Raahe – Wooden Town and Archipelago

Raahe combines a remarkably well-preserved wooden town with an archipelago of around 50 small islands and skerries. At the Crown Granary Museum, the city’s history spans from prehistoric times to the present day; outside, wooded inner islands and open skerries in the sea create a very different landscape. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Raahe, you can plan your stay around whether you mainly want to experience the Old Town and its culture, explore the archipelago, or include both in your trip.

A wooden town with a living history

Old Town Raahe is one of Finland’s best-preserved 19th-century wooden towns. The district is not a museum area, but an inhabited part of the city. Its houses and streets convey architectural history and ways of life not merely as a look back at the past: here, a historic townscape can be experienced as part of everyday life today. If you would like to hear more about life in earlier times, you can join a guided tour by the Raahe Guides Association. The tours take you through the Old Town on foot or by bus and tell stories about the lives of local people, sailors, craftspeople and members of the upper class.

Museums and special insights

The Old Gentleman, the world’s oldest surviving diving suit, is housed in the Crown Granary. The Crown Granary Museum presents snapshots of Raahe’s history, from prehistoric times to the present day. One exhibition also offers an interactive experience of an archaeological excavation at Tervakangas: visitors explore it via a touchscreen. Historical insights and a digital activity of your own are thus presented side by side.

The Packhouse Museum focuses on sailing in Raahe and the exotic treasures that sailors brought back from their voyages. Its Church Hall also houses wooden sculptures by Mikael Balt from the 17th century. Balt made them for Raahe’s old church. This gives you different options for planning a cultural visit: city history at the Crown Granary, maritime heritage at the Packhouse Museum and 17th-century sculpture.

You can also discover traditional crafts in Raahe. At Himmelipaja – Raahen Taitopaja, you can make a himmeli beneath a “himmeli sky,” in either a traditional or modern style. You can choose natural materials or glass tubes; over coffee, you can learn more about the himmeli tradition. The “Koe Elämää Langin Kauppahuoneella” experience combines stories about life in 19th-century Raahe with coffee and a slice of cake of your choice.

Islands and outdoor trails

The Raahe Archipelago comprises around 50 small islands and skerries. The inner islands close to the coast are more heavily wooded; farther out in the open sea are small, open skerries. A significant part of the archipelago belongs to the Natura 2000 network because of its birdlife, vegetation and habitat types. These differences give the island region several distinct faces – from vegetated islands to the open skerries out at sea.

An island-hopping cruise visits three islands, with stops ashore on two of them. The tour includes a light maritime lunch on one of the islands. If you would rather explore on foot or by bicycle, the archipelago has networks of trails, information boards, campfire sites and rest areas. In winter, you can reach the archipelago across the ice on foot, on skis, on snowshoes, by fat bike or by sled. The Flatland Route cycle route passes through Raahe and adds to the options for exploring the city by bike.

Local flavours

Brahe Afternoon Tea combines local flavours from Raahe with the traditional English afternoon tea experience. Together with the light maritime lunch on the island-hopping tour and coffee served with the stories at Langin Kauppahuone, it offers several distinct culinary highlights. When choosing your accommodation, you can consider which of these experiences and which part of Raahe you would like to make the focus of your trip.

Discover more places

You can also explore these places: Yli-Valli, Vahto, Arvaja, Vieremä, Kiviperä, Kuusamo, Kärkölä and Komsi.

For the broader travel overview: North Ostrobothnia.