Three-metre stone walls, a Renaissance court and seven centuries of Baltic history — Turun linna has stood guard over the mouth of the Aura river since the 1280s, and in 2025 it drew more visitors than any other museum in Turku.
See ticket optionsOne adult · full access, valid all day on your chosen date
€30
One child, aged 7–15 · full access, valid all day on your chosen date
€14
One student · full access, valid all day on your chosen date — bring a valid student card
€16
One pensioner · full access, valid all day on your chosen date — bring photo ID
€16
1–2 adults + 1–4 children aged 7–15 · full access, valid all day on your chosen date
€74
“The contrast between the bare medieval keep and the richly decorated Renaissance halls really brings the history to life — you can feel the centuries change as you walk from one part to the other. Booking the date-specific ticket meant we could just show up when it suited our Turku schedule.”
“We weren't expecting to spend three hours there but the kids loved the towers and the winding stairways, and the attic exhibitions on old Turku surprised us too. Ticket arrived within minutes of booking.”
“The Sture Church was the highlight for me — quiet and atmospheric, unlike anywhere else in the castle. Booking was simple and the confirmation email had everything we needed.”
Audio guide · 5-minute
A short, calm narrative — what this castle was, the Vasa kings who rebuilt it, what to look for on the route between the medieval main castle and the bailey, and why the Sture Church still stops visitors in their tracks. Listen on the walk in from Market Square.
Recorded for Turku Castle Tickets concierge. Free to download.
Turku Castle stands at the mouth of the Aura river in Turku, on Finland's south-west coast. Building work began in the 1280s, when Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden, making it the oldest of the castles the Swedish Crown built in Finland. The castle grew in stages over three centuries: a modest bailey fort became a formidable royal keep, then — under Gustav Vasa and his sons in the 16th century — was rebuilt again into a Renaissance residence with grand halls fit for a royal court.
The castle's two parts tell two different stories. The main castle (päälinna) holds the older, sterner architecture — stone walls around three metres thick, narrow stairways, and the vaulted rooms raised in the 1300s and 1400s: the King's Hall, the Nun's Chapel and the Gentlemen's Cellar, joined in the 1480s by the Sture Church built for governor Sten Sture the Elder. Once defence had moved outward to the bailey and the earthworks, the main castle itself was converted into a Renaissance palace in the renovation of 1556–1563, which added a new King's Hall to the north wing and completed the central staircase tower. The bailey (esilinna) took the round artillery tower of 1568–1574 and, centuries later, the prison.
A museum was established in the castle in 1885, and today Turku Castle runs as the Turku Castle Museum — Turku's most-visited museum in 2025, with over 123,000 visits. Two attic halls created in the postwar rebuilding hold the Northern Exhibition Hall's costume, jewellery and silver from the 17th to 19th centuries and the Southern Exhibition Hall's account of the restoration itself, while the bailey's History of Turku Castle exhibition traces the shift from defensive fortress to Renaissance palace and the later centuries as barracks, warehouse and prison. We handle the ticketing so your date-specific admission is confirmed before you arrive — one less thing to plan once you're in Turku.
Turku Castle Tickets is an independent concierge service that helps international visitors reserve and receive their admission ticket in English. We are not the castle and we are not an official vendor — we obtain a genuine admission ticket on your behalf from the museum's ticketing system, and our service fee is included in the price you see. If you prefer to buy directly, Turku City Museums runs its own ticket desk at the castle and its own online shop.
Plan your visit
Which season, which day, which hour — a concierge timing guide to the oldest of the Swedish Crown's castles in Finland.
A three-kilometre riverside walk, the bus stop at the gate, the 200-space car park — how to reach Linnankatu 80 on foot, by bus, by bike, by car and off the ferry.
Wax figures, a 17th-century scale model and a gnome guide — plus the one rule that catches families out: pushchairs cannot be used in the museum at all.
No fixed time slot — your ticket is date-specific rather than timed, so it's valid any time during opening hours on the day you choose. Just arrive within opening hours on your selected date.
Your admission is reserved and confirmed before you arrive, so you go straight in with your mobile ticket rather than queuing at the desk. There's no timed entry to coordinate — you choose the day, we handle the booking.
Full access to the museum route through both the main castle and the bailey — the medieval vaulted rooms including the King's Hall, the Nun's Chapel and the Gentlemen's Cellar, the Sture Church, the Renaissance interiors, and the attic exhibition halls. It's one ticket covering the whole castle for the day.
We send your ticket to your email as a mobile ticket with a QR code once your booking is confirmed. There's nothing to print — show it on your phone at the entrance.
The castle is a walkable 3 km from Turku's Market Square along the Aura riverbank, or a short ride on city buses that stop nearby. It's also within easy reach of the railway station and the Silja and Viking ferry terminals.
The museum doesn't publish a recommended duration. The castle has 164 rooms and the route covers the main castle, the bailey and two attic exhibition halls, so most people find they want a couple of hours or more; the museum's own guided tours run 60–75 minutes and cover only part of it. There's no fixed schedule, so you set the pace.
Yes. The towers and stone stairways, the life-size wax figures of Duke John and Catherine Jagiellon, the scale model you can peer into, and the real weapons and armour on display tend to capture children's imaginations — and in the castle-history exhibition a gnome character guides younger visitors through five of the displays. The stairs are narrow and steep, so keep younger children close.
Yes — there is a separate student ticket and a separate pensioner ticket, both at the same reduced price. Choose the one that matches you and bring the matching ID to the gate: a valid student card for the student ticket, or photo ID for the pensioner ticket.
The paid child ticket covers ages 7 to 15, so under-7s fall outside the paid categories — confirm the current under-7 policy with the museum when you book. The family ticket covers 1–2 adults with 1–4 children in the 7–15 band.
One family ticket covers 1–2 adults and 1–4 children aged 7–15, with full access to the whole castle for the day — worth comparing against individual tickets for your exact group size.
Partially. A lift reaches the Great Hall on the 2nd floor, the chapel and sacristy on the 3rd and the Southern Exhibition Hall on the 6th, and there is an accessible restroom on the route, but not every area can be reached: the courtyard is paved with uneven natural stone, stairs are steep and doorways can be narrow. Pushchairs cannot be used in the museum. The accessible entrance can close in winter when there is snow on the ramp. Contact the museum ahead of your visit to plan a suitable route.
Yes, personal photography is welcome throughout. Flash and tripods may be restricted in a few rooms to protect fragile textiles and painted surfaces, and signage on site will tell you where that applies.
The castle is closed on Mondays year-round, and runs reduced hours or closes around Midsummer (19–21 June) and Christmas (24–25 December). We'll flag it if a closure affects the date you've chosen.
Two of the castle's oldest interiors. The Sture Church was built in the 1480s for governor Sten Sture the Elder, who also raised the upper levels of the eastern tower; the Nun's Chapel is one of the vaulted rooms from the castle's 1300s–1400s building phase, alongside the King's Hall and the Gentlemen's Cellar. They are among the least-altered spaces in the castle.
Because admission is date-specific, please choose your travel date with care when you book. All sales are final once confirmed; the only exception is a full refund if the operator cancels your visit. See our terms for the full policy.
No. We're an independent concierge service for international visitors. We obtain a genuine admission ticket on your behalf and handle the booking in your own language. Our service fee is included in the price shown, and you can always buy directly from Turku City Museums if you prefer.
The price you see is the price you pay — we show it in your local currency where we can and charge exactly that amount, with no surprise fees at checkout. Payment is by card on a secure page.