DAY 1
D included
We meet at Kuopio airport in the late afternoon and transfer by road (1 hr) to Nurmes, a small compact town on the banks of Lake Pielinen, Finland’s fourth largest lake and one of the 409 lakes in Nurmes. Home to the first Karelian language pre-school, Nurmes was declared Europe’s Christmas Song City in 2009.
DAY 2
B, L, D included
We continue our drive through forest to Kuhmo (1 hr). We attend three festival concerts during the day, held in Kuhmo’s handsome yellow wooden church and the striking 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. We spend the night in a modern lake-side hotel, designed to resemble a wooden fortress and declared a protected building by the Finnish Board of Antiquities.
DAY 3
B, L, D included
This morning we visit the nearby Winter War Museum, which documents a campaign little-known outside Finland. Setting off for the cross-country drive south, we travel for 2 hours to the Koli National Park. In the afternoon, we walk on a forest trail (1.5 hrs) in a landscape formed by continental ice during the ice age. From the highest point of the park, Ukko Koli (347 m), we admire the view below, an inspiration to generations of Finnish and Nordic artists.
DAY 4
B, L, D included
We head for Savonlinna (2 hrs), pausing in Kerimaki to visit the world’s largest wooden church, built between 1844 and 1847, through the dream of the local clergyman and the efforts of the local population. We settle in our central 4-star hotel and orientate ourselves on a walk through the oldest part of Savonlinna, formed around Olavinlinna castle following its foundation at the end of 15th century. We have an early dinner in an excellent restaurant, before crossing two bridges on foot to attend our first opera performance, Gounod’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, an unforgettable experience with the floodlit castle reflected in the still waters of the lake.
DAY 5
B, L, D included
On a morning boat safari in the Linnansaari National Park (40 mins from Savonlinna), we learn about the traditional slash-and-burn farming, the ‘tar’ trade plied on Saimaa lake, Finland’s largest, and the endangered, endemic Saimaa ringed seal. We return to Olavinlinna castle for our second performance, Rossini’s ‘Barber of Seville’.
DAY 6
B, L, D included
We drive to the Punkaharju esker, one of Finland’s natural wonders, and visit the informative Museum of the Forest. We continue our travel west (total of 4 hrs driving) through a classic Finnish landscape of forests and lakes, pausing en route for lunch in the Fortress of Lappeenranta. We also discover 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 through the cobbled lanes and along the river to admire the red ochre-painted grain warehouses. We visit Sibelius’ atmospheric former country home, Ainola, full of evocative mementoes of Finland’s greatest composer, and have a light lunch before driving on to Helsinki, where our luxury hotel, a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is perfectly situated for exploring the historic city centre. We have a 2-hour orientation walk, taking in the picturesque waterfront, Senate Square, the recently opened architectural marvel of the National Library and the Central Railway Station, considered by many to be the crowning achievement of architect Ariel Saarinen, before our farewell dinner in an elegant restaurant.
DAY 8
B included
On our final day, we continue exploring Helsinki, either independently or joining your Kudu guide on a gentle walk (7 km) to discover other iconic monuments of the city, including the 1952 Olympic Stadium and Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall. We cross some of the city’s delightful green spaces, embellished with sculpture, and pass notable buildings such as the Opera House, the National Museum, the Helsinki City Theatre or the Ateneum Art Museum housing the National Art Collection with pictures from the ‘golden age’ of Finnish art. The trip concludes with a private transfer to Helsinki airport.
If this is your first visit to Helsinki, you may wish to consider extending your stay to allow time for a more thorough exploration.
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.
