Central Finland

If you look for Finland on a map, you'll find Central Finland almost exactly in the middle: a land of lakes, pine forests, and wooden houses, with Jyväskylä as its youthful university hub. A vacation in Central Finland takes you in the footsteps of the architect Alvar Aalto, to the shores of Lake Päijänne, and onto the gravel roads where the World Rally Championship races every year.

Lakes and Forests

The landscape, called Keski-Suomi in Finnish, is shaped by the Finnish Lakeland. Lake Päijänne, the country's second-largest lake, stretches more than 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) across the south, and hundreds of smaller lakes are linked by canals and rivers. The forests are dense, the hills gentle, and the timber and paper industries define towns like Äänekoski and Jämsä. Around 275,000 people live here, half of them in Jyväskylä and neighboring Laukaa. In Isojärvi National Park, old lumberjack cabins stand in the forest, while trails in Leivonmäki National Park lead across bogs.

Sights in Central Finland

Jyväskylä is known as Alvar Aalto's city: he spent his youth here and left behind about 30 buildings, including the university, the Workers' Club, and the Alvar Aalto Museum, which is housed in a building he designed himself. A bit outside town lies the Muuratsalo Experimental House, his summer home on an island. The Petäjävesi Old Church, a wooden church from 1765, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a masterpiece of rural carpentry. Jämsä and the lakeside Himos ski resort are popular in winter and summer alike. In August, the jumps of Rally Finland turn the forest roads around Jyväskylä into a huge public festival. If you prefer things quieter, rent a canoe and paddle across the lakes around Laukaa, or hike through Pyhä-Häkki National Park, which protects one of the last old-growth forests in southern Finland, with pines more than 400 years old.

Food, Getting There, and Best Time to Visit

On the table you'll find vendace and perch from the lakes, mushrooms and berries from the forest, and the classic Finnish rye bread. From Helsinki, you can reach Jyväskylä by train in about three and a half hours; the small airport has only a few connections. The best time to visit is June through September, when steamships cruise Lake Päijänne and lakeside vacation rentals fill up. In winter, cross-country ski trails and saunas with ice-swimming holes are the draw.