I visited Moominworld as part of a paid collaboration with Finnair.
I spent part of my Christmas holiday in northern Finland this year, and Alfie nearly froze his paws off in the -30° degree weather. Well, not really – he was of course wearing shoes outside!
And while I do love Finland in the winter, I was particularly excited when Finnair invited me to celebrate the Moomins’ 80th birthday in June. It had been a couple years since I had visited Finland in the summer, and wow is Finnish summer lovely.
But I was also so excited to finally get to visit Moominworld in Naantali!
Like most Scandinavians I of course grew up with the Moomin stories, but I think I’ve fallen more in love with them in adulthood. I remember being so delighted when I received my first bank card while living in Japan and it was covered in Moomins. It turned out Moomins were even more popular in Japan than in Norway, and in fact Japan also has its own Moominvalley Park in Hanno, about an hour outside of Tokyo.
But if you want to see the true home of the Moomins you have to travel to the Finnish town of Naantali, outside of Turku.
How to get to Naantali
Of course I had to spend some time in Helsinki, one of my favorite cities, as well. Read my Helsinki guide here. And then I took the bus to Naantali, which took about two hours.
But if you have some more time you could also visit Turku as well! Turku is just 20 minutes from Naantali and a really lovely seaside city. Turku is actually Finland’s oldest city and used to be the Finnish capital up until Finland was taken over by Russia in the early 1800s. I’ve written more about visiting Turku and the surrounding area here.
You can take the train from Helsinki to Turku, or either the Matkahuolto bus or Onnibus.
And then you can take the local Föli bus (6, 6T, 7 and 7T) from Turku to Naantali, which takes about 45 minutes, or a taxi/uber for 20 minutes.
Or you could rent a car and make a road trip out of it! The Turku archipelago has so many beautiful places to visit.
Moominworld
Moominworld is a a storybook park based on The Moomins, where you can see your favorite characters, explore their homes, watch shows (in Finnish), and basically let your Moomin fantasies come alive.
Moominworld is set on its own little island, which you get to by walking across a bridge from downtown Naantali. The surrounding nature is also beautiful with cute forest trails sometimes leading to Moomin surprises, and it was so fun wandering around the park and bumping into Moomintroll, Snufkin, Little My, and Moominmamma.
There are several play areas for children, but I was surprised by how adult friendly the park is. You certainly don’t need kids along to have a wonderful time here.
Moominworld is open in the summer from June to August. You can find the exact opening times here. It’s cheapest to book your tickets online, which you can do here.
Oh and remember to bring your swimsuit, as there’s a beach in Moominworld as well!
Naantali
I also really enjoyed spending some time in Naantali itself. Finns say that it’s always sunny in Naantali, and sure enough, it was a beautiful sunny day when I visited!
I especially enjoyed lunch at Merisali, which is right on the water and has lovely outdoor seating with seaside views.
Where to stay near Moominworld
If you want to stay in Naantali (and I think you should!), Hotel Amandis, Hotel Palo, and Bridget Inn are all a short walk from the park.
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