become a volcano.

Regions

Brändö consists of the villages Lappo, Asterholma, Torsholma, Baggholma, Brändö by, Björnholma, Korsö, Fiskö, Åva and Jurmo.

Lappo, Asterholma and Jurmo are separate islands, without direct road connection.

Understand

Brändö is an island group in north-east Åland, by the border to Finland Proper. Most of the major islands are connected with a road with good view out over the surrounding archipelago.

Talk

Brändö is Swedish speaking, like the rest of Åland. Knowledge of English should be good as in the rest of Finland. Knowledge of Finnish is not too good, although there are more Finnish speakers than in most of Åland.

Get in

You can reach Brändö by ferry operated by Ålandstrafiken. Ferries serve from Osnäs in Gustavs (Finnish: Vuosnainen in Kustavi) to the village of Åva ("Norra Linjen", M/S Viggen) and from Hummelvik, Vårdö ("Norra Linjen", M/S Alfågeln), to Lappo and to Torsholma. Osnäs and Hummelvik are on islands connected to the Finland and Åland mainlands, respectively, by short road ferry passages.

There are buses from Mariehamn and Åbo, and between Åva and Torsholma, connecting to some of the ferry departures. For Kustavi these services are sparse, especially off season. Off season there is a taxi connection from Kustavi to the ferry (€4) and between Åva and Torsholma (free), instead of the bus. The taxi has to be ordered in advance. The connections are described in the Ålandstrafiken timetables.

There are also connections from Houtskär (main village: Näsby) and Iniö (main village: Norrby) to Torsholma by the "Houtskärs ruttområde" and "Iniö tilläggsrutt" ferries. These are small, often calling at many minor islands, and in many cases have to be booked in advance.

Keep the ferry receipts, as the ferry onwards or back will be cheaper after a night spent in the archipelago (as defined in Åland). Also, bike tickets are valid for all the season.

Get around

To reach the separate islands there are smaller ferries, timetables from Åva-Jurmo vv., and Torsholma-Lappo-Asterholma vv. Note that some arrivals need to be booked in advance.

See

• Brändö's Church, Brändö by. weekdays mid June to mid August. A wooden cross church built in the 1890s. 
• Archipelago Museum, Lappo. Old boats and fishing and hunting tools. There's also an blacksmith's workshop. 

Do

• The island Jurmo (ferry from Åva), ☎ [phone]. See the highland cattle, take a stroll in the woods at a walking path, climb the watch tower to see the islands surrounding Jurmo. Visit their small museum with fishing tools in an old fishing hut. Eat at their restaurant and café open in the summer months and sleep at their hostel. From the small grocery shop open in summer time you can buy food to prepare in the hostel. There's also possible to go on boat excursions to see e.g. seals, an old fishing camp, and rent kayaks and bikes. 

Eat

Drink

Buy

Sleep

Stay safe

Go next