Salo

Salo is a city of about 52,000 inhabitants (2021) in Finland Proper, perhaps best known for Nokia mobile phones.

For the Italian town, see Salò.

Understand

Salo has existed as a centre of rural commerce since at least the 16th century. It became a market town in 1887 and a town 1960. Much of the surrounding countryside, including Halikko, Kiikala, Kisko, Kuusjoki, Muurla, Perniö, Pertteli, Suomusjärvi, Särkisalo and Uskela, is now incorporated in the same municipality.

There has been electronics production in Salo since the 1920s. The success of the communications company Nokia in the 1990s made the town flourish. This was where phones were assembled, to the extent production was not abroad, to have production near development. Bad times for Nokia have been bad times for the city: in 2012 Nokia closed its factory, and in 2015 Microsoft closed the development facilities. However, the availability of fascilities and skilled labour has attracted some other companies.

In Finnish, word salo means "woodland", "backwoods" but also a "wooded island".

Get in

By train

All trains between Helsinki and Turku stop in Salo. Don't be confused by the piles of wood by the station; this is the high tech city.

By bus

The normal express ("pika") Turku–Salo–Helsinki buses stop in Salo, but not the special express ("express") Turku–Helsinki ones. There are also regional buses from Turku and a few "regular" buses between Turku and Helsinki via Salo. This means some buses once or twice an hour most of the day, every two hours for some time in the night.

By car

Salo is close to the motorway E18 (national road 1) between Helsinki (120 km) and Turku (50 km), by the former main road (now regional road 110) and at the ancient Great Coastal Road, the "King's road" between the cities.

The King's Road (Kuninkaantie, Kungsvägen) mostly follows what now are village roads. It is marked as a historic road. Unless in a hurry you might want to take this route to better see the countryside and visit some of the sights.

Get around

Information about local buses can be found here. There is a route planner for local transport trips. Mobile tickets can be bought using the app Waltti or Matkahuolto's Routes and Tickets.

By taxi
  • Menevä Salo. Smart phone app offers address based routing and calculates price according to them. For price information, see Menevä web site. (updated Mar 2020)
  • Valopilkku (Taksi Helsinki). Taxis ordered by smart phone app. (updated Aug 2019)
  • 02 Taksi. Smart phone app offers address-based routing and gives price offers from different taxi companies. (updated Mar 2020)

See
  • 🌍 Salo Art Gallery (Salon Taidemuseo), Mariankatu 14, ☏ +358 2 778 4892, . 
  • 🌍 Rikala fortress hill (Rikalan linnavuori). Ruins of a fortified hill from the Iron Age. Situated in the former municipality of Halikko. 
  • 🌍 Haapaniemi Castle Ruins (Haapaniemen linnanrauniot), Haapaniementie 57 (in Kisko). 

Churches

Do
  • 🌍 Teijo National Park (Teijon kansallispuisto/Tykö nationalpark) (Perniö/Bjärnå; 17 km south-southwest from Salo centre), ☏ +358 10-292-4032 (Teijo Nature Centre), +358 40-163-6200 (Finnish Nature Centre Haltia), . 
  • Historic iron works in Perniö (Bjärnå), some 20 km south-southwest from Salo centre.
    • Kirjakkala. 
    • 🌍 Teijo (Tykö). 
    • 🌍 Mathildedal, Ruukinrannantie 6. Historical ironworks village, where you can find, for example, a microbrewery shop and its own bakery, a chocolate shop and a coffee roaster. In the old iron buildings, there are clothing stores, a spinning mill specializing in alpaca products with baskets, the Kaarnalaiva shop selling organic brushes and baskets, and Hulda's shop selling restored furniture and old goods. (updated Jul 2022)

Festivals
  • 🌍 Pumpkin Weeks (Kurpitsaviikot), Vanha Turuntie 63 (in Halikko; at Kurpistapuisto), . October. In the fall, a pumpkin park open to the public is organized in Halikko's field, where, among other things, pumpkins of many kinds and sizes, as well as carved jack-o'-lanterns and whole pumpkins are sold. Various pumpkin products are available at the local kiosk. 

Buy
  • 🌍 Plaza Shopping Centre (Kauppakeskus Plaza), Vilhonkatu 8. The shopping centre contains more than 40 stores. (updated Aug 2023)

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Go next
Routes through Salo
Turku ← Paimio ←  W  E  → Raseborg → Helsinki
Turku ← Paimio ←  W  E  → Lohja → Helsinki


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