Jyvaskyla

The Kuopio Automobile Museum is located in Puistokatu 22, right next to the local swimming hall and bowling hall. The museum is administrated by a group of local car enthusiasts. The museum contains a collection of old cars, motorbikes and motoring-related gadgets, for example, taxi meters and license plates. In the same building, there’s a café called Cafe Mobiili, where you can enjoy full breakfast, lunch and delicious pastries. The café is also rentable for different occasions and meetings. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/kuopio-automobile-museum/

The Orthodox Church Museum, which was established in Kuopio in 1957, derives from the Collection of Ancient Objects founded at the Monastery of Valamo in 1911. Most of the exhibits, which consist mainly of icons, sacred objects and liturgical textiles, are from the monasteries and congregations of Karelia: a region in southeast Finland that was partially ceded to the Soviet Union in connection with the Second World War. Objects in the museum are mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. The museum’s icon collection consists of about 800 icons made in various styles and using a number of different material and techniques. The icons depict things subjects like Christ, the Mother of God and other holy persons and events. The most extensive portion of RIISA’s collections is made up of textile objects, nearly 4000 of them. The oldest of the museum’s textiles date back to the 16th century, though the majority of them is from the 19th century. The museum also has an extensive archive of photographs documenting the history of the Orthodox Church. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, the museum offers yearly seasonal exhibitions. These theme-based exhibitions are aimed to introduce the variety of ecclesiastical art of eastern Christian Church. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/the-orthodox-church-museum-of-finland/

Old Kuopio Museum consists of eleven old wooden houses which form an enclosed block. The oldest buildings date back to the 18th century and the most recent, to the end of the 19th century. The interiors show homes and workshops of different kinds of families from 19th century to the 1930´s. There is also a pharmacy museum in the block. In addition there is a café in the block. In the yard, there are many old ornamental and utile plants growing. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/old-kuopio-museum/

Kuopio Art Museum, located in the centre of Kuopio, is housed in a former bank building converted into a museum that opened in 1980. As the regional art museum of Northern Savo Province, the museum includes exhibitions, research and documentation of visual arts. Art education plays a central role in museum activities. The collections include primarily Finnish art from the end of the Nineteenth Century to the present, with an emphasis on local painters, from the von Wright Artist Brothers and Juho Rissanen to the contemporary artists. The central theme of the museum is nature and the environment. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/kuopio-art-museum/

Puijo hill is the famous landmark of Kuopio, and the ridge of Puijo is among the most popular recreation areas of the city. The hill is 150 metres high, has an observation tower on its peak and is situated close to the city centre of Kuopio. Puijo Tower provides you with magnificent Finnish scenery and cuisine – not to mention the best window seats! The revolving tower indulges you with views over Kuopio in the middle of the Lakeland. You can order from á la carte menu all day. Puijo ridge is one of the favourite recreation areas in Kuopio, with its numerous paths and extensive track network. Two nature trails offer a chance to experience the area’s diversity. You can move freely on most of Puijo ridge. Gathering of berries, mushrooms and other plants is also allowed. Movement is restricted to the paths in the nature conservation area and in the deciduous areas that are less resistant to use. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/puijo-and-puijo-tower/

Two excellent museums, the Kuopio Cultural History Museum and the Kuopio Natural History Museum in an over 100-year-old building. From the enigmatic mammoth to the idyllic black cottage! The permanent exhibitions of the Natural History Museum rich in experiences, including a woolly mammoth interior, offer a possibility to experience Finnish environment and natural phenomena in an ecological setting. The permanent exhibitions of the Cultural History Museum provide information on the prehistory, settlement, local livelihoods, industry and the ways of life in Northern Savo. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/kuopio-museum/

The Moomin Museum brings a touch of magic from Tove Jansson’s Moominland Midwinter to Terminal 1 at Tampere-Pirkkala airport. https://muumimuseo.fi/en/

The city of Tampere bought the building and named it Näsilinnaksi. It was handed over to the oldest museum in Tampere, the Häme Museum. The first exhibitions opened in 1908. http://museomilavida.fi/museo-milavida/milavida/

Vapriikki is housed in what used to be the engineering works of Tampella Ltd. on the banks of the Tammerkoski Rapids. With a picturesque location beside the Tammerkoski rapids, Vapriikki is a museum centre that offers things to see and do for the whole family. We host about a dozen exhibitions, with varied themes, including history, technology, and natural sciences. Vapriikki is also home to the Natural History Museum of Tampere, the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, the Shoe Museum, and the Doll Museum. In autumn 2014, the Postal Museum and the Tampere Mineral Museum will also open their doors at Vapriikki. Our visitors are served by museum restaurant Valssi and the Vapriikki museum shop, which offers a wide selection of books, gifts, and souvenirs. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/museum-centre-vapriikki/

