Hanko

Hanko occupies the tip of a long peninsula and is the southernmost town on the Finnish mainland, with water on three sides and around thirty kilometres of sandy shoreline, which is a great deal by Finnish standards. It grew as a spa resort at the end of the nineteenth century, and the wooden villas built then along the shore, with towers, verandas and carved gables painted in pale colours, are what most people come to see, along with the water tower, the long harbour front and a sailing regatta that fills the town in July. It was also the port from which large numbers of emigrants left for North America, recorded in a small museum.

What you actually see

• Wooden spa villas - towers and verandas along the shoreline.
• Thirty kilometres of sandy beach - unusual on this coast.
• The harbour and July regatta - the sailing week that fills the town.
• The emigration museum - the port's role in departures for America.

When to go

June to August; the town is busy in July and quiet the rest of the year. A day or two. Accommodation books out for the regatta week. Out of season much of it closes.

Honest expectations

It is a short summer season and outside it the town is largely shut. July is crowded and expensive, especially regatta week. The Baltic is cold even in August. Trains require a change at Karis.

Nearby

Ekenas is east; Bengtskar lighthouse lies offshore to the south.