The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi

Hubby and I were invited to Porvoo to celebrate our friend Teemu’s 40th birthday. He had arranged a cruise along the Porvoo river for all the guests aboard M/S Fredrika – the scenery was amazing.

You can do a similar cruise yourself on the Fredrika from mid-June till mid-August. The boat is also available for chartering.

Fredrika is a sweet boat, perfect for cruises like this.

Our captain, Ari Kautto, was very knowledgable and had a lot of information about Porvoo to share.

We first cruised towards the Old Town but as the scenery that way is so quintessentially Porvoo, I will show you the other way first – towards the sea. Has anyone else noticed how the word quintessential is trending at the moment? I just need to learn to pronounce it right.

But alas, let’s get back to the cruise. Along the riverside you can find cafés and terraces.

Porvoo is known as a summer city but I think it’s a great destination even in winter.

The “new Porvoo” on the other side of the river.

Graffiti even!

Vintage wooden boats are always nice to look at.

S/S Armas is an old steam boat built in 1908.

The river is popular with boaters but also kayakers.

And jet skis.

A secret past time of mine is gazing at houses along the riverbank and imagining what it would be like to live there.

These chairs just invite you to sit down with your morning coffee. If you lived there that is.

Many of the residents of Porvoo are enthusiastic sailors.

This looks like a sauna to me.

We were all puzzled at to what these sticks were. Apparently there used to be docks here.

The J.L. Runeberg sails from Helsinki to Porvoo and vice versa. It’s a good idea to take the boat to Porvoo and the bus back to Kamppi bus terminal if visiting for a day trip.

We cruised all the way to Runeberg’s rock. You will see a lot of Runeberg in Porvoo. He is Finland’s national poet and lived most of his life in Porvoo. Runeberg liked hunting but also fishing and apparently he got a good haul from around this rock.

Next, photos to the Old Town stretch of the river.

Ahh – picture perfect. Porvoo is one of the oldest medieval towns in Finland.

These cute red-coloured wooden storage buildings on the riverside are something a visitor will always recognise as Porvoo.

You can dock with your own boat at some of the riverside restaurants and enjoy a meal before taking off again.

Porvoo is popular with stag parties in summer. This party below could be something else though as there are men and women. Hey there – one of them seems to be saying.

Here’s a short video of the most fabulous part of the cruise:

Porvoo Old Town from the Sea from Mrs Suvi on Vimeo.

Have you been to Porvoo? Do you like taking scenic cruises like this?

xx