Top 10 Lighthouses in Finland
Lights on a Fractured Coast
Finland's coastline is unlike any other in Europe: the mainland edge dissolves into the Archipelago Sea, the world's largest archipelago by number of islands, where the land fragmentates into tens of thousands of skerries, rocks and islands between the Åland Islands and the Gulf of Finland. Navigation in this sea requires a chart, a careful eye and, historically, a dense network of leading lights, sector lights and offshore lighthouses. The Finnish lighthouse service, operating from Helsinki under the direction of the Board of Navigation, built and maintained a system that had to cope not only with the labyrinthine channels but with sea ice that closes much of the coast from December to April. Several of Finland's most celebrated lighthouses are offshore rock stations on the outer Baltic, built in granite and iron to withstand the ice packs and storms that sweep the open sea. The tradition of lighthouse building here is deeply tied to the engineering skills of the nineteenth century and to the seamanship of the Finnish coast pilots who knew these channels by memory.
1. Bengtskär Lighthouse, Archipelago Sea
Bengtskär is the tallest lighthouse in the Nordic countries, its granite tower rising 52 metres from a bare rock skerry in the outer Archipelago Sea, southwest of the Hanko Peninsula. It was built between 1904 and 1906 to a design by architect Bruno Granholm, who gave the building an unusually monumental form — a thick-walled round tower with Neo-Romanesque detailing, rising from a two-storey stone keeper's dwelling that occupies nearly the entire surface of the small islet. The light character is a white flash every five seconds with a range of 23 nautical miles, guiding vessels through the outer routes of the Archipelago Sea. Bengtskär was the scene of a fierce battle in July 1941, when Soviet naval infantry attempted to storm the lighthouse; the Finnish defenders repelled the attack over two days of fighting, and a memorial in the lighthouse chapel commemorates those killed. Today Bengtskär is open to visitors in summer, with boat services from Rosala and Kasnäs; accommodation in the keeper's building is available, and the isolation, on a naked rock surrounded by the open Baltic, is absolute.
2. Söderskär Lighthouse, Gulf of Finland
Söderskär stands on a small island in the outer Gulf of Finland, about 30 kilometres east of Helsinki, and has marked the approaches to the Finnish capital since the lighthouse was completed in 1862. The white cylindrical tower is 32 metres tall; its light character is a white flash every three seconds with a range of 18 nautical miles. The lighthouse was built by the Russian Imperial authority — Finland was a Russian Grand Duchy at the time — and its architecture reflects the restrained neoclassicism of the period. The island also has an important ornithological history: Söderskär is a major bird observatory, and the combination of lighthouse and migration monitoring station has been maintained since 1936. In summer the island receives day-trip boats from Helsinki and Porvoo; the bird observatory offers accommodation for observers. The waters around Söderskär are busy with the ferry traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn.
3. Bogskär Lighthouse, Åland Sea
Bogskär is Finland's southernmost point, a wave-swept rock at the southern edge of the Åland Islands marking the open passage between the Baltic proper and the Åland Sea. The lighthouse was built in 1882 — a cast-iron tower 20 metres tall on a masonry base, similar in construction to the Tahkuna and Ristna lights on the Estonian coast, since all three were designed and manufactured by the same French engineering firms working for the Russian Imperial administration. The light character is a white flash every five seconds, range 16 nautical miles. Bogskär is exposed to the full sweep of the Baltic, with no sheltered anchorage; in winter the sea ice can completely immobilize the station. The rock is uninhabited outside the maintenance visits of the Finnish Transport Agency. It is not accessible to casual visitors.
4. Märket Lighthouse, Åland Islands
Märket is remarkable for an unusual reason: the island straddles the international boundary between Finland and Sweden, and the borderline makes a deliberate dog-leg around the lighthouse compound, leaving the lighthouse on the Finnish side. The lighthouse was completed in 1885, a round stone tower of 22 metres on a bleak, low granite skerry in the northern Åland Sea. The light character is a white flash every five seconds with a range of about 14 nautical miles, marking the channel between the Åland Islands and the Swedish coast. The islet is exposed and has no harbour; access is by small boat in calm conditions, and the lighthouse is maintained by the Finnish Transport Agency. The curiosity of the border situation has made Märket a known destination for map enthusiasts and those interested in political geography, though the practical barriers to visiting are considerable.