The Tampere City Hall is a neo-renaissance building in Tampere, Finland, situated at the edge of the Tampere Central Square. The current city hall was built in 1890 and was designed by Georg Schreck. The palatial building has many halls and the city of Tampere holds many events there. During the Great Strike in 1905, the so-called “Red Manifesto” was read from the balcony of the Tampere City Hall. It was one of the last buildings to remain as part of the red base during the final stages of the civil war in 1918, and still shows signs of the battles of that time, including the main entrance and the main staircase where bullet holes are still visible. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/tampere-city-hall/

Take a little virtual tour of the museum. It takes you to some of the houses on the block and informs you of the museum’s construction process. You will also be told how the workers’ residential are Amuri came into existence. http://www.museokortteli.fi/en/

Särkänniemi Adventure Park combines six very different experiences that together create a quality destination for all the family! There are some 34 different rides in Särkänniemi, offering wild whirls, gentle swaying or other fun experiences spiced with sprays of water, for example. This summer’s newest ride spins its passengers around like a tornado. The ride reaches a height of 15.6m when spinning. The upper part of the ride undergoes a maximum of 12 revolutions per minute with the arms spinning at 4 revolutions per minute. The ride features 24 seats, which spin freely, making each ride feel different. The height restriction for High Voltage is 130cm. The ride was manufactured by Italian company Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/saerkaenniemi-amusement-park/

Näsinneula is an observation tower in the Särkänniemi Adventure Park in Tampere that overlooks Lake Näsijärvi. Designed by Pekka Ilveskoski, the tower was constructed in 1970-71 and is the tallest free-standing structure in Finland, as well as being the tallest observation tower in Scandanavia at a height of 168m. The tower features a rotating restaurant, like the one in the Puijo tower in Kuopio, which makes a full revolution in 45 minutes. An elevator brings visitors to a height of 120m where the Pilvilinna café is located, the restaurant, called Näsinneula, is one story higher. The elevator is the fastest in Finland, travelling at a rate of 6 metres per second, and reaches the café in 27 seconds. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/naesinneula-observation-tower/

he Sara Hildén Art Museum, which is the permanent home of the collection of modern art, Finnish and foreign, owned by the Sara Hildén Foundation, is maintained by the City of Tampere. Sara Hildén Foundation Collection currently amounts to some 4500 works. It is thus a comprehensive collection which presents a broad cross section of the development in modern art over the last forty years. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/sara-hilden-art-museum/

Alexander Church, built by Theodor Decker in 1880-1881, is one of the more beautiful churches in Tampere, and a fine example of the Neo-Gothic style, although there are also some elements of other architectural styles. During reconstruction in 1937, the church was badly damaged by fire, and in 1980 it underwent another major renovation. The magnificent altarpiece, “The Glorification of the Saviour”, is by Aleksandra Saltin, the motifs on the chancel walls are by Antti Salmenlinnan, the crucifix is by Ipi and Pekka Pyhältö, and the textiles throughout the church were designed by Anja Savolainen. The church was named Alexander Church to honour the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Czar Alexander II, as its foundation stone was laid on the anniversary date, 2nd of March 1880. The church was consecrated in December 1881. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/alexander-church-tampere/

Artist Pentti Ikäheimonen art gallery Villi Villa is located in the middle of a beautiful Finnish lake landscape, only 5 km from the center of Rantasalmi. Come and explore the remodelled building and artwork that breathe both rural and natural beauty. The gallery presents a sales exhibition of Pentti Ikäheimonen and visiting artists as well as works by former masters. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/shops/the-art-gallery-villi-villa/

The Tampere Art Museum was established in 1931. It was founded by the Tampere Art Society which had already been collecting art and arranging art exhibitions in Tampere since the beginning of the last century. The museum is renowned for its active exhibition policy, especially exhibitions presenting ancient cultures, wide-ranging publication activities, the Young Artist of the Year event and Moominvalley, which can be found in the city main library “Metso”. The Tampere Art Museum presents important themes from art history and phenomena of contemporary art in both its Finnish and international exhibitions. The museum’s collections consist mainly of domestic art from the early 19th century onwards. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/tampere-art-museum/

