The best museums Western Finland Province

Craft Museum or Luostarinmäki. In 1827, the town was almost completely destroyed by fire with 2,500 houses going up in smoke. Only a modest craftsmen's quarter on the Luostarinmäki hill was spared, which has since been converted into an open-air museum and has been a national heritage site since 1940. More than 30 workshops with their signs, furniture and tools are perfectly preserved there. The whole village offers a vivid picture of the customs and shops of the 18th and 19th centuries. In summer, folk dances and concerts.

Aboa Vetus (literally "Old Turku" in Swedish) is an ingenious and relevant portrayal of a medieval district. Renovation work in the early 1990s uncovered period streets and the foundations of medieval houses. A successful reconstruction that plunges us into the everyday world of the inhabitants. Opened in 1995, the museum is still evolving as excavations continue. The Ars Nova focuses on contemporary art.

It is housed in former ceramic factories. There are several permanent exhibitions devoted to innovations, the Tammerkoski waterfalls and the civil war that raged in Tampere in 1918 (the exhibition is not recommended for children under 13). You'll also find the Post Museum, the Toy Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Finnish Hockey Museum, where you can test your aiming skills with the goal simulator. A must-see!

This museum devoted to local history and folk art is well worth a visit, offering the most comprehensive cultural panorama of the region. Rose-painted clocks and cupboards, troika sledges, kantele, old weaving looms... Three rooms are dedicated to Vaasa. The Hedman collections are housed in 12 closed rooms. This is the most astonishing part of the museum, as the collection abounds in masterpieces. Ask at the cash desk for a guide to accompany you. On the first floor, you'll find the Terranova center dedicated to the Kvarken archipelago.

A rather intriguing museum located on the second floor (and a half) of a well-built building (with beautiful stained glass windows in the hall). Organized into different sections, it focuses as much on Lenin's history as on that of the USSR in general, with a particular emphasis on its links with Finland. There are numerous historical documents, a small store and original period archives. A special mention for the checkroom, which is well worth a visit. A pleasant visit, if not compulsory!

In the heart of Vaasa, the Tikanoja Museum is an art museum with many surprises in store for you. Paintings by Gauguin, Daumier, Degas, Picasso but also by famous Finnish painters... These are some of the superb pieces in the collection of businessman Frithjof Tikanoja. This art collector has collected no less than 1,000 pieces by Finnish and international artists. They are now on display in the museum named after the famous Vaasa business man. In addition, the museum organises many events and activities.

Opened in 2007, this beautiful two-storey design museum of modern art is well worth a visit. Well located in the town of Vaasa, it is only a few steps away from the market square and the seafront. The museum is named after art collector Simo Kuntsi (1913-1984) and the art collection he created - and which can be seen here - is considered one of the most important collections of modern and contemporary art in the country. The temporary exhibitions are always very interesting.

In a bourgeois house built in 1700, a pharmacy preserved in its original state was set up in part of the building in the 19th century with two period laboratories. It is the oldest pharmacy in Finland and well worth a visit. At the same place, there is also the Qwensel House Museum. In it you can follow the history of the family of Joseph Pipping, a professor of medicine who lived in the building in the 18th century.

For design enthusiasts, it's a must! Cradle of the national company known throughout the world for its famous orange scissors, Fiskars is the village that saw the creation of this small workers' bastion. The museum traces the history of the factory and its inhabitants from the 17th century to the present day. Fiskars is a foundry company founded in 1649. In 1832, they launched the country's first cutlery factory and in 1967, they made themselves known worldwide with their famous orange chisel. On site: museum, café and souvenir shop.

Located in the old town of Naantali, the museum is spread over two wooden buildings dating from the 18th century. It reflects the bourgeois lifestyle of the small town and the trades of yesteryear. The first building houses the museum's ticket sales, an archaeological exhibition of the early days of Naantali and a miniature model of St. Bridget's Convent. The second takes visitors into 19th century interiors that show how the merchants of the small town lived. Beautiful garden with a rose garden. Count 1 hour for the visit.

A relatively small museum in terms of size, but impressive in terms of the breadth of exhibits on display, especially when said exhibits come straight from the mysterious world of espionage! You'll have the opportunity to discover new and unsuspected facets of an opaque world, learn about famous spies and even try to solve some mysteries: cryptography, Morse code and the secret chamber. Please note that photography is not permitted during the tour. Don't forget to ask for the tour booklet in French (a rarity in Finland)!

The desire of Consul Alfred Jacobsson and his wife Hélène to preserve their home in its original state to illustrate the life of the upper classes in Turku a century ago led to the creation of the very special Ett Hem Museum. One will appreciate the refined and original painted wooden furniture, typical of the region. The museum's collection also includes books by artists and sculptors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as objects typical of the bourgeois interiors of the time.

One of the liveliest museums in Turku. It houses more than 700 instruments (16th-20th centuries), including some rare pieces and important archives of the great composer Sibelius, who has a whole section devoted to his work. The aim of the museum is to bring to life the history of Finnish music from the 18th century to the present day. For music lovers, this is the most comprehensive museum in the country! The advantages: concerts are given in a room with acoustics that are necessarily excellent for such a place (tickets from 4 € to 8 €).

An imposing building in the purest Art Nouveau style (1904) stands high above Vartiovuori Park. The first floor is devoted to temporary exhibitions featuring Finnish artists. Upstairs, it's more classical, with collections representing Finland's golden age in the ^19th and ^20th centuries, with works by Aleksis Gallèn-Kallela, Hugo Simberg, Wainö Aaltonen, and more contemporary artists such as Ellen Thesleff and Helena Schjerfbeck...

Near the market square, in an empire-style building, is the city's Maritime Museum. The building was built by a wealthy shipowner to house, at the time, the sailmaking of the Wendelin shipping company. In the mid-19th century Kristinestad was one of the most important shipyard and port towns in Finland. From Kristinestad great ships set sail for all the seas of the world, even for Australia! Tar and wood were the most important export products.

Kirsti's house is a humble sailor's dwelling, built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and has become a museum. It shows how the inhabitants lived here from the 1800s to the 1970s. In the window recess, two tile hounds, whose significance goes beyond mere decoration, can be seen. Facing outwards, they indicated that the sailor was at sea, pointing inwards, this meant that the sailor was at home. The small enclosed courtyard includes the stable, the barn, the attic, the cellar and the well.

The centrally-located building, constructed in 1912, was converted into a museum in 1993. The Lönnström couple, notables of Swedish origin, had an interesting collection of art and period furniture. On site, the premises can be divided into two small museums: the Art Museum and the Home Museum.

Home Museum: this house became a museum in 1988. It is the home of the couple Teresia and Rafael Lönnström, with a fine collection of period objects and art.

Art Museum: showcases contemporary artists in painting, sculpture and more