Fiskars Village
17th Century Ironworks Village Turned Home Of Finnish Craft And Design, The Origin Of The Fiskars Brand · Raasepori, Uusimaa
Fiskars is a former ironworks village in the green river valley of western Uusimaa, about 85 km west of Helsinki, where an ironworks was founded in 1649 and grew into the company whose name is now on orange-handled scissors in kitchens worldwide. For three centuries the village forged nails, knives, ploughs and cutlery; when industry moved out in the late 20th century, the empty brick and timber workshops were let to craftspeople, and Fiskars reinvented itself as the home of Finnish craft and design. Today glassblowers, ceramicists, furniture makers, silversmiths and designers work and sell in the old buildings, the Fiskars company still owns much of the village, and summer brings exhibitions, antique fairs, a brewery and distillery, and walks along the river and lakes. People come for a slow day of shops, galleries, good food and a very pretty historic setting. The honest caveat: Fiskars is small and built around summer weekends - from late autumn to spring many studios and cafes open only on weekends or not at all, and on a grey November weekday it can feel almost empty.
Fiskars, Raasepori, about 85 km west of Helsinki, Raasepori, Uusimaa, Finland
The village itself is open to walk at any time, all year, and there is no entry fee. Shops, studios and cafes are busiest and open daily roughly from May to September; in the off season many open only Thursday or Friday to Sunday, and some close for weeks in January and February - check the current schedule before a winter trip. Exhibitions in the old workshops are mostly summer-only. Getting there: drive about an hour from Helsinki, or take the train to Karis (Karjaa), roughly an hour, then a local bus or taxi for the last 15 km or so; buses are infrequent on weekends. Book restaurant tables and rooms for summer weekends and for the antique fair and Christmas market weekends.