Vaasa (Swedish: Vasa) sits above the 63rd parallel and southern Finns consider it

‘The North’. Just 45 nautical miles from Sweden, the city has a significant Swedophone population, with a quarter of residents speaking Swedish as a first language.

The 17th-century town was named after Swedish royalty, the noble Wasa family but 200 years later it was in Russian hands. The Old Town burned down in Vaasa’s Great Fire of 1852 – caused by a careless visitor who fell asleep and dropped his pipe – and the new city was built from scratch, 7km away from the cinders.

Long a family holiday playground, Vasa also has three universities and a thriving arts scene.

Pohjanmaan Museo

Vaasa’s dynamic, modern museum is divided into three sections. Downstairs, Terranova has a brilliant evocation of the region’s natural history – complete with dioramas and storm-and-lightning effects – that includes information on the Kvarken Archipelago. On the ground floor, yesteryear Vaasa is brought to life in the Pohjanmaan Museo. Upstairs, the Hedman collection contains some 300 works of art, including a Tintoretto, a Botticelli Madonna, works from all the Finnish masters and a huge number of ceramics.

Stundars Handicraft Village

In the attractive village of Solf (Finnish: Sulva), about 15km south of Vaasa, is this fine open-air museum and crafts centre. Its 60 traditional wooden buildings were moved here from surrounding villages and include crofts, cottages and cowsheds, a pottery, windmills and a schoolhouse. There’s a humming calendar of events in summer, from markets to craft demonstrations. The entrance fee includes a guided tour. Buses are a pain: you really need your own transport.