The compact grid of narrow lanes between Kuninkaankatu and Kauppakatu is the heart of Old Rauma, the UNESCO-listed wooden town that has been continuously inhabited since the 16th century. Unlike a museum quarter, Old Rauma is a working neighbourhood — people live in these houses, run shops out of them, and complain about the noise of summer tourists. The buildings are mostly one or two storeys, with tiled or sheet-metal roofs and the distinctive yellow, red, and pale green facades that characterise the Finnish vernacular.
The best approach is to wander without a map. Highlights include the small Marela and Kirsti house museums (each is a preserved merchant's home with original interiors), the cobbled Kauppatori market square, and the dozens of tiny craft shops selling lace, ceramics, and Rauma woollens. The lanes are narrow because they were laid out for handcarts, not cars; the few vehicles that creep through reinforce just how human-scale the place is. In winter the town is at its most photogenic, with snow on the wooden roofs and yellow window-glow against the dusk.