DAY 1
D included
We meet at Kuopio airport in the late afternoon and transfer by road (2.5 hrs) to Kuhmo, the cultural heart of Northern Karelia. We have dinner on arrival at our hotel, a contemporary Finnish wooden design, idyllically situated on a lake.
DAY 2
B, L, D included
A leisurely start allows us, after breakfast, to wander from our hotel along the lakeshore and in the surrounding forest. We attend three festival concerts during the day, two in Kuhmo’s handsome yellow wooden church and one in the new Arts Centre. We are introduced to the Finnish national epic Kalevala in the Juminkeko museum and have lunch in a summer café popular with the festival musicians and audience.
DAY 3
B, L, D included
This morning we visit the nearby Winter War Museum, which documents a campaign little-known outside Finland, before an hour’s walk in the forest. Setting off for the cross-country drive south, we drive for 2 hours to our lunch break in the Koli National Park, then continue for 3 hours in the afternoon. We arrive at our quiet lakeside apartment hotel in Oravi in time for dinner, featuring wild berries, mushrooms and fish from the Saimaa Lake.
DAY 4
B, L, D included
We set off on a morning boat safari to the main island of the Linnansaari National Park, home of the endangered Saimaa ringed seal. In the afternoon, a 40 minutes’ drive takes us to Savonlinna, where we have an early dinner in an excellent restaurant before crossing two bridges on foot to attend our first opera performance, Mozart’s ‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’, an unforgettable experience with the floodlit castle reflected in the still waters of the lake.
DAY 5
B, L, D included
We start with a visit to the world’s largest wooden church in Kerimaki, built between 1844 and 1847, through the dream of the local clergyman and the efforts of the local population. We continue to the Punkaharju esker, one of Finland’s natural wonders, and walk along this sand ridge, a remnant of the Ice age. After a lunch of seasonal fresh produce in a charming historic building, we visit the informative Museum of the Forest. Later we return to Savonlinna for our second opera, Rossini’s ‘The Barber of Seville’.
DAY 6
B, L, D included
Today, we travel west on a day’s drive through a classic Finnish landscape of forests and lakes, pausing en route for lunch in a lakeside restaurant in the Fortress of Lappeenranta. There are opportunities to visit Finland’s oldest Orthodox church and the South Karelian museum or to shop for handicrafts. We also look around Hamina, with its unique circular town plan dating from the early 18th century Swedish period, before arriving at our hotel, a 4 star converted Manor house set in ten acres of grounds leading down to the sea, in time to swim, use the spa facilities, or take a short walk before dinner.
DAY 7
B, L, D included
In nearby Porvoo, once an important mediaeval trade centre and now a picturesque small town, we walk the cobbled lanes and along the river to admire the red ochre-painted grain warehouses. In Ainola, we visit Sibelius’ atmospheric former country home, full of evocative mementoes of Finland’s greatest composer, and have a light lunch before driving on to Helsinki, where our luxury hotel, a recently refurbished historic hotel, now a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is perfectly situated for exploring the historic city centre. We begin with an orientation walk from our hotel, visiting Senate Square, the Orthodox Cathedral and the picturesque waterfront before returning to prepare for our farewell dinner in an elegant restaurant.
DAY 8
B included
Our final day is spent exploring Helsinki – either independently, or joining our Kudu guide on a gentle walk (6 kms) that takes in some of the most iconic monuments of the city, including Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall and the Central Railway Station, considered by many to be the crowning achievement of architect Ariel Saarinen. We cross some of the city’s delightful green spaces, embellished with sculpture, and pass the National Museum of Finland and Ateneum that houses the National Art Collection with pictures from the ‘golden age’ of Finnish art. The trip concludes with a private transfer to Helsinki airport.
Note: The Savonlinna Opera and Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival events described in the itinerary are subject (rarely) to change by the organisers. Actual performances or their order may therefore vary from those described in the itinerary.
