What: “Travel Smart” series
First of all,
Mikkeli is not limited by its town; it also includes some suburbs, which are
unofficially considered as part of Mikkeli. One of such places is Kyyhkylä, a small resort just 7 km away from the city center
of Mikkeli. The name might mean (in my guess) “pigeon village” but it is a
shortened form. The place has a recreation center, hotel, restaurant, and some
other places. The
sport hall in Kyyhkylä is also used for some additional purposes, for instance, Dance Open Ballet Festival 2013 in Savonlinna was organized by a company from Mikkeli, Savcor
Ballet, which also held two weeks of Master Class mainly in
Kyyhkylä. But
beside all the above described, people can just go there and have a week of vacation at the shore of the lake Saimaa.
There is a gulf club near Kyyhkylä, and some other interesting places. You
can find Kyyhkylä if you leave Mikkeli and drive to Lappeenranta, then you see
a turn to Imatra, Puumala, Anttola. You take this turn and drive about 10
seconds till you see a turn to the right to Kyyhkylä, Porrassalmi and Moisio.
You follow the main road till you actually see the turn to the left to
Kyyhkylä. On your way you are going to some houses, other places and a gulf
club.
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| Kyyhkylä (one of the buildings) |
Secondly, as we
are in the same direction, here is another place I would like to talk about, Anttolanhovi. It is a beautiful resort as for foreigners and for
Finns. It is a lovely one. You drive on that road (mentioned above) for about
30 minutes till you see the sign board saying “Anttolanhovi”. The resort can
offer you accommodation both in the hotel and in small cottage houses. You can
choose the best suitable option and enjoy your time spending there.
Anttolanhovi has a restaurant, some places for different leisure activities and
a lake, of course. You can get there at any time of the year and be satisfied.
It is not fancy but it has all the required beauty and comfort for a good rest.
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| Anttolanhovi (main entrance to the hotel) |
Undoubtedly,
there are far more places and towns around Mikkeli worth visiting, for example,
Ristiina, Juva, both to be covered in the future, and Otava. The reason I would like to show you this small town
is simple. If you are familiar with geography pretty well you might wonder why
is this name?? It does sound like the capital of Canada, Ottawa, with a
minor difference in spelling. When I first learned about the town, I wanted to
see it and it was kind of funny to do so. I like Otava, it is a very small but
beautiful town. It is approximately a 10-minute drive from Mikkeli. Yes, for
all those above mentioned trips you are going to need a car. But there are
buses coming to those places as well, but it is hard to be stick to the
schedule that much. As for Otava, I was surprised the way I could feel the
nature, it was all around. It is pretty much the same feeling all across Finland.
To get there you are going to need to take Lahdentie, it is a new road to
Heinola, Lahti and Helsinki. You can also go right from the city center of Mikkeli on Vanha
Otavantie, which will get you directly to the desired destination.
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| Otava |
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| School in Otava |
If you feel hungry on your way to one of the mentioned
destinations, you can always have something to eat in the city center of