Loviisa by boat – a harbour day at Laivasilta and in the Old Town

Loviisa was founded in 1745 under the name Degerby, after Hamina had been left on the other side of the border in the Treaty of Turku in 1743 and eastern Finland needed a new staple town. The name changed to Loviisa in 1752, when King Adolf Frederick of Sweden visited the town and named it after his consort, Queen Louisa Ulrika.

Construction of a border fortress in the town began in 1748, but because of Sweden's financial difficulties it was never completed. The Rosen and Ungern bastions, which can still be seen east of the town centre, were built in the town, and the Svartholma sea fortress was built to the south of the town.

In July 1855 a fire destroyed a large part of the old blocks in the town centre, about 70 residential buildings and the wooden church. The town was rebuilt on its former site, and among the most notable buildings in the centre is the brick neo-Gothic Loviisa Church, completed in 1865. The houses of the Old Town were spared by the fire, and the Old Town is home to one of Finland's oldest wooden buildings, a 17th-century outbuilding of the Degerby cavalry farm.

Loviisa was granted staple rights, the right to engage in foreign trade, in the very year it was founded, 1745. The Laivasilta area once had about 50 salt storehouses where imported goods such as salt, tobacco and spices were stored, and salt for as much as one seventh of Finland's inhabitants was imported through the port of Loviisa. Laivasilta is also home to the Loviisa Maritime Museum.

The trip suits groups who want to combine a long boat journey, a walk around town and restaurants, and anyone interested in the history of seafaring and old wooden towns. Loviisa is the farthest of our destinations from Porvoo, so set aside a full day for the trip.

The Loviisa guest harbour is at Laivasilta at the head of Loviisa Bay, about 500 metres from the town centre. The harbour has 60 berths with buoy or boom moorings as well as berths for mooring alongside, and there are electricity and water points on the jetties. The fairway depth to the harbour is 2.7 metres.

The harbour is open whenever there is no ice. Guest boat services are available daily from 1 June to 31 August; at other times, from May until the ice comes, services are arranged with the harbour master. The harbour has separate fees for 24 hours and for a day visit. Check the current opening hours and harbour fees on the harbour's website.

In summer a water bus to the Svartholma sea fortress also leaves from Laivasilta, so keep an eye on other traffic in the harbour.

The harbour has saunas, showers, a washing machine, a drying cabinet and a small kitchen, and the harbour area has a waste point and a toilet waste pump-out. You can also rent bicycles at the harbour.

Fuel is available at the harbour around the clock by card, and also in cash during the harbour office's opening hours. Agree on refuelling and the fuel grade with the boat's owner before you set off.

The red salt storehouses at Laivasilta house summer restaurants, summer shops, art exhibitions and the Loviisa Maritime Museum, which is open in summer. Check the opening hours before you set off.