There are 23 slopes at Tahko, the biggest ones 1200 meters long and as much as 200 meters high. At Tahko, you can find speedy slopes for active skiers, but the kids and beginners have their own slope, too. Snowboarders will enjoy the proper pipe and the boxes and rails of the street. There are 13 T-bar lifts and two four-person chair lifts taking skiers to the top of Tahko. In addition, there is a lift connection from the slope area to the parking lot, and a safe carpet lift for the youngest skiers. At Tahko, you do not have to leave the slopes when you get hungry. There are five slope restaurants ready to fill your stomach and quench your thirst. Additional slope services include two equipment rental shops and a ski school. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/tahko-ski-resort/

Savonlinna Cathedral is the main church of Savonlinna’s Evangelical-Lutheran parish. The name of the church originates from the cathedral, the seat of a bishop, located in Savonlinna from 1897 to 1924. The church was designed by architect A.H. Dahlström in 1858, and it was consecrated on 2 February 1879. The church was damaged during an air raid in 1940. The reconstruction was designed by architect B. Lilljeqvist. The altar choir ceiling fresco, paintings on the gallery bannisters, and the chandeliers were created by artist Antti Salmenlinna. The altarpiece “Jesus in Gethsemane” is a triptych painted by artist Paavo Leinonen. The church textiles, designed by artist Helena Karvonen, are from 1979. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/savonlinna-cathedral/

Finland has hundreds of market squares, but only one with the name Savonlinna! The location alone in the heart of the lively summer tourist city, amidst the exceptionally beautiful lake scenery and on the banks of the fast-flowing Haapasalmi, which connects the lakes Haapavesi and Pihlajavesi, makes Savonlinna market square unique. The principal city parks and the passenger harbour are integral parts of its setting. During the festival season, the start of each day of opera is celebrated in Harbour Park next to the market square every morning. Historical steamships call their goodbyes in the harbour and modern motor cruisers start their journeys from their berths at the square, adding their own greetings to the general hubbub. With the general structural change, the businesses on the market square have also adapted, putting more emphasis on the summer, which has become all the livelier with an ambience you can almost touch. The market provides unforgettable moments for visitors as well as locals, enjoying the delicacies of market cafés, fish restaurants and market stalls. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/shops/savonlinna-marketsquare/

Spahotel Casino is located on a magnificent lakeside site on Kasino island, right in the centre of the city of Savonlinna. The hotel complex includes a spa, the hotel, a restaurant and a wide range of wellness and free-time facilities and services. Also the Savonlinna Hall, just across the forecourt, offers concerts, theatre performance and other cultural events. Spahotel Casino offers a wide range of spa, beauty care, wellness and health services. Hot water pools are an excellent way of relaxing after a busy day. Also, try a waterfall massage in the outdoor hot waterfall. To exercise, you can swim upstream. After a spell in a Finnish sauna or a steam bath, in the summertime, you can take a dip into the blue Lake Saimaa. We have also thought of the little ones for whom there is special children’s pool. Spahotel Casino also has a wide range of different kind of treatments available in the spa. Treatments vary from recreational treatments, rehabilitation and physiotherapy to beauty and wellness treatments. Fysiosatama physiotherapy, Savonlinna unit of the Kyyhkylä Rehabilitation Centre and Ruusunen Day Spa are all located on the second floor of the Spahotel Casino pampering guests. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/spahotel-casino/

The building of Olavinlinna Castle began in 1475. The Danish-born founder of the castle, knight Erik Axelsson Tott, decided that a powerful fortification should be build to protect the strategically important Savo region http://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/statue-musta-paessi-black-ram/

The Museum Shop of the Olavinlinna Castle has a wide range of the National Board of Antiquities’ publications as well as other historical books, nostalgic posters and postcards. http://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/museum-shop-of-olavinlinna-castle/

The House of Mr Clutterbuck is based on the beloved books by Mauri Kunnas. Mr Clutterbuck’s house is located in Vammala, which is the town center of Sastamala, from where Mauri Kunnas is also from. The stories in Kunnas’ books bring to life a diverse world, and the House of Mr Clutterbuck brings those stories even more to life. So alive, in fact, that you can take part in them yourself! Mr Clutterbuck’s house has five different areas, where you can experience the world of Mauri Kunnas’ stories. During the summer season from May until the end of October Mr. Clutterbuck’s Fun on Wheels Yard is also open. The Home of Mr Clutterbuck invites you to play in Mr Clutterbuck’s kitchen, to get to know the ghosts of the haunted clock in the attic and to try out how it feels to descend from the lighthouse down the fireman’s pole. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/the-house-of-mr-clutterbuck/

