Text and photos: Makoto Chiba | Reading time: 5 mins

Now that it’s summer, wouldn’t it be nice to explore the best summery cafés in Turku? Everyone has their own favorite café in the city but choosing a café to visit is sometimes hard especially if you have many options or you are a newcomer in the city. There are so many criteria you might want to take into consideration such as location, quality of coffee, selection of cakes and pastries and the atmosphere of the café. In this blog, you can find a list of my favorite cafés to help you decide where to enjoy your coffee next time. Let’s get started!

Gaggui kaffela (City center and telakka)

Address: Humalistonkatu 15 a, 20100 Turku / Hevoskarintie 23, 20100 Turku (telakka)
Website: gaggui.com

The first café on my list is Gaggui kaffela, established in 2014. It is an artisan café, known for its delicious cakes. They offer various kinds of cakes, coffee and tea. The café is located in the city center of Turku and during the summertime, you can find their pop-up café in Ruissalo’s shipyard (telakka).

The pop-up café in Ruissalo is located in a spacious and relaxed industrial-like space with an outside deck to enjoy the sea view while drinking coffee. Too good to be true. There is nothing better than drinking coffee while enjoying the beautiful scenery. (NOTE: Popup Café in the shipyard is open until 27. 8. 2022)

Café Qwensel

Address: Läntinen Rantakatu 13 B, 20100 Turku
Website: cafeqwensel.fi

Café Qwensel is one of my favorite cafés in the city center. If you want to visit a café with a unique personality and enjoy coffee in cozy medieval atmosphere, Café Qwensel is a good option for you. At Qwensel, coffee and tea are served with unique antique dishware, which matches the café’s historical theme. In addition, the staff wear ancient clothes to match the theme. Qwensel has a great variety of cakes, donuts, pies as well as coffee and tea. There are around 10 tables outside in the courtyard, surrounded by historical wooden buildings. In addition, there is a small herb garden in the yard.

Bageri Å

Address: Kakolanmäki Hill, Graniittilinnankatu 2 J 106, 20100 Turku
Website: bagerio.fi

Bageri Å is a relatively new addition to my must-go Turku café checklist. It is located in an old prison building on the Kakolanmäki hill accessible by Funikulaari elevator. Kakola used to be a prison but was transformed into a fancy residence area with modern cafes and restaurants. Bageri Å is not only a café but also a bakery. They are known as the first handicraft bakery having its own stone mill grinder. Above all, they also gride the flours on the spot. Here you can find genuine croissants, cinnamon rolls, sourdough bread as well as high-quality coffee roasted by the Frukt Coffee Roasters. During the summer, they also offer ice cream. Pizza dough is sold on demand every Friday. The café has a clean, modern, and minimalistic design.

Café Art

Address: Läntinen Rantakatu 5, 20100 Turku
Website: cafeart.fi

If you ask the locals which is the best café you recommend in Turku, they probably answer Café Art. This café is old but gold. With its location along the river of Aura, classic and calm interior, it’s hard to find
a better café in Turku. Café Art is one of the cafés where you can get about as close to Turku summer vibes as possible. In addition to an excellent choice of homemade cakes, savory pies, as well as freshly roasted coffee from the Turku Coffee Roastery and teas, Café Art also holds art exhibitions. The café is spacious inside and has a huge outdoor area to sit.

Kahvila Villa Kuuva

Address: Kuuvantie 198, 20100 Turku
Website: villakuuva.fi

This is a hidden gem located in Kuuva, Ruissalo. The café is situated right next to the sea with a beautiful view towards the archipelago. The café itself is very homelike and has a small selection of both salty and sweet pastry and good quality coffee and tea. They also sell interior decoration items.
The atmosphere is super cozy, and the interior of the café is cute. There is a terrace outside, and you can enjoy your coffee while listening to birds singing and the beautiful sea view. Nothing is better than enjoying your coffee time in nature, isn’t it? (NOTE: open every day until the beginning of August and after that open only weekends until end of September.)

This café checklist is made based on my own experience and preference. I hope it helps you to choose your next café destination.

Thank you for reading.

Makoto Chiba