Winter Magic at Moominworld in Naantali, Finland! (Winter 2015)

Do you know the Moomins? The big, hippo-like storybook characters from the amazing Finnish writer Tove Jansson's books? Or from the Japanese animation from the 1990s? If yes, read on. If no, definitely read on! In Naantali, Finland, we have this place called Moominworld where you can meet all the characters from the books as well as spend a lovely summer's, or in this case winter's, day outside, wandering in Moominvalley and sampling delicious things from the many coffee shops and restaurants. Moominworld is a lovely place to visit for both adults and children alike, and the place indeed is full of tourists of all ages, especially from Asian countries. We, too, were an international bunch, as in addition to myself and Julcsi, we brought along our Erasmus + assistant language teacher Giuliana from Germany.

Getting to Moominworld even without a car is quite simple. Naantali is quite close to Turku (16 km), so we just caught a local bus from Turku Market Square to Naantali for 3€ one way. Buses number 6 and 7 will take you to the right place. There is also a Moomin Bus operating between Turku Harbour and Moominworld, and it also picks people up from their hotels on its way to Moominworld, which is quite a practical option - though significantly more expensive at 13€/return ticket. We found the local bus simple to use, and it was easy enough to find our way to our destination from where the bus dropped us off, even if we had to do quite a bit of walking.

Moominworld is mostly open in the summer, but every winter, a so called Winter Magic week invites you in, usually in February. The entrance fee is around 20€, which might seem like a lot considering the size of the theme park, but really, it's well worth it and you can easily spend the whole day there doing fun stuff and hanging around with the different Moomin characters. For Winter Magic, there's sledding, skating for children, skiing, snow shoeing, there's a Moomin show (mostly for kids), and a lot of food to choose from (you can find both home-cooked food and light snacks)...and hot chocolate and waffles Moominmamma style, of course. All in all, the place has a lovely, homey atmosphere and it completely lets you be a child for one day.

So, on to the pictures!

At the entrance!

Getting acquainted with the area...

With Mymble in her house :).  I

Ski jumping!! My "Matti Nykänen" won, of course :D!

Julcsi getting some hugs from Moominmamma!

...and Julcsi giving some hugs to Moomintroll :)!

Sledding is FUN!

The three of us! Behind us, you can see the Moominhouse!

You can also visit the Moominhouse, which is just about the coolest thing ever! I've always been in love with its round shape, and have even told my dad that he can build us one to live in if he's interested...:D! This is what it looks like from the inside...

Moominpappa's study.

Julcsi and Giuliana with the perverted fireman and his sausage :D!

The swim room.

Giuliana and Sniff.

Julcsi and Too-Ticky.

Our buffet lunch.

Moomin tea <3!

Julcsi giving snow shoeing a go.

Myself with Snork Maiden.

Julcsi with Stinky.

Hot chocolate with marshmallows!

And in case you want to see what Naantali looks like, check these out! It's a really pretty and idyllic place, so combining your Moominworld visit with a stay in Naantali might be a nice idea.

If you're into Finland and/or snow, you might be interested in my next post, which will be all about the big snowcastle in Kemi! Stay tuned :)!