Curved colorful water slides in an exciting water park in turku

Comfort zone? Pfft… exciting activities for the adrenaline junkies in Turku!

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Are you sick and tired of not having enough tear-jerking, near-death experiences? Are you addicted to adrenaline and urgently need your fix? Or, are you perhaps a normal person who’s just bored and wants something fun to do? I have got just the solution for all of that. Read on for some exciting activities in Turku that will make you cry for help and give you a new-found love for life all year!

Summer Runner

There’s no disagreement that Turku is breathtaking in the summer: green, lush trees, beautiful shores, clear blue skies – but what if it’s not enough? What if you need oxygen to be snatched out of your lungs to beg for air? Look no further!

Zipline Adventure Park: FlowPark

FlowPark Website

This place is my favourite place to go to in the summer. It’s an adventure park where you can zipline, climb trees, walk on a tightrope, hang from ropes, and live out all your monkey fantasies. It’s an especially great place to realize how much of a scaredy-cat you are compared to the 10-year-olds flying from obstacle to obstacle while you’re stuck on a plank crying because of how scared you are. I can’t relate to that, of course. What?

The park is in Skanssi and is a convenient trip away by direct bus from the city center. It’s open from around May to October yearly, but you can always go to their website and check the exact dates. I wholeheartedly recommend this place! There are all kinds of trails, ranging from children’s levels to Spiderman-would-think-twice-before-going-on-this levels, so there’s something for everyone there.

photo of excited man and woman giving the victory sign standing on planks in a zipline park in turku
Me and a friend at flowpark climbing the trees!

Waterpark: JukuPark – Turku Waterpark

JukuPark Wesbite

There’s nothing better than a beautiful dip in water under the beautiful summer skies… Except, maybe, being thrown into the water from what feels too high up!

Who doesn’t like a good waterpark, especially when surrounded by a beautiful forest in full summery glory! It’s a quaint water park with enough choices to be a fun day trip a few times in the summer. It has several options, including a kiddy water playground, several slides with differing heights, lengths, and intensities, and a pool area for people who just want to relax in the water for a bit. It’s open from June through August each year, but confirming the exact dates on their website doesn’t hurt. There are always exciting activities going on in the summer here!

Pick out a day with great weather, grab some friends (or go alone, like I did), and some snacks (more important than friends). Put on your swimming suit and slippers, and dive in! There’s a restaurant there for when the snacks run out, showers and changing rooms, and an area with lounge chairs in front of the kiddy area to sit by and watch your kids play if you have any!

As a side note, I don’t know how to swim, so I was worried I couldn’t play any of the rides. Turns out there are floaters for use near the slides that need floaters, and otherwise, the water you get thrown into is shallow enough to stand in (based on the height requirements for each ride), so all you other non-swimmers rest assured.

a selfie in a mirror in a changing room of a waterpark in turku
A quick selfie before going out into the wild!
photo of various exciting water slides from the view of a restaurant in turku water park
A view of the park from the restaurant.
colorful exciting water slides in turku waterpark
The straight slides.
mozarella sticks, mayonnaise and juice on a restaurant table in turku
Some mozzarella sticks I got that day!

Winter Jitter

Ice Swimming

What’s that? Do you hate being warm? You’ve always dreamt about knowing what it feels like to be a fish in the winter but without the proper circulatory system? You’d like to see if you’ll consider being part of human experimentation on cryo-preservation of people in time capsules when the apocalypse is near? Well, you’ve got to try Ice Swimming! It’s surprising how much adrenaline one can get from staying in one place for a minute or two just because the water is cold.

It’s quite an enriching experience that you’ll never stop talking about! (Ask me, no one’s ever not heard me talk about ice swimming.) You’ll automatically feel like the alpha male Giga-Chad of the century in every hangout. Nothing compares.

You dip yourself in a hole in the ice that’s on a lake or beach and enjoy the freezing cold water (literally), run to the sauna without slipping (it’s a CV-worthy skill), and then jump like a 5-year old who had too much candy to go back into the water (until you’re back inside it, of course). Test the limits of the human sensory repertoire with this wonderful brain-altering experience! It’s as exciting of an activity as it could get!

I can try and explain the health benefits of ice swimming, but I won’t. It just pumps you full of adrenaline, so you’re reading this guide! Who cares if it’s good for your heart and brown fat tissue, among other insane health benefits?

The video below is a bit anticlimactic in contrast to the experience I’m describing, but it feels much more exciting when you’re out in your swimming clothes and snowing. You feel a bit like an outlaw, and you’re also really cold. Best combo!

Where to go?

There are many places to try it out in, but the one I’ve visited a few times and my favourite is Ruissalo, an island near Turku that’s a convenient bus ride away from the city centre. There are a few others that people like to go to, so I’ll list the ones I’m familiar with below. (Side note: Don’t make my mistake the first time, and remember to get slippers and a towel. Trust me, you’ll need them.)

Photo of an ice swimming activity beach at the pathway to the sauna with ice and snow around in turku.
Shore near the sauna.

All-Year-Round

Wall Climbing

Haven’t your monkey dreams come true yet? Fear not, next up we have: Wall-climbing!

Vertically climbing is harder than it seems (shocker)! The safety ropes attached did nothing to help me feel better, and my heart felt like it was going to jump right out of my chest when I jumped off the wall (and while climbing up, too… ‘Don’t look down’ is easier said than done!)

Beginners fear not! This activity is also for people on all levels. I climbed the small wall for scaredy cats. For more advanced dare-devil climbers, there is a taller wall that leans towards you. Quite freaky… I was too scared to try it.  

photo of woman in indoor wall-climbing gear excited to climb a wall in turku.

I know a couple of spots for wall climbing indoors in Turku. Don’t forget to ask about any student discounts!

Outdoor Climbing?

While I was doing my research for this blog, I discovered an outdoor rock-climbing tour service! It’s for those with a bit of a broader budget (it’s not crazy-expensive with a group of friends), but it seems quite interesting with other kinds of tours on the website. I would recommend giving them a look! I haven’t tried it before, but it looks exciting!

Rock climbing Turku | Challenge yourself | Polku Nature Tours

To the right is a photo from their website:

Exciting photo of an outdoor climber on a vertical rock in turku.

Kart Racing

Kart in Club Turku – Sisä- ja Ulkokartingradat Turussa (kic.fi)

This is another quite interesting discovery I made while looking for activities to add to this blog! They have indoor and outdoor tracks, and it is an activity that’s also suitable for beginners and more professional racers alike, to my understanding!  

Here’s a photo from their website:

Exciting photo of racers in karts waiting for the race activity to begin.

I can’t say so much about this one because I haven’t tried it myself, but you’d best believe I’ll be testing how soon I’ll be recruited for Formula 1 after this!

Other things to do…

So, you’ve done all these activities, and now you’d like something more normal to calm your nerves? Fret not! Check these other blogs for ideas on other kinds of activities you can do in Turku!

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