Discover Uusikaupunki

Uusikaupunki combines a large historic wooden house district in the centre with maritime themes, museums and nearby nature destinations. If you’re looking for hotels in Uusikaupunki, these different highlights can help you choose a destination that suits your interests.

Wooden houses and maritime history

The wooden house district in the centre includes more than 40 blocks of wooden houses and over 600 pastel-coloured wooden houses. It therefore shapes a substantial part of the townscape, rather than just a few individual street scenes. According to the Finnish Heritage Agency, the district is one of Finland’s best-preserved Empire-style wooden towns. Those interested in architecture can find a tangible connection here to the town’s historic character.

Kaupunginlahti Bay also reaches into the town centre. Its old waterfront warehouses now house restaurants and terraces. Along the waterfront promenade, maritime terms and ship names illustrate Uusikaupunki’s history; ten smaller information boards complement them with photos and entertaining stories. Today’s restaurants and information about the maritime past thus come together in one place by the water.

Explore the town and its culture on foot or by bike

The Cultural History Trail is about four kilometres long and can be explored on foot or by bicycle. There are 34 marked stops along the route. This lets you explore it using your preferred mode of transport, without needing to set aside a specific amount of walking time. The Cultural History Trail brochure is available in Finnish, German and Russian; the German edition is a practical addition to the route information for German-speaking travellers.

The Uusikaupunki Automobile Museum displays a wide selection of vintage cars and other exhibits on motoring and motorsports across three exhibition halls. The Bonk Museum offers a different kind of activity in its Innovatorium, where children can design and build their own Bonk machines. Exhibitions at Runonkulma Gallery change monthly. These three attractions offer different highlights—from automotive history and motorsports to a hands-on creative activity and changing gallery exhibitions.

Nature destinations nearby

At Kasarminlahti, an accessible nature trail leads into the forest and down to the water in a safe setting. The area is rich in birdlife and serves as a resting place for migratory birds. Hiunjärvi is also an important regional bird lake. It has a marked nature trail, a shelter and a birdwatching tower. The longer loop is about 3.8 kilometres, while the shorter one is about 3.2 kilometres. The routes therefore differ in length, although both are described as loops.

Another nearby destination is Art House Pilvilinna. It has an art trail through the forest, and the garden features a rosary with hundreds of roses. Here, nature and art come together in a setting different from the marked trails at Kasarminlahti and Hiunjärvi. The rosary is a feature of the garden; no specific blooming period is associated with it.

The fortress island of Katanpää lies in Kustavi and is part of the Bothnian Sea National Park. Its fortress buildings, including the cobblestone street and wooden water tower, are protected under the Antiquities Act. This adds a protected historic site nearby to the selection, while the wooden house district, museums and waterfront promenade offer a direct introduction to Uusikaupunki’s history. Which of these different themes matters most to you can help shape your choice of destination.

Discover more destinations: Mynämäki, Härkälä, Naantali, Kaarina, Koski, Uro, Masku, Laitila

For the regional travel overview: Varsinais-Suomi.