Kymenlaakso

Kymenlaakso, the valley of the Kymijoki River, lies in southeastern Finland between Helsinki and the Russian border. Here, an archipelago coast, a salmon river, and industrial history come together. A vacation in Kymenlaakso takes you to the port city of Kotka, the octagonal fortress town of Hamina, and a wood-processing mill that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

River and Coast

The Kymijoki flows south from the Lakeland and empties into the Gulf of Finland near Kotka through several branches. In the 19th century, paper and wood mills sprang up along its rapids, and they still shape life in the region today. Offshore lie the islands of the Eastern Gulf of Finland National Park. Around 160,000 people live here, most of them in Kouvola inland and in Kotka on the coast. Kotka is home to Finland's largest export port.

Sights in Kymenlaakso

Kotka is a park city with the Maretarium, an aquarium showcasing the fish of the Baltic Sea and Finnish waters, and the Vellamo maritime center, whose roof resembles a wave. At Langinkoski, on the rapids of the Kymijoki, Tsar Alexander III had a wooden fishing lodge built, which is now a museum. Hamina was laid out in the 18th century as a fortress town with a circular plan; the streets radiate like a star toward the town hall, and an international military music festival takes place here in summer. In Verla near Kouvola stands a 19th-century groundwood and cardboard mill that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. From the harbor in Kotka, boats head out to the islands of Kaunissaari and Haapasaari, home to fishing villages. In the Kymijoki valley, the rapids at Ahvionkoski invite you to fish, as salmon and sea trout swim upstream here. In the north, around Kouvola, Repovesi National Park leads you into one of southern Finland's most impressive forest landscapes, with suspension bridges, rock faces, observation towers, and the hand-pulled Ketunlossi raft.

Food, Getting There, and Best Time to Visit

The cuisine is shaped by the sea: salmon from the Kymijoki, Baltic herring, and fish soup. In Kouvola, Karelian pies and meat stews are part of everyday cooking. From Helsinki, you can reach Kotka by bus in about an hour and a half and Kouvola by train in an hour. The best time to visit is June through August, when the archipelago boats are running.