The Fortress of Lappeenranta is a unique place in South-Eastern Finland. Inhabited and full of life even today, it once formed part of a defence system that also included the fortress of Suomenlinna in Helsinki and the fortress of Hamina. Although different in size, all three of these fortresses are of a similar nature and share the same passion for development. While seeking to protect and preserve these areas through careful land use planning, they also aim to increase services and levels of activity around the year. The Fortress of Lappeenranta was constructed as a border fortress, forming part of the chain of fortresses between Finland and North-Western Russia. Over the centuries, the Fortress was alternately held by the Swedes and Russians. Today, the Fortress of Lappeenranta is a valuable component of Finnish, Russian and Swedish cultural heritage and forms part of the Castles and Fortifications chain of cultural destinations. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/the-fortress-of-lappeenranta/

Founded in 1965, the Lappeenranta Art Museum initially occupied the same premises as the South Karelia Museum of Cultural History, at the northern tip of the Lappeenranta Fortress. In the 1980s, the Art Museum moved to its present site in the neoclassic-style barracks (built in 1798), opposite the Orthodox Church. In 1986, the Art Museum became the Regional Art Museum of South-East Finland. The museum is home to a collection of Finnish art from the mid-19th century to the present day. The museum’s largest single collection of old Finnish art was accumulated by Viipurin Taiteenystävät ry (Vyborg Friends of Art); this collection includes works by many well-known artists such as Albert Edelfelt, Pekka Halonen, Tyko Sallinen, Hjalmar Munsterhjelm and Eero Järnefelt. The collection has paintings by artists who were active in Vyborg or were born there. The contemporary art collections, on the other hand, focus in particular on art from south-east Finland and include paintings by Leena Luostarinen, Unto Ahjotuli, Anne Tompuri, Irmeli Tarmo, Eeva Vesterinen, Heimo Suntio and Sinikka Kurkinen etc. etc. Every year, the Art Museum also stages between three and four temporary exhibitions which feature both the latest trends in the world of art and works representing earlier periods in the history of art. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/south-karelia-art-museum/

The Church of the Virgin Mary is the oldest orthodox church in Finland and is situated in Linnoitus, otherwise known as the Fortress of Lappeenranta. There was a wooden church on the site as far back as 1742, the present church was completed in 1785. The most valuable icon here is the 200-year-old Communion of the Holy, found in the middle of the north wall. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/lappeenranta-orthodox-church/

Situated in Lappenranta airport, the Aviation Museum of Karelia opened to the public in 2000. The basic exhibition displays fighter planes MIG-21BIS, SAAB 35S, DRAKEN, NIEUPORT 17, FOLLAND GNAT and the school plane SAAB 91D SAFIR. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/aviation-museum-of-karelia/

Built in 1826, Wolkoff House is located in the centre of the town and is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Lappeenranta. It originally belonged to a Russian merchant family, from 1872 to 1986, and was opened as a museum to the public in 1993. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/wolkoff-house-museum/

Situated in the heart of Lappeenranta, St. Mary’s Church of Lappee is a double cruciform wooden church that was originally built in 1794. The current church was built by Juhana Salonen, from Savitaipale, although it has undergone restoration work over the years. The altarpiece, representing Christ’s Ascension, was painted by Aleksandra Frosterus-Såltin in 1887, and there are many other paintings in the church by unknown artists. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/lappee-church/

The church of Kerimäki is the world’s largest Christian wooden church and has the most spacious interior in Finland. It is 45 meters long, 42 meters wide and 27 meters high. The height of the dome is 37 meters. http://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/kerimaki-church/

Johanna and Reijo Oras purchased the Tuunaankartano Manor, situated in the heart of the Retretti area in Punkaharju. The manor-house, built in the 1910s, is the permanent location for Johanna Oras´s summer exhibition. A side building will be renovated into the artist´s summer atelier, offering something exceptional in Finland; the public will have the chance to follow the artist at work and see some of the mysterious birth processes of a work of art from inspiration to the final brush touch. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/the-johanna-oras-manor-gallery/

Lusto – The Finnish Forest Museum is a destination for the entire family. It’s a place that brings back memories and creates new experiences. The national museum responsible for forest culture is located in Punkaharju, in the most beautiful landscape of ridges and lakes in eastern Finland. Lusto’s exhibitions and events provide a diverse and illustrative insight into the significance of forests in the life of Finns. Lusto is sure to appeal to visitors of all ages! https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/lusto-the-finninsh-forest-museum/