During the 600 years Finland belonged to the Sweden, the Swedish royal court and its couriers traveled a road through Finland that ran to St. Petersburg. Hamlets, castles and forts sprung up along what naturally came to be called "The King’s Road."

In modern times, the route consists of two branches of comfortably paved country roads and highways: King’s Road West (the 100 miles west from Helsinki to Turku) and King’s Road East (the 110 miles from Helsinki to the Russian border).