Will be in Helsinki for 1 1/2 days before heading to Estonia. Is it worth extending time to visit Turku. If so, how far is it to Turku and what's the best way to get there?
I visited Helsinki for four nights in 2012 and took a day trip to Turku. It was an easy trip by train.
There is a really nice cathedral in Turku, and a pleasant walk along the river, but not much else worth seeing. If you do decide to go, I'd strongly urge you to catch a bus to Naantali, and I think that is worth doing (it's about 1/2 hour each way on the bus from Turku to Naantali. You can walk from the train station to the bus station and ask them where to catch the bus to Naantali.) If you're interested, I can point you to my online photo album from that trip, and you can see if there is any appeal.
Whether it's worth extending your time in Finland to do this depends on how much time you have in other places. Where would you steal the extra day from?
If you only have 1.5 days, You can easily spend it in Helsinki. Go out to Suomenlinna.
To add to Laura's Suomenlinna suggestion as a near town attraction, the Seurasaari open air folk museum is a nice walk around:
http://www.nba.fi/en/museums/seurasaari_openairmuseum
City busses operate to the island. About 40 minutes from downtown.
Lane, thanks for the info and thoughts. Traveling with another couple and we decided not to venture to Turku for the very reason you mention....where do you get the extra day when on a timeline. Can't see it all unfortunately.
Laura & Edgar, those are good ideas. Appreciate your input.!