Imatra - city in the region of South Karelia in Finland
Imatra (dead link: January 2023) (population ca. 30,000) is an industrial town in South Karelia. It is dominated by Lake Saimaa, the River Vuoksi and the Finnish-Russian border. Imatra’s over 300-year-old history of busy tourism is greatly attributed to the attraction of the spectacular rapids of the river Vuoksi which have enticed many illustrious personas to visit the area throughout the ages. Visitors have included such people as Russian Empress Catherine II, Alexander Dumas Senior and Richard Wagner.
Get in
By car
Imatra is about 250 km northeast from Helsinki and the trip takes about three hours, depending on which of three most viable routes is chosen. The town is situated near the Russia border and you can cross the border at Svetogorsk just 7 km from Imatra.
By plane
Scheduled flights to the nearby Lappeenranta Airport (IATA: LPP) have been on and off at various times, so you may need to check its webpage for the current situation. There is also the historically significant Immola Airfield (ICAO EFIM) in the northern part of the town. Your best bet, though, would be to fly into Helsinki and travel the rest by bus or train.
By train
Trains between Helsinki and Joensuu stop at Imatra. The duration of the trip is about three hours and there are about ten daily departures.
By bus
Another alternative is to travel by bus. Imatra has direct bus connections with Helsinki, Kouvola, Joensuu, Mikkeli and Savonlinna. Timetables for normal intercity buses can be found at Matkahuolto's website (dead link: January 2023). Also budget bus company Onnibus (dead link: January 2023) services Imatra.
Regional bus lines 100 and 101 have a frequent traffic between Imatra and Lappeenranta. See timetables.
Minibus route from Saint Petersburg is provided by Transgold.
By boat
Lake Saimaa can be reached from sea through the Saimaa Canal.
Get around
Downtown can be covered by foot or bike. The other alternatives are car and taxi.
By bus
The city has a small public bus network of six lines, see Ridango for bus locations and timetables for stops. Bus tickets can be bought using PayiQ-tickets (dead link: January 2023) app.
By bike
There is a bike sharing system using bluetooth and the Donkey Republic about €1.50/1 hr, €4/5 hr, €12/24 hr. For longer stays becoming a member is cheaper: €9 or €18/month covers all trips of less than 1 hr respectively 12 hr, also in other towns using Donkey Republic – but you need to register as member in the country of your card (available: most countries in western Europe and USA). Customer service , +358 44 716 0644 daily 09:00–21:00. Several towns in south-east Finland use the same system, which is in use also elsewhere in Finland and abroad.
By scooter
See also: Finland#By motorised scooter
You can rent electric kick scooters for use in the centre from Finnish Joe Scooter.
By taxi
- Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
See
In poetry
Imatra is even mentioned in the Kalevala, the epic poem of Finland (compiled from oral poetry in 1835):<br> "Three, the water-falls in number,<br> Three in number, inland oceans,<br> Three in number, lofty mountains,<br> Shooting to the vault of heaven.<br> Hallapyora's near to Yaemen,<br> Katrakoski in Karyala;<br> Imatra, the falling water,<br> Tumbles, roaring, into Wuoksi"
- Imatrankoski Rapids, 61.1668°, 28.7718°. These rapids are Finland's first ever tourist attraction. The Russian Empress Catherine the Great and her retinue visited the rapids in 1772. Next to the rapids is hotel resembling a medieval knight's castle - the Imatran Valtionhotelli. The original name of the hotel was Grand Hotel Cascade d'Imatra.
- Kruununpuisto Park, 61.1672°, 28.7788°. The oldest nature park in Finland, occupying the area around the Imatrankoski Rapids, was founded in 1842 by order of Tsar Nicholas I.
- Church of the Three Crosses (Kolmen ristin kirkko), 61.2366°, 28.8561°. Open: 1 Sep - 31 May daily 10:00-15:00, 1 Jun - 31 Aug daily 09:00-20:00.
Do
- Imatra Big Band Festival.
- Rock to the River. Rock festival.
Buy
You can find all sorts of small shops in the pedestrian area 📍 (along and next to Koskenparras street). If you prefer shopping malls, head to the Mansikkala district 📍, where you can find Rajamarket, Lidl, Citymarket and a new (as of December, 2018) Prisma.
Eat
There is a list of lunch offers for each day.
- Buttenhoff, Koskenparras 4, 61.1707°, 28.7708°, +358 5 476 1433. M-F 11:00-23:30, Sa 12:00-23:30. 100-seat upscale restaurant. Á la Carte menu consists of Finnish, French and Russian dishes. Fair selection of European wines and beers. During lunch hours Buttenhoff has business-lunch selection with salads, soups, main course and coffee included in the same price. During the summer months, if the weather allows, you can also opt for a table outside by the Koskenparras pedestrian street.
- Ravintola Xiangfu, Tainionkoskentie 10, 55100, 61.1718°, 28.7738°, +358 5 436 80. Chinese restaurant. Fast and cheap lunch offered on weekdays. Beyond lunch hours serves good Chinese style dishes, but prices tend to be a bit high. 2019-05-25
- Kent Pizza & Steakhouse, Koskenparras 7, 61.1713°, 28.7690°. Really hungry? This restaurant at the pedestrian zone offers huge pizzas, steak and kebab servings that would feed three. €8-20, lunch specials for €10 2015-09-02
Drink
Sleep
Budget
- Hotelli Imatra, Kanavakatu 9, 61.1696°, 28.7847°, +358 10 666 5700. This new economy hotel is 500 meters from the famous Imatra Rapids and the center of Imatra town. Hotels motto is: Sleep and save. Very good breakfast, large rooms and sauna.
Mid-range
- Imatran Kylpylä Spa Hotel, Purjekuja 2, 61.2119°, 28.7254°, +358 20-710-0500, myynti@imatrankylpyla.fi. The old Spa Hotel and the new Promenade Hotel. Promenade Hotel offers good rooms for families. The spa department named Taikametsä (literally Magical Forest) has large swimming pools, saunas, whirlpools etc., from time to time with an artificial thunderstorm.
- Hotel Cumulus Imatra, Koskenparras 3, 61.1711°, 28.7708°, +358 5 627-2200, imatra.cumulus@restel.fi. 68 rooms with TV, minibar, hair dryer and free broadband connection."
Splurge
- {{sleep | name=Imatran Valtionhotelli | url=http://www.rantasipi.fi/hotelli.cfm?id=rsima (dead link: June 2022) | email= | address=Torkkelinkatu 2 | lat=61.1689 | long=28.7710 | directions= | phone=+358 5-625-2000 | tollfree= | fax= | hours= | price=€95 | checkin= | checkout= | content=The offputting name of the Imatra State Hotel hides a wealth of history: this castle-like hotel by the Imatrankoski rapids was built in 1903 for Russian nobility, and for several generations of Finns a suite here was the place to spend your honeymoon. Now privately run, the hotel was reopened in 2005 after extensive renovation and is, by Finnish standards, surprisingly cheap. Even if you don't stay overnight it's worth seeing from the outside. }}
Go next
- Lappeenranta - Imatra's bigger cousin with a fortress and better shopping.
- Punkaharju - The ridge bisecting Lake Saimaa is one of the most famous Finnish landscapes.
- Savonlinna - A medieval castle, an opera festival and freshly fried fish.
- Russia - If you have a valid visa (or if you don't need one), Svetogorsk is close by – but the border crossing is closed as of 2022. If you only have a passport, during the summer months, you can travel to Lappeenranta and take a visa free cruise along the Saimaa Canal to Vyborg.