Åland Islands Postcrossing Adventure – June 7-10, 2022

Our annual Postcrossing adventures to the Åland Islands have been part of our association’s annual program since its first year of operation. The popularity and feedback from these trips has been truly heartwarming. This year, the trip will be held for the first time in four days.

We welcome you to the sixth Postcrossing Adventure to the Ålands Islands on June 7-10, 2022! Come and enjoy four full days not only with our postcard hobby, but also with the unique and amazing Åland archipelago and nature, the huge selection of local delicacies, and, of course, the wonderful company of other postcrossers. Check out our itinerary below and register soon!

This year, too, the program has unique elements. Åland celebrates the centenary of autonomy, and the actual festival day falls on our trip, Thursday 9 June. This day is free from our own program so you can take part in various events in Mariehamn. Our new destination is the archipelago of Föglö, where we will spend a whole day.

The adventure starts at Turku’s Viking Line terminal early Tuesday morning. When you arrive at the port to pick up tickets, you will also receive a meetup passport (name badge). As soon as we board the ship, we take our belongings to the cabins (one cabin divided for eight people) and move into the conference room of M/S Viking Glory (deck 9). A unique Goodie Bag also awaits you as a welcome gift in the conference room. We get to know each other a little better and of course, we write postcards. We will play Postcrossing bingo where everyone wins something. In addition, a paid lottery with great prizes. If you want something exotic for your postcards, you can drop a few postcards into Viking Glory’s mailbox. These postcards are stamped not only with Viking Glory’s own ship stamp, but also with the Navire stamp of the port city (you can use Finnish, Åland, or Swedish stamps). Coffee, tea, and fruit are available throughout the meetup (included in the price).

After the meetup, we will enjoy a delicious three-course lunch at the bistro-style restaurant Kobba (lunch and wine included). While dining, you can enjoy stunning archipelago views. We arrive in Mariehamn early in the afternoon. We walk a short distance to the hotel Adlon (300 meters, right next to the terminal).

However, we do not want to waste time in a hotel. We have a short break to take our luggage to the rooms and a short refreshment, after which we start our first day in Åland.

We will gather in the hotel’s breakfast room, where we will meet the Artist of the Year 2022 of the Finnish Postcrossing Friends Association, photographer Niclas Nordlund. Niclas will tell us fascinating stories about his photos that ended up as postcards. We have the opportunity to buy at a special price not only Niclas’ wonderful postcards but also other products made from his photographs. You can continue writing postcards here, coffee and tea are included (included in the price). If you prefer, you can also take a few steps across the road to the Hamnboden boutique, where you will find local products for yourself and as a gift.

In the early evening, we gather for dinner a few steps away in the restaurant Nautical (dinner included in the price, drinks at own cost). The restaurant is located next to the Maritime Museum and offers great views of the museum ship S/S Pommern and the Sviby Bay. If you wish, you can visit the Maritime Museum before dinner, or do some serious shopping at its gift shop, you will find postcards of course. We recommend visiting the Maritime Museum, the Åland Maritime Museum has been chosen as the Museum of the Year in 2016.

After charging ourselves at the hotel breakfast, the bus will take us to Svinö Ferry Pier in Lumparland. A half-hour ferry ride on M/S Skarven takes us to Degerby in Föglö. There is a café on the ferry where you can get M/S Skarven postcards and stamps.

From Degerby, our local guide, Tea Ojala, will board the bus and take us through Föglö and its history. We visit e.g. at Föglö Church, and at the Matsmårs Homestead Museum. At a convenient time we refresh ourselves with coffee and an Åland pancake in Enigheten (included in the price).

The tour ends by the sea at Restaurant Seagram. Here we enjoy lunch (included in the price) and spend the afternoon writing postcards. The Seagram has a large outdoor terrace. While writing postcards we enjoy coffee and ice cream with homemade cola sauce, meringues, and strawberries (included in the price). If you want, you can take a walk on the village track of Degerby, which is like a nostalgic time trip a few decades back.

Today, Åland’s autonomy is exactly 100 years old! There are many different events in Mariehamn, so today you can spend the full day the way you want.

We will put together a small pocket guide for you where you’ll find local tips on cafes, restaurants, flea markets, bookstores, and many other places worth visiting. Right next to the terminal, you can, for example, rent a bike from RO-NO RENT to see even more, at your own pace and interest. Unless you are fascinated by the city, a bike ride towards Järsö Island offers stunning views along the archipelago road. At the end of the road, you will find the idyllic café Stickstugan with a variety of its delicious cakes.

Would you like to experience something we as a big group can’t? Go on a lighthouse trip to Märket or Lågskär. We offer these excursions for an additional fee for those who wish.

The Märket excursion can take 8 people. The tour starts at the hotel in the morning at 8 am, from where we travel by minibus towards Käringsund in Eckerö. From here we travel about 45 minutes by boat to Märket, where the volunteers of the Finnish Lighthouse Society introduce us to the lighthouse. We also enjoy coffee here (included in the price). You can also buy products from the Lighthouse Society, postcards, stamps, etc. from Märket.

The Lågskär excursion can take 6 people. The tour starts from the east harbor at 5 pm, we will do a small island-jump as our main destination is Lågskär lighthouse. We arrive back in Mariehamn at about 9 pm.

If there are more people interested than places, we will draw those who can have places for these excursions. The draw will take place the weekend before the trip. First we will draw participants to the Märket excursion, and then to the Lågskär excursion (provided, however, that those who have a place on the Märket excursion will not be included in the draw unless places are available after the non-select participants on the Märket excursion). Weather reservation!

Today is the last day of our adventure. In the morning at 9 am, our charter bus will take us to Sviby, Jomala, where Åland Post’s headquarters and terminal are located. The wonderful people at Åland Post Frimärken (stamp unit) welcome us and have some program for us.

You can also buy stamps here, all stamps in their stocks – and other products – are available. Åland Post will also publish a special cancellation to celebrate our sixth Postcrossing Adventure to the Åland Islands. You can leave your postcards here to get this special cancellation on them.

Our bus will take us back to the city at 11 am. Everyone returns to the Viking terminal on their own.

Finnish Postcrossing Friends Association members

• 449€ in shared double room
• 569€ in single room

Non-members

• 469€ in shared double room
• 589€ single room

Included in price:

• Goodie Bag
• Cruise tickets Turku – Maarianhamina – Turku
• Shared cabin onboard M/S Viking Glory and M/S Viking Grace (bathroom in cabins)
• À la carte lunch and wine at M/S Viking Glory
• Three nights hotel accommodation in a single or double room at Hotel Adlon
• Three hotel breakfasts at the Adlon Hotel
• Postcrossing meetup at M/S Viking Glory conference facilities, coffee/tea and fruits included
• Bus transportations to/in Föglö and Sviby
• Ferry trips Svinö – Degerby – Svinö
• Guided tour in Föglö
• Coffee and Ålands pancake in Enigheten, Degerby
• Lunch, coffee and ice cream in Seagram, Degerby
• Dinner in Västerro
• Special cancellation event in Sviby
• Buffet-dinner in M/S Viking Grace
• Farewell party and sparking wine in M/S Viing Grace

For additional price:

• Excursion to the Märket Lighthouse +120€ (max. 8, weather reservation)
• Excursion to the Lågskär Lighthouse +100€ (max. 6, weather reservation)