Tour Code: WT-Helsinkit 01    3 Days Tour in Finland to Porvoo, Saimma Lake and Joensuu

Departure: Daily

 

Day 01 - Entry Porvoo
Your journey through the Finnish Lakeland starts as you depart by coach for Porvoo, the second oldest town in Finland. Lunch will be enjoyed in the old Ruotsinpyhtää ironworks village, dotted with red 18th-century workers' dwellings. On the way to Imatra you will stop to admire the Langinkoski rapids. Czar Alexander III had an imperial fishing lodge built on the shore of the roaring rapids, and the court in St. Petersburg was provided with salmon caught by the czar's fishermen.

Day 2 - The Land of Thousands of Lakes
We approach the Retretti Art Exhibition via the Punkaharju esker ridge, an isthmus between two large lakes. The sub- and superterranean exhibition halls of Retretti house an exhibition of classical as well as contemporary visual arts. After lunch in Punkaharju you head to Savonlinna. On a small island in the centre of the town stands the best-preserved medieval fortress in the Nordic countries, Olavinlinna Castle. Founded in 1475, the castle and its three magnificent towers have seen the Swedes rowing through the straits, the Russians skiing across the ice and the Finns building a bridge over the troubled water. Every summer it turns into the scene of one of the oldest music festivals in Europe, the Savonlinna Opera Festival. The eastern orthodox monastery of Valamo still bears the name of the island in Lake Ladoga from where it was transferred to Heinävesi in 1940. In the Valamo Monastery, tea is brewed in the traditional style in a massive silver samovar, sweetened with raspberry jam, and served in tea glasses. The tea is accompanied by old-Russian delicacies. Continue to Koli Hills, one of Finland's best-known places of natural beauty. Form the highest hilltop there is a spectacular view over forests and lakes.

Day 3 - Exit  Joensuu
Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to Joensuu airport and take a flight to Helsinki.