5. Tankar Lighthouse, Kokkola
Tankar Island lies about 9 kilometres offshore from Kokkola on the Gulf of Bothnia coast, and its lighthouse is one of the most important on this long, shallow and often fog-prone shore. The lighthouse was built in 1889, a red-and-white striped round tower 24 metres tall. The light character is a white flash every three seconds with a range of approximately 15 nautical miles. The Tankar island station also includes a small chapel, a sauna and several wooden buildings of the late nineteenth century, preserved in a state that gives the island the character of a living maritime museum. The island is part of the Kokkola coastal nature reserve. In summer, a regular boat service runs from Kokkola harbour to Tankar; the island is a popular day trip, and accommodation in the lighthouse buildings is available. The Gulf of Bothnia is Finland's most demanding winter ice challenge, and the ice-breaking record of ships passing Tankar documents the severity of the northern Baltic winter.
6. Siilinkarin Lighthouse, Archipelago Sea
Siilinkari is an outer island light in the Archipelago Sea off Turku, marking the deep-water fairway approach to Finland's oldest city and its busy passenger ferry port. The lighthouse is a white cylindrical tower of modest height — the fairway it marks is relatively well-charted — its light character a white flash with red and green sectors covering the adjacent shoals. The Turku Archipelago is the densest part of the Archipelago Sea and is intensively used by the summer cottage and sailing population. The lighthouse sits at the junction of the main outer fairway and the approach channel, serving both ocean-going vessels for Turku port and the dense recreational traffic.
7. Tankarin Majakka, Kokkola (Inner)
The inner Tankar mark, distinct from the main offshore lighthouse, is one of the channel-leading lights that guides vessels from the outer fairway into Kokkola harbour through the intricate inner archipelago. It is a white sector light on a low lattice structure, its red and white sectors defining the safe water of the passage. The inner approach to Kokkola requires careful navigation through shoal water and island gaps, and the leading-light system here illustrates the complexity of entry to even a medium-sized Finnish port.
8. Kallan Lighthouse, Åland Islands
Kallan is a small lighthouse on the southern Åland coast, marking a rocky passage in the inner Åland Sea that is part of the route through the island group used by vessels drawing less water than the main fairway requires. The Åland Islands are a self-governing autonomous region of Finland with Swedish as their official language, and their waters are among the most intensively sailed in the Baltic. Kallan's light — a modest white tower with a sectored beam — is typical of the many small guiding lights that make the Åland fairways navigable. The surrounding sea scenery of the southern Ålands, with flat granite skerries and clear green water, is among the most beautiful in the Baltic.
9. Stubben Lighthouse, Gulf of Bothnia
Stubben marks a reef and shoal in the middle section of the Gulf of Bothnia, where the shallow and ice-prone sea is at its widest and most exposed. The lighthouse is a white tower on a masonry base, its light character a white flash guiding vessels on the main fairway between the Finnish and Swedish coasts. The Gulf of Bothnia is the least visited part of the Finnish coast from a tourist perspective, but the lighthouse network here — regularly battered by winter ice — is among the most technically tested in Europe.
10. Ohtakari Lighthouse, Lohtaja
Ohtakari stands on a low island near the Lohtaja coast south of Kokkola, marking the approach to the inner archipelago. A distinctive feature of Ohtakari is its long history as a pilotage station: the island pilots who boarded vessels making for Kokkola and the other Gulf of Bothnia ports operated from here for many decades. The lighthouse is a white round tower, its light character directional. The Ohtakari area is accessible by road from Lohtaja and is a popular summer destination for Finnish families, with a beach and a marina. The combination of a working lighthouse, pilot station history and accessible beach location makes Ohtakari an unusually complete picture of Finnish coastal life.
Visiting Finnish Lighthouses
Finland's offshore lighthouses are best reached by boat; charter services operate from Hanko, Turku, Kokkola and other coastal towns throughout the summer season (June to early September). Bengtskär is the most visited offshore light and has regular scheduled summer boat connections. Tankar is the most easily combined with a town visit. The inner-archipelago lights are best explored under sail or by kayak, which remains the classic way to navigate the Archipelago Sea. Several Finnish lighthouse buildings offer overnight accommodation. For the full extent of Finland's navigational light network, from the Gulf of Finland to the northern Gulf of Bothnia, Open the map and explore the complete dataset.