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Finland’s Small Archipelago Trail: Our Bicycle Itinerary

The Archipelago Trail (in Finish: Saariston Rengastie) is arguably Finland’s most popular bicycle trail. The trail passes several beautiful, small islands that are connected by ferries. The normal archipelago trail is around 230 km long. We tested the small version of the trail, called Tour de Skiftet, that was recently opened and is only around 60km long + 60km by ferries. This trail is just as beautiful and easily doable even by families.

This blog post covers our 4-day bicycle itinerary along the small archipelago trail / tour de Skiftet. You can try to shorten the tour to 2 days if you go really fast or easily extend it to more days. We went in July and had great weather. The week before it was raining constantly, so it’s good to check the weather forecast and pack clothes/sun protection accordingly.

General Information

Route Overview

The small archipelago trail / tour de Skiftet starts in Kustavi and goes clockwise direction via several small and picturesque islands. In the archipelago, there is a large Swedish community and Swedish is the main language. Most islands have two different names: One in Swedish and one in Finnish. When looking for directions, you might see one or both of the island names or the names of the villages in the island (again, there might be different ones in Swedish and Finnish). If you are confused, it’s good to double check the name and direction on Google Maps.

Otherwise, directions are very simple. There is usually just a single road per island, shared by bicycles and cars. Luckily, there are not too many cars.

Islands are connected by ferries. Some of the smaller ferries go back and forth all the time. Other, longer-distance ferries follow fixed schedules and require booking in advance (even though nobody ever checked our reservations). All except one ferry were free. All details are in the day-by-day itinerary below. Note that all information refers to the time of writing (July 2026) and might change over time.

We completed the small archipelago trail in four days including arrival and departure day. We stayed in three different accommodations on Kustavi, Näsby, and Brändö (details below). Most islands have some cafes or restaurants and some have grocery stores. Usually, there is good Internet connection but downloading offline maps is still a good idea. We use Komoot to plan and track all our outdoor activities.

You can also complete the trail in counterclockwise direction. We liked the clockwise direction because the landscape keeps getting more and more beautiful towards the end. Brändö was our favorite island.

Bike Rental

We rented our bicycles from Carfield Bike Rental and were very happy with the service. They were the only ones we found renting bikes right at the small archipelago trail.

We rented our bicycles from the Lootholma Rental Point (Website, Google Maps). There, they rent normal, basic bicycles, bags, and even child seats. Note, that there is only space for either a child seat or bags on a single bicycle – even if the booking system lets you combine both.

If you want an electric bike or a child carrier, you can rent them from the main rental point in Turkku (website, Google Maps). They offer paid delivery to Lootholma or you can rent from there and bike yourself from Turkku. If you do, we recommend the route via the islands in the south and the ferry from Teersalo to Hakkenpää (check timetable online). The alternate land route via the big street in the north is not so nice: Many cars and quite monotonous (trust me, I missed the ferry and had to take the boring, long land route).

Parking

Parking in Kustavi is free at the school. Alternatively, there is paid parking right at the Lootholma bike rental.

4-Day Bicycle Itinerary

Here is our 4-day bicycle itinerary along Finland’s Small Archipelago Trail.

Day 1: Arrival in Kustavi

Route:

Accommodation:

  • We stayed at Tamminiemi Holiday Cottages and really liked it. They have traditional Finish summer cottages with shared showers and outdoor dry toilets + beautiful surroundings.
  • Alternatively, Peterzens Boathouse offers cottages with private bathrooms and more comfort. They also have a restaurant with dinner and breakfast buffet.
Ferry views saaristo
Jerry at the Tamminiemi Cottages (recommended accommodation).

Day 2: Kustavi to Houtskär

Route: 30 km biking + 5 ferries (2 longer, 3 shorter ones)

Accommodation: We stayed at Skärgårdsskolan / Saaristokoulu, a former school with simple rooms, shared showers, but beautiful surroundings and great breakfast. Bookings via email.

Breakfast views at Saaristo koulu
View from the breakfast room at Saaristo koulu (recommended accommodation).

Day 3: Houtskär to Brändö

Route:

  • Ferry from Näsby (harbor next to Grill Skagen restaurant) to Torsholma (Brändö). The ferry only goes once a day and needs to be booked in advance (for free) via FinFerries. Booking starts 2 weeks in advance. This was our favorite ferry: It goes around the archipelago for 2-3 hours and the views are amazing.
  • Bike from Torsholma to the accommodation (we stayed at Hotel Gullvivan): 11 km
  • There is a nice swimming spot on the way
Beautiful ferry ride on Finland's Small Archipelago Trail
Beautiful ferry ride from Näsby to Torsholma

Accommodation: Hotel Gullvivan rooms with view onto the water and very nice surroundings

Views from room in Hotel Gullvivan
Nice views from our room at Hotel Gullvivan

Day 4: Brändö Back to Kustavi

Route: 20 km biking + 1 long and 1 short ferry

We really loved cycling along Finland’s Small Archipelago Trail and hope you will like it just as much! Feel free to check out our other blog posts.

Nice view on Finland's Small Archipelago Trail

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