To anyone unfamiliar with the region, Åland is a puzzling place for a cruise ship to stop. An archipelago of, literally, thousands of islands with a population of just over 30,000 between them, it’s a middle-of-nowhere sort of place scattered in the sea between Sweden and Finland. There’s no road access. Ferries take four hours from Stockholm and about seven from the main Finnish departure point. There’s little industry, few towns and not much to see beyond the pretty … though not spectacular … landscape of red granite boulders rising from the waters, clothed with pines and birches. It’s as if a petulant giant scattered his bag of marbles and left nature to cover them over. Despite this world of near-pristine wilderness, disturbed occasionally by hunting and fishing cottages, Åland’s tiny capital has an impressive port facility capable of landing and processing more than its whole population (12,000) ever day. Why? Alcohol.
Thanks to its quirky history … founded by Russians, fought over by Swedes and Finns, now part of the later but linguistically and culturally more of the former … the islands are not part of the EU customs zone. Ferries heading to and from Mariehamn can sell duty-free alcohol. Given the high taxation on booze in Northern European countries, the exemption is enough to spark a whole industry. Evidently many Swedes don’t even bother getting off the boats; they just book a round trip, fill up their cars with bottles and enjoy the seascapes.
Cheap, bulk alcohol is, of course, not much of a lure for international cruise passengers. But the cruise lines had to find places to go on round-Baltic cruises once the Ukrainian war closed Russian ports, and Mariehamn had the facilities.
St. Petersburg, it is not.
In fact, if you were to be dropped magically onto one of the town’s streets with any signage and license plates removed, you might swear you were somewhere in the northern half of the American Midwest. Straight, broad, tree-lined streets are populated by clapperboard houses with steep eaves decorated with gingerbread woodwork. Windows are picked out in brightly-coloured wooden frames. Neat gardens sit behind white picket fences. Almost everything in late 19th century, and looks to have been built within just a few decades. Mariehamn channels the spirit of places like Muskegon, Michigan, that boomed at the height of the Industrial Revolution and became economic backwaters soon after.
All of this makes it a pleasant place to take a stroll, especially if you’re fond of Victorian architecture. Mariehamn was blessed by a lady named Hilda Hongell, Finland’s first female master builder and the designer of more than 100 buildings in town. Forty four remain, including the one she built for herself and her family, and most are in excellent condition. Little variations of colour scheme, roof line, gable decoration and wooden ornament differentiate the various houses. There are also several buildings by Lars Sonk, Finland’s most famous architect, including one delightful summer house that looks like a mash-up of the cottage from Hansel and Gretel and a Viking long hall. The money that drove the late 19th century building boom wasn’t alcohol, but shipping. Currents around Mariehamn mean its port almost never freezes over, making it a central point in the Baltic supply chain as steam ships stepped up the pace of international trade. Tsar Alexander II established the place (he owned at at the time) and named it after his wife. Local shipping magnates recognised an opportunity and poured money into development. Near the port you can see the tall ship Pommern, an example of the vessels from which they earned their fortunes, now art of a maritime museum.
Even if you don’t have a guide to tell you that the place was master-planned in the 1860s, you’d figure it out. Europe just doesn’t do grid plans this ruthless, with the exception of Roman ruins. The town centre is bisected by one particularly grand, double-width avenue with a promenade down the middle between rows of Linden trees, overlooked on each side by particularly large houses and churches. There are even several consulates, which seems odd for the size of the place but is more logical when you consider the politics of international supply chains. The most striking scene in town right now is the gracious mansion behind a very tall, very secure-looking fence flying a very large Russian flag. The middle of the promenade across the street is full of the Ukrainian colours and peace signs, and has been re-named “Ukrainaplatsen”.
Even if you don’t have a guide to tell you that the place was master-planned in the 1860s, you’d figure it out. Europe just doesn’t do grid plans this ruthless, with the exception of Roman ruins. The town centre is bisected by one particularly grand, double-width avenue with a promenade down the middle between rows of Linden trees, overlooked on each side by particularly large houses and churches. There are even several consulates, which seems odd for the size of the place but is more logical when you consider the politics of international supply chains. The most striking scene in town right now is the gracious mansion behind a very tall, very secure-looking fence flying a very large Russian flag. The middle of the promenade across the street is full of the Ukrainian colours and peace signs, and has been re-named “Ukrainaplatsen”.
I wish I could say that the business district at the end of this avenue was worthy of the build up. It is, sadly, a disappointment. I’d been hoping for the collection of galleries, boutiques and craft shops, balanced with cute cafes and atmospheric pubs and restaurants, that you often get in resort towns. But this high street was a resolutely local affair, there to provide basics to locals rather than charm to visitors. Worse, the Victorian beauty of the residential streets disappears in the commercial district. It’s dominated instead by blocky, characterless cement blocks from the late 20th century.
A bus tour got us out of the town centre, continuing the theme. Great landscape, a charming vernacular architecture in the housing stock, but properly ugly commercial properties. Luckily there simply isn’t much of the latter. Our drive explored narrow strips of land linked by multiple bridges and populated by groups of summer cottages. Just outside Mariehamn we wound up to the top of a high hill with sweeping views of the archipelago.
We were blessed with a sunny day that, when out of the wind, almost passed for warm. I can certainly see the appeal for someone who wants an outdoorsy holiday in beautiful surroundings. But Americans, certainly, can find similar landscapes in Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and the like. It was a unique place to see that I can’t imagine ever getting to without the re-route from St. Petersburg. But it’s no match to the cultural capital of Russia. I question why Viking didn’t go direct from Stockholm to the Southern shore of the Baltic, trying Riga, Latvia or Tallinn, Estonia. Or even the old Hansa port of Visby on Sweden’s Gotland. All would have been far more significant on the cultural front. But I suspect none of them have a fully formed booze cruise port. I can’t recommend Mariehamn is you want a cruise that gives you significant destinations at every stop. But if you want bragging rights to visiting a quirky place that almost everyone you know won’t have heard of, Mariehamn is a good place.
A bus tour got us out of the town centre, continuing the theme. Great landscape, a charming vernacular architecture in the housing stock, but properly ugly commercial properties. Luckily there simply isn’t much of the latter. Our drive explored narrow strips of land linked by multiple bridges and populated by groups of summer cottages. Just outside Mariehamn we wound up to the top of a high hill with sweeping views of the archipelago.
We were blessed with a sunny day that, when out of the wind, almost passed for warm. I can certainly see the appeal for someone who wants an outdoorsy holiday in beautiful surroundings. But Americans, certainly, can find similar landscapes in Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and the like. It was a unique place to see that I can’t imagine ever getting to without the re-route from St. Petersburg. But it’s no match to the cultural capital of Russia. I question why Viking didn’t go direct from Stockholm to the Southern shore of the Baltic, trying Riga, Latvia or Tallinn, Estonia. Or even the old Hansa port of Visby on Sweden’s Gotland. All would have been far more significant on the cultural front. But I suspect none of them have a fully formed booze cruise port. I can’t recommend Mariehamn is you want a cruise that gives you significant destinations at every stop. But if you want bragging rights to visiting a quirky place that almost everyone you know won’t have heard of, Mariehamn is a good place.
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