Accessibility in Raseborg

This article is a useful guide for accessible tourism in Raseborg. Here we have listed information about the most interesting and beautiful sights of our city. Welcome to explore and fall in love with our wonderful town!

From this article you’ll find ideas and information about accessible places to visit in Raseborg. This list doesn’t contain every sight or service in Raseborg, but we tried to conclude a list with the most important and interesting sights of our town. Feel free to contact the companies you’re interested in, as there certainly are accessible places in addition to the ones listed in this article. Welcome to charming Raseborg!

Fiskars Village
Ekenäs
Sommarö
Karis
Svartå Manor
Raseborg’s Castle Ruins
Pojo
Tenala & Bromarv
Guided tours
General information

Fiskars Village

The fascinating old ironworks Fiskars Village is filled with interesting cultural and historical attractions. The village was one of Southern Finland’s most important ironworks, and is nowadays known as the center of art, design and cultural life of whole Finland. This article contains information over many of the most interesting sights of the village.

Museums & Workshops

There are several interesting museums and art exhibitions in Fiskars. The Karin Widnäs ceramics museum and gallery KWUM has a ramp on the entrance. According to the owner people with wheelchairs have gotten in. The Onoma exhibition in Kuparipaja is also accessible by wheelchair, and in both of these museums the lighting is good.

Unfortunately Fiskars Museum is inaccessible to some visitors, as there are several narrow staircases and poorly lighted rooms in the museum. There are stairs at the entrance, and the yard is also non-accessible. Nevertheless the staff of the museum is eager to help visitors, and it is also possible to book a tailored guided tour or presentation for visitors with special needs. Some of the exhibition rooms can be experienced trough the senses of touch, smell and sound. As you may need a personal assistant for visiting the museum, assistants are welcomed for free. Please contact the museum staff in advance if you have more questions – find more information from their web page here.

Fiskars Village is filled with various artists’ and artisans’ workshops and ateliers. Out of these at least the Bianco Blu glassblowing workshop has a smaller threshold, and the door can be opened for bigger wheelchairs. The same goes with the Paatero ceramics workshop on the other side of the village. The smithy’s workshop is non-accessible due to a high threshold.

Restaurants & cafés

The popular restaurant Kuparipaja, that combines local foods with modern design is entered through a door with quite a small threshold – however there have been visitors that have made it in fine nevertheless. The terrace is accessible with wheelchair, and upstairs you can go by lift. There is also an accessible toilet in the restaurant. The famous and traditional restaurant Fiskars Wärdshus has in the side entrance only a small threshold, and the terrace doesn’t have any stairs in it. The cozy Café Antique can be accessed by wheelchair from the other side of the building through Onoma Shop. Café Bar Pesula is unfortunately inaccessible due to three stairs at the entrance, but the terrace is well reachable.

Stay the night

Hotel The Torby is committed to promoting equality and accessibility. Yet you might need an assistant, for the thresholds can be quite high in an old building as such. Hotel Fiskars Wärdshus is unfortunately inaccessible due to numerous stairs. Around the Fiskars Village area there are also several cottages rented for tourists. If you wish to stay overnight in a cottage, please contact the person renting it.

Moving around in Fiskars

There are public toilets around the village in several locations. Accessible toilet rooms can be found for example next to the market field and in the old barracks building on the main street Fiskarsvägen. There are several parking areas, the most popular being the ones next to the Town Hall and the other next to the market field. There are also several benches, perfect for resting and admiring the views, for example along the river that flows through the beautiful village.

Ekenäs

Ekenäs is an idyllic seaside town that will charm you with its beauty! Here you’ll get to experience the historical milieu and stories from the fascinating Old Town, and get to sense the atmosphere of the lively small town Ekenäs now is known as. Ekenäs was founded in 1564 by the order of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa and has therefore a long and interesting history.

Museums & Galleries

Raseborgs museum is a popular attraction in Ekenäs. The museum presents regularly changing exhibitions, as well as permanent exhibition about the artist Helene Schjerfbeck and Raseborg’s history. The exhibitions are partly accessible for visitors with special needs, even though some of the rooms have poor lighting. Unfortunately the museum doesn’t have brochures or other texts in Braille. All the doorways of the museum are at least 85 cm wide and the thresholds max. 2,5 cm high. You can also loan a rollator at will, and use the accessible toilet.

