Lappo is an island in the southern part of Brändö, Åland’s easternmost municipality. A little more than 30 people call this island home during the entire year and you can see proof of this on the empty streets we cycled around.
Lappo covers something like 8 square kilometers and a big part of it is dedicated to the only Frisbee Golf Course in Åland. We went to Lappo to play Frisbee Golf, but it didn’t go as well as we thought it would.
The first problem we had was the fact that we didn’t even know Frisbee Golf existed! We played with frisbees before and they are fun, but mixing it with golf was something completely new for us. It seems that we were the only ones who didn’t know about the existence of Frisbee Golf. In Finland, it feels like Disc Golf is the next big thing.
Finland is home to more than 400 frisbee golf courses and they have more courses on the way. The Professional Disc Golf Association has almost 1.500 members with active licenses and it seems that they are fanatics of this sport which we previously knew nothing about.
Back to Lappo and our first time playing frisbee golf.
The island of Lappo hosts the only Disc Golf Course in Åland and they are proud of it. So proud in fact, that the first thing we saw on the island was the course. We departed the ferry, left our bags our cabin, and went straight to the beautiful course.
When we got there, our frisbee golf guide had to teach us everything. Filip was the name of our guide and he was amazing. He helped us learn how to throw a frisbee golf disc. Unfortunately, our Frisbee Golf form was far from impressive. Therefore, we have included pictures of Filip as our disc golf model.
So… We didn’t do well with Frisbee Golf but it was fun to try! We blame it on the amazing sea views we had from the track. It is pretty easy to get distracted on the track with the beautiful panorama of Lappo surrounding us.
But Lappo is more than just Frisbee Golf
We arrived in Lappo after visiting Jurmo, the smallest island we had ever been to. Lappo has something like 5 more inhabitants than Jurmo; nevertheless, Lappo feels more desolate, wild, and green. A fun fact: we saw more deers on the road than cars.
Lappo has been inhabited since the 13th or 14th century. In later times, the island was part of the postal route between Sweden and Finland. During the 19th century, the island experienced a cultural growth and became home to the oldest library in Aland. Built in 1882, the library was joined by a school in 1887, a youth association in 1895 and a cooperative bank in 1925.
When you reach the island by ferry, you cannot imagine how many things happened to this island in the past.
Lappo is also home to the most comprehensive collection of rustic wooden boats in the Baltic sea. The different boats showed us how different life in the archipelago used to be.
We didn’t have time to visit the museum since we stayed in Lappo for less than 24 hours, but you can plan your activities better than us and see this unique collection of boats that show how life used to be like on these islands.
We spent the night in Lappo at Pellas Gästhem. This is the place to stay if you want to spend some time in peace and quiet with your family. And you will find this at Pellas.
The room we stayed in was big, clean and so comfortable it was hard to wake up the next morning. The only problem we had there was the lack of internet. Since we didn’t have wi-fi, we used this time to explore the island. The lack of internet didn’t bother us too much, but we thought we’d give you a heads up.
Another place that you have to visit while you are in Lappo is the island of Björkö. We took our bikes there and it was beautiful to just be there in the middle of the forest without any human disruptions.
Again, we saw more deers trying to cross the roads than cars. If you want to feel like you are alone in the world, Björkö is the place to be. They also have cute sheep everywhere!
The only way to get to Lappo is by boat. If you have your own boat, you can stay at village harbor Finnvik, a popular guest harbor that is in front of where we spent the night in Lappo. From there, you can reach everything on the island: the museum, the general store, the post office and the restaurant. But if you don’t have a boat, you can reach Lappo like we did.
There is a ferry connecting the islands in Brändö and it is free. You can reach Lappo from Torsholma, if you are coming from Jurmo, and from Kumlinge, if you are coming from Fasta Åland.
Lappo is located in the island municipality of Brändö in Åland.
Fotostrasse went to Lappo thanks to Viking Line, Finnair, Visit Finland and Visit Aland and it was great.
And thanks to Rebecca Sunshine for her editing contribution.
