South Savonia (Etelä-Savo) is a province in the Finnish Lakeland.
Cities
- 1 Mikkeli — the largest city in the region
- 2 Pieksämäki — major rail junction
- 3 Savonlinna — Finland's largest castle, a famous opera festival and scenic views of Lake Saimaa
Municipalities
- 1 Enonkoski
- 2 Heinävesi
- 3 Hirvensalmi
- 4 Joroinen
- 5 Juva
- 6 Kangasniemi
- 7 Mäntyharju
- 8 Pertunmaa
- 9 Punkaharju
- 10 Puumala
- 11 Rantasalmi
- 12 Ristiina
- 13 Sulkava
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.
- 14 Kerimäki
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 (HEL IATA) and continue by bus or train. Lappeenranta 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 neighboring provinces and even from provinces more far away.
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.
- 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
- 1 Astuvansalmi rock paintings. 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
- 2 [dead link]Joroisten Judokerho, ✉[email protected]. 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
- Juva Rokkaa: 29 June – 30 July 2018. A summer rock festival in Juva. (date needs updating)
- Rockkaamo: 9–9 July 2016. Music festival in Kangasniemi (date needs updating)
- Kosmos Festival: 6–8 July 2018. An electronic underground music and art festival. (date needs updating)