Right next to the Raseborg Museum is the new, award-winning museum Chappe, where you can admire modern and contemporary art in Ekenäs. Chappe is an accessible museum with an accessible entrance from Gustav Wasas gatan. The museum’s three floors can be easily accessed by elevator, and the spaces are designed to facilitate movement with both a cane and a walker. Walkers can be borrowed from the ticket office. There are benches around the exhibition halls, but you can also borrow a lightweight chair to carry with you.

Hanko Front Museum of military history is a terrific attraction for history-lovers. The museum is located precisely where the front line of the Finnish-Soviet Continuation War in 1940’s and is therefore especially fascinating. The museum building has a ramp on the entrance, and the parking lot is located right next to the museum. The museum exhibits also old trenches, and if you’re interested about their accessibility you should contact the museum staff.

Next to the Raseborg museum the Gallery Elverket, presenting various changing exhibitions, can be entered nicely via a door with a small threshold. There’s also an accessible toilet available. There’s also two more galleries with entrances without stairs in Ekenäs, Lilla Galleriet on Gustav Vasas Gata and Gallery Perspective near the library of Ekenäs.

In addition to these sights, the church of Ekenäs can be visited via a ramp by the side door, since the main entrance has three stairs. However you may need assistance, since the ramp needs to be brought from inside the church. There’s an induction loop for hearing-impaired people.

Restaurants & cafés

Most of the restaurants in Ekenäs are accessible by wheelchair, even though some places might have higher thresholds. You can find an accessible toilet from at least the seaside restaurant GH Fyren and Ekenäs library in which you’ll find the vegetarian restaurant Hemma Hos Rastachef. By the Northern Harbor the popular restaurant Albatros is accessible with a wheelchair. The Pub Niska summer restaurant is inaccessible due to three stairs at the entrance and interiors with poor lighting.

Next to the Radhustorget market area the café Cafferiet has an entrance suitable for wheelchairs, and offers delicious lunch salads. Café Schjerfbeck on the opposite side of the market square has three stairs on it’s entrance, and next to it the Café Carl de Mumma has a terrace with a staircase, however it’s possible to go in the café. There are no accessible toilet facilities on these cafés.

Stay overnight

Motel Marine, which is located on perfectly in central Ekenäs near the beach, offers according to the owner one hotel room equipped for people with special needs. The room has a ramp, the doors are wide and the toilet is accessible. The motel’s restaurant and its terrace are also accessible. In addition to this, Hotel Sea Front can be entered accessibly, but there are no rooms equipped for special needs. The other hotels in town are non-accessible. If you’re interested about sleeping on a cottage, please contact the person renting it.

Ekenäs Camping is a camping site near the center of Ekenäs and the beautiful Ramsholmen nature park. The area is partly accessible: the reception and restaurant building is accessible, and there’s an accessible toilet in the building. However, there’s unfortunately a small threshold to the terrace. The toilet building of the camping site has a ramp, and there’s a shower chair in the accessible bathroom. However, the kitchen building is inaccessible due to an over 10cm threshold. The rental boats are relatively easy to be entered, for they’re in the nearby lawn.

Nature areas

The beautiful pearl of Ekenäs, protected forest area Ramsholmen is an excellent place for refreshing your mind. The lush park has been the local’s favorite for hundreds of years – for example the famous artist Helene Schjerfbeck has spoken admiringly of the area in her letters. The area consists of two islands and a cape, from which the cape Hagen and the first island, Ramsholmen are accessible. From the parking lot the journey starts with about 300m of gravel road, and after that the road turns into broad paths, easy to move on. Going from Hagen further to Ramsholmen, we’ll cross a bridge shown in the picture above. After this the path divides. The paths are wide and the altitude doesn’t change much. There are also benches along the way for resting with beautiful views. You can tailor the length of your visit by yourself, since the paths divide on several directions. Further in Högholmen area the paths turn narrower and more challenging.

