Närpes
Närpes (Finnish: Närpiö) [1] is a town in Ostrobothnia, Finland.
Understand
Närpes is the Tomato Capital of Finland. In the greenhouses all around the local people grow the main harvest of finnish tomatoes all year around. If you buy Finnish tomatoes in any supermarket in Finland, chances are they come from here. And people are proud of that fact. Otherwise this place is spread out over a large foresty area and you need a car to get around.
Närpes is unilingually Swedish and thus many of the inhabitants do not speak Finnish that well, so it's probably much easier to speak English than to express Finnish "survival sentences" in the town. The town has its own, ancient Swedish dialect [2], so understanding the local lingo can be a real challenge, even for native Swedish-speakers.
Get in
- Car: coming from the north (Vaasa) or south (Pori), take Valtatie 8/E8 and then transfer to Route 673 and 676 to reach Närpes. Coming from the east, take Route 67 instead of E8.
- Buses from Vaasa (Vasa) and Pori (Björneborg)
Get around
- Car, distances too wide
See
- The old church has one unique thing: over 150(!!!) little log houses which were built as stables so local people travelling all the way to Sunday church could keep them safe.
- Öjskogsparken is an open air museum area with over 20 historical houses to discover. It allows a great insight in 19th century countryside life. Step inside a traditional country shop, learn about wedding traditions and don't miss the pharmacy museum. [3]
Do
Buy
Tomatoes
Eat
Drink
Sleep
Go next
To Kaskinen (Kaskö), an idyllic harbour town, an enclave of Närpes and the smallest town of Finland.
| Routes through Närpes |
| Tornio ← Vaasa ← | W  E
|
→ Kristinestad → Turku |