Fiskars Village

Fiskars was founded as an ironworks in 1649 and made everything from nails to ploughs to the orange-handled scissors that carry the name, and when heavy production moved out the village of red brick and yellow ochre buildings along the river was left. From the 1990s it filled again with a different trade: designers, ceramicists, blacksmiths, glassblowers, textile makers and furniture designers took the old workshops and houses, and the village now runs on that, with studios, shops, exhibitions, a museum of the ironworks and restaurants. A design and art biennale is held here. Walking and cycling routes follow the river and the surrounding forest.

What you actually see

• Ironworks buildings turned to studios - the village of the 1649 works.
• Working craft workshops - smiths, ceramicists and glassblowers.
• The ironworks museum - the industrial history of the company.
• Riverside and forest walking routes - the country around the village.

When to go

May to September for the fullest opening; many studios and shops close or reduce hours in winter. A day. Summer weekends are busy and parking fills.

Honest expectations

Out of season much of the village is shut. It is thoroughly commercialised and prices are high. Summer weekends bring crowds to a small place. Public transport requires a connection at Karis.

Nearby

Raseborg castle is south; Ekenas lies beyond it.