South Savonia - Route Wiki

South Savonia (Etelä-Savo) is a province in the Finnish Lakeland.

Cities

Mikkeli — the largest city in the region
Pieksämäki — major rail junction
Savonlinna — Finland's largest castle, a famous opera festival and scenic views of Lake Saimaa

Municipalities

Other destinations

Kolovesi National Park 📍: labyrinth of lake channels, with ancient rock paintings and the Saimaa seal, paradise for conoeists.
Linnansaari National Park 📍: lake cruises among forested islands and rocky islets, home of ospreys and Saimaa seals; slash-and-burn farm; hiking trails in summer, skating trail in winter.
Kerimäki A village with what is believed to the largest wooden church in the world, built in the mid-19th century to hold 3000 seats.

Understand

Get in

By plane

The only airport in the region is at Savonlinna, which has service to Helsinki.

If you fly in from abroad, fly to Helsinki (IATA: HEL) and continue by bus or train. Lappeenranta ((IATA: LPP) has some international flights, most of them operated by Ryanair.

By train

South Savonia's major cities are all well-served by rail, although you may need to change trains in Kouvola. It's 3 hours from Helsinki to Savonlinna or Mikkeli, or about 4 hours to Pieksämäki. There's also a cross line from Turku, Tampere and Jyväskylä to Pieksämäki.

By bus

South Savonia has good bus connections from neighbouring provinces and even from farther away. See Matkahuolto.

There are connections from the directions of Helsinki (to Mikkeli, sometimes onward), Jyväskylä (to Mikkeli, Pieksämäki and Heinävesi), Kuopio (to Savonlinna), Varkaus and Joensuu (to Savonlinna, Heinävesi and Pieksämäki), Imatra (to Puumala and Mikkeli).

Soisalon Liikenne operates a few routes such as:

S5: Helsinki–Lahti–Mikkeli–Varkaus
Kuopio–Varkaus–Savonlinna
Varkaus–Savonlinna
Joensuu–Heinävesi–Varkaus–Pieksämäki–Laukaa–Jyväskylä

Linja-autoliike S Kosonen operates a few routes such as:

K13: Jyväskylä–Kangasniemi–Mikkeli
K14: Helsinki–Lahti–Mikkeli–Savonlinna

Savonlinja operates a few routes such as:

Joensuu–Kitee–Savonlinna

Saimaan Turistiliikenne operates a few routes, such as

Imatra–Puumala–Mikkeli

The following OnniBus.com routes serve the province. They don't take bikes or pets and there are restrictions on children. See Finland § By bus

M5: Helsinki—Mikkeli—Kuopio
M14: Helsinki—Lahti—Mikkeli—Savonlinna

Get around

Trains of VR are usable. There is a dense bus network covering most of the region, see Matkahuolto and schedules of Waltti traffic.

Google Maps includes timetables of trains, long distance buses and local transport of many cities and towns. Other useful route planners are Matka.fi for trains and local buses and Matkahuolto Reittiopas for regional buses.

By taxi

Etelä-Savon Taksi. Operates in Kangasniemi, Mikkeli, Mäntyharju, Pieksämäki, Puumala, Ristiina and Savonlinna.
Let's GO TAKSI. Operates in Juva, Kangasniemi, Mikkeli, Mäntyharju, Pieksämäki, Puumala, Ristiina and Savonlinna.
Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi, Menevä

See

The ridge landscape at Punkaharju, which is a "national landscape of Finland".
The Kerimäki Church, one of the largest wooden churches.
The Olavinlinna medieval castle in Savonlinna.
New Valamo, Heinävesi. The orthodox monastery of New Valamo is open for visitors all year round. It is also possible to sleep overnight in the monastery area. Visitors are expected to wear clothes that cover their knees and shoulders.
Lintula Holy Trinity Convent, Heinävesi. Close to New Valamo monastery, Lintula convent is the only orthodox convent in Finland. It welcomes visitors every day to services. During the summer it also serves accommodation in the convent area.

Do

Hiking

Astuvansalmi rock paintings, 61.441667°, 27.541667°. Astuvansalmi is one of the biggest rock painting sites in the Nordic countries. The paintings on a cliff next to a lake are thought to be 4500-5000 years old and they depict elk, human, hands, animal tracks, boats etc. The site can be reached by a 3 km walking path. You can arrive to the trail head from Ristiina by car. In Ristiina turn to "Suurlahdentie", road 4323. Drive 19 km and find a small parking place with the Astuvansalmi sign. In winter the paintings can be viewed from the ice on the frozen lake. In summer boats trips are possible.

Sports

Joroisten Judokerho, 62.1790638°, 27.8264343°, info@joroisen-judokerho.fi. Judo club open to everyone, including day guests. Contact them by email in advance for special lessons and schedules, which vary based on interest.

Festivals

Kosmos Festival, Ristiina. An electronic underground music and art festival in July.

South Savonia - region of Finland