From Ekenäs about eight kilometers towards Hanko, the beautiful Dagmar’s Park nature area surprises with it’s beauty. The crown of the park is its natural spring, which as well as the whole area is named after the Russian empress Dagmar or Maria Fedorovna, who fell in love with the beautiful bay on her cruises. The wide path starts from the parking lot going towards the spring and the beach, however accessing the beach can be difficult for the path is quite steep and turns narrower. Nevertheless the paths divide up on top of the hill into several directions and are easy to move on. In total the paths are a few kilometers long, and along them you’ll get to see beautiful views out to the sea. Unfortunately there’s no accessible toilet on the area: there’s a ramp to one of the toilets, but the toilet space is small and there are no armrests. Check out the map of the area from this link.

Moving around

There are no public toilet facilities in downtown Ekenäs on public places expect for portable toilets. The closest accessible toilets are in Ekenäs library, in Raseborgs museum and in the restaurant GH Fyren. There are several benches across the town, mostly near the shore along for example Västvallen and Skepparträdgården and Stallörensparken parks.

In addition to the accessible parking lots by the grocery stores, there are parking lots reserved for visitors with special needs on Radhustorget parking area and the parking lot in front of GH Fyren restaurant.

Sommarö & Öudden nature path

If you long for the archipelago, take a trip to the picturesque Skärlandet island and Sommaröstrand! The summer café and bistro Skärgårdsbageri & bistro offers self-baked delicious artisan products, which you can enjoy while admiring the view over the small guest harbor. There’s an accessible toilet on the sauna facilities of the café. However entering the inner facilities of the café can be challenging due to a high stair.

There’s a real nature treasure in Skärlandet island: the Öudden nature path, which was designed precisely for people with disabilities. The path passes for example a beautiful water lily pond. Since the path is a part of the arboretum area you’ll get to admire diverse plant species. At the end of the path there’s a garden for people with visual impairments, equipped with texts in Braille and a relief map of the arboretum. There are several parking lots nearby, the closest very near the path.

Karis

In Karis the Restaurant KW offers diverse quality food in an elegant setting. The restaurant rooms can be entered from behind the building via a ramp, and there’s also an accessible toilet. Hotel-restaurant Socis unfortunately doesn’t offer accessible stays. Neither does the Dönsby B&B near Karis due to several stairs both inside and at the entrance. Art Café Serendipity isn’t accessible due to several staircases in the restaurant and on the entrance. The cozy B&B Eden in Billnäs ironworks village is accessible, but as for wheelchairs, only smaller ones fit in and only with assistance.

Near the city center of Karis, the beautiful Pumpviken park area is perfect for recreation. The park stretches around the meandering Svartån river, and the wide paths are easy to move on. Along the paths there are benches for resting and admiring the lush vegetation – and perhaps even birdwatching! A specialty of the area is a quite wide hanging bridge, which connects the different parts of the park. Crossing it isn’t however necessary for seeing the whole area.

Near Karis lies a golfer’s dream, the Nordcenter Golf & Country Club. The club has a reputation of being one of the finest and most challenging golf courses in whole Finland. Therefore it’s a must-see for golfers! The area is partly accessible. The club’s parking lot is even, and the restaurant has an accessible toilet. However the entrance of the restaurant isn’t accessible. The locker rooms as well as the showers are suitable for people with disabilities. The range area is accessible, there are golf cars for use and of the courses the Benz course is accessible. The Fream course has quite an uneven terrain.

Svartå Manor

The magnificent Svartå Manor is one of the most prestigious manors in Finland. The estate was built in the 1700’s and has therefore an interesting history. The manor building itself is architecturally terrific, and the large garden area is also worth visiting, as it is well known for its beauty. During a visit make sure to take a look at the menu of the award-winning Restaurant Slottskrogen.

Svartå Manor operates as a hotel as well as a museum. The hotel unfortunately doesn’t offer rooms equipped for visitors with special needs, but the downstairs rooms are accessible for example with a wheelchair. The restaurant has an accessible toilet and has large rooms with quite a lot of space. The Manor museums first floor is accessible with large rooms with good lightning. Accessing the second floor requires climbing some stairs. Nonetheless the museum staff offers guided tours also just for the downstairs area, and even though you won’t experience the whole manor, they’ll teach you the same stories and anecdotes as for all!

