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NYT names Finland’s Turku as top post-pandemic travel destination
River Aura has long been the lifeline of Turku, an over 190,000-resident coastal city in Southwest Finland.
Vesa AaltonenTurku, an over 190,000-resident city on the south-western coast of Finland, has been included on a list of 52 destinations that are worth a visit once the coronavirus pandemic is over by The New York Times.
The list was put together based on reader suggestions for places that delighted, inspired and comforted them during the bleak, pandemic-disrupted year. Turku was nominated due to its proximity to nature and its long-established pulsating lifeline, River Aura.
“I fell in love with the city on my first day,” said the nominator, doctoral student Avanti Chajed. “I was walking across a bridge over the Aura River – it was sunny, and the schools hadn’t quite started yet, so there were people all along the grassy areas on the riverbank. I remember thinking, ‘I want to live here forever’.”
News of the nomination was welcomed with delight and as token of hope that better times lay ahead in Turku.
“It’s a heart-warming feeling to look forward to the future,” Lotta Bäck, the head of international marketing at Visit Turku, stated to YLE. “Turku has been through somewhat of a makeover in the past years, and we have a booming restaurant industry, as well as a wonderful archipelago for visitors wanting to explore the nature surrounding our city.”