Hanko, Finland

...Soviets did extensive building in Hanko, and there are still ruins of fortifications in the centre of the town. The Front Museum (which I have previously reviewed for this site) is a great way to find out about what happened to and around Hanko during the second world war but there are several interesting memorials around the town including a poignant obelisk situated on the water's edge; this is the "Monument of Liberty" and it was originally ...
...there in 1918 but when the people of Hanko returned to the town in 1941 (they had fled when the Russians invaded) they found that the monument had been removed. The damaged monument was subsequently repaired and put back in its position in 1943, but removed again in 1946 before finally coming back in 1960 and has remained in place ever since.

Hanko is a beautifully picturesque place that I think would make a great place to relax after ... more

According to the town's tourist board "the sun always shines in Hanko" - so that's why I sweated all night while the hotel room radiator blasted out heat as I tried to dry my rain soaked clothes! The truth is that while the sun does not ALWAYS shine in Hanko it's a beautiful town that really deserves a visit if you are ever in the south of Finland - or the southern part of Sweden for that matter because the two are incredibly close at this point.

Hanko - known in Swedish (and this part of Finland is predominantly Swedish rather than Finnish speaking - not that I have much of an understanding of either) as Hango - is about two hours drive from Helsinki. Travel time is about the same whether you come by bus or train. Usually you will have to change at the nearby town of Kaarja; the buses and trains don't run simultaneously, you need to check when looking at timetables whether the particular service referred to is bus or train. The buses leave from in front of the train station.

Hanko has a population of around 10000 but this increase sharply in the summer when the town really comes alive as a seaside resort and centre for sailing. An archipelago of little islands, many uninhabited, lies off Hanko and hordes of sailing enthusiasts keep boats berthed at Hanko and explore the archipelago in the summer. Hanko is a fairly important cargo port but this isn't intrusive so you may hardly even notice it unless there's a really huge ship docked for loading.

The town doesn't have a huge number of "attractions" the draw comes from the beauty of the shoreline and the islands lying off it. However, there is something that Hanko is well known for and that is a collection of gorgeous Russian-style timber villas built for holidaying Russian nobles at the end of the nineteenth century. The area around the shore has lots of these villas and is known as "Spa Park". All the villas have been given women's names so the locals refer to the houses as "the old ladies". Several of these magnificent houses are now hotels and bed and breakfasts. Our budget didn't stretch to one of these but we stayed in a more recent version of one "Pensionat Garbo" which was meant to have a "Golden Age of Hollywood" theme about which the less said the better.

Hanko has expansive sandy beaches ideal for long walks in winter and swimming in summer. In September a five minute paddle was "bracing", (a polite word for f***ing freezing) one can see why the word "Baltic" is often used to describe very cold conditions. Another nice walk is along the rocks to the harbour to admire the moored boats and hear the clanging and rattling of the masts in the autumn breeze. There's a cluster of good restaurants and bars although many were closed up in September and would be until the spring.

We had also come too late for boat trips around some of the closer islands but we were able to use the new footbridge to get to "The House of the Four Winds" which is a well-known cafe with an interesting history. The cafe is in a house that was once owned by Marshal Mannerheim who went on to become President of Finland. He owned the house next door but got so vexed by the noise from parties there that he bought it. The house is on the island of Pieni Mäntysaari which is about one Kilometre along the coast from the town centre.

Between 1880-1930, almost 400,000 Finns and Russians migrated to America. Of these about 250,000 passed through Hanko to the USA, Canada or Australia via England. They started the journey on the same steamships that transported butter, the major export of those days, to England. In the town centre close to the Regatta Hotel there stands a monument to those emigrants. The names of 93 Finnish counties that lost more than 10 per cent of their population are engraved on the memorial which depicts three cranes flying out towards the sea.

A pretty Orthodox church can be seen in the Hanko skyline but it is overshadowed by the hard to miss orange water tower. It stands 65 metres tall and is reputedly one of the best places for views over Hanko and this part of the coast - I say reputedly because it was closed for the season when we visited. This is something I would have loved to have done but the water tower is only open from June until the end of August.

As well as monuments to the emigrants who left through Hanko and others commemorating seafarers who perished in this part of the Baltic, Hanko also has many military memorials. The whole cape of Hanko was rented to the Soviet Union as a naval base under the peace treaty of Moscow in 1940.The Soviet Union brought a garrison of 30,000 men to Hanko. The Soviets did extensive building in Hanko, and there are still ruins of fortifications in the centre of the town. The Front Museum (which I have previously reviewed for this site) is a great way to find out about what happened to and around Hanko during the second world war but there are several interesting memorials around the town including a poignant obelisk situated on the water's edge; this is the "Monument of Liberty" and it was originally placed there in memory of the German forces that landed there in 1918 but when the people of Hanko returned to the town in 1941 (they had fled when the Russians invaded) they found that the monument had been removed. The damaged monument was subsequently repaired and put back in its position in 1943, but removed again in 1946 before finally coming back in 1960 and has remained in place ever since.

Hanko is a beautifully picturesque place that I think would make a great place to relax after a few days in Helsinki or Turku. If you go in summer you can enjoy the pristine beaches or do some sailing. For those with no experience there re plenty of sailing schools or you can simply take a trip out on an excursion around the archipelago. It's a great place for walkers with both the coast and inland areas offering plenty of interesting things to see.

There are enough places to eat and drink though there are only a few places that look really special. Hanko has what you need for basic shopping and could never be a shopaholic's paradise. It hardly needs to be, given that everything you need is outdoors. I would recommend a trip to Hanko to anyone visiting southern Finland; families will find plenty of outdoor activities to keep children occupied while culture lovers will like the town for its plentiful public art as well as interesting galleries.

Recommended - but do consider carefully what time of year you visit. 

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