The large English styled garden of the Manor is an arboretum-like park and one of the biggest private parks in Finland. The paths are wide and well-kept, and therefore nearly the whole area is accessible. How does for example a water lily pond sound like?

Raseborg’s Castle Ruins

Near the idyllic countryside village of Snappertuna lies one of the most exciting historical sight in Raseborg, the Raseborg Castle ruins. The castle was built in 1370’s to protect the coast and monitor the coastal trade lines. The original idea was for the castle to compete with Tallinn from being the most important trade center of the Baltic Sea. After it was abandoned in 1558 and has later been restored into what it looks like now.

There’s a Castle Taxi taking tourists to the castle and back. The taxi has a wheelchair seat and can be booked in advance. You can alternatively arrive by car to the nearby parking lot, where it’s about 300 meters path to the castle area and the ticket sale. The entrance of the castle courtyard is accessible via a broad bridge. However there are steep stairs and poorly lighted rooms in the interiors. The castle can therefore be admired from the courtyard.

The nearby Slottknektens stuga is a historical restaurant. It can be accessed with assistance as the hill before it is quite steep. There isn’t an accessible toilet in the restaurant, as the nearest is by the ticket sale. Unfortunately the Forngården museum in Snappertuna isn’t accessible, for the houses are old and poorly lighted.

In Snappertuna, further towards the coast from the castle, is the small forest area of Uusimaa Recreational Area Association, Kolaholmen. Kolaholmen is suitable for a short visit when you’re passing by the area. There’s a splendid archipelago view, a small sandy beach and some old, foreign tree species. The path to the beach is short, wide and flat.

Pojo

In the small village of Pojo, the Deli Tukku local foods’ shop and café is accessible through a wide, automatic door, and the inside spaces have quite a lot of space and a good lighting. The medieval church of Pojo is also accessible via a ramp.

Tenala & Bromarv

Tenala is a small countryside village near Ekenäs. Traveling past, you should definitely check out the local cheese shop, Frimans Diversehandel. The shop in addition to locally made cheese sells also diverse tools and artisan products. In addition to it, the cozy Restaurant Bakfickan is accessible with a wheelchair, however it doesn’t have an accessible toilet.

In the beautiful archipelago village of Bromarv the restaurant Theodors and the Strandbistro café in the harbor are worth stopping by. Both the interior and the terrace of Theodors and Strandbistro are accessible for example by wheelchair. There’s also an accessible toilet in Theodors.

Near Bromarv the Sandviken nature area surprises with its beauty. Sandviken is part of the Uusimaa recreational area association’s areas, and has splendid views over the bay and Turku archipelago. There are no services on the area, but the paths are quite easy to move on as they are wide and even. Read more here.

Guided tours

Raseborg has a large amount of professional guides offering themed guided tours on different villages and areas. By taking a tour you’ll dive into the stories and history of the area, and experience your surroundings on a completely different way than before. It is also possible to book a tailored guided tour specifically for your or your group’s needs. The tours can be made for example suitable for people with wheelchairs, guidings made in sign language or suitable for people with different disabilities. We recommend contacting the Western Uusimaa guideclub’s Viveca Blomberg, who will brief you about the different possibilities.

General information

There are several taxi companies that provide wheelchair spaces, for example Menevä and Raseborgs Taxi & Buss (web page in Swedish and Finnish).

If you’re traveling with a guide dog, you might be in need of veterinary aid. Read more about the veterinaries in Raseborg here.

This article doesn’t list every enterprise in Raseborg, and the information on it might change over time – yet we plan to update it regularly. This list has been concluded from the information we as the tourism office got from companies by calling them directly, and it can be subject to changes. Most of the companies told us how they have usually done when for example a person with a wheelchair has visited, but we do not have precise information about the spaces and services, when it comes to all possible disabilities. Hopefully we will have more places sending us information about their own properties, so we can update this article to be more precise in the future.

We would love to get feedback from this article! You can send your feedback via email to tourist.office@raseborg.fi or call to +358 19 2892010.

Last time updated on 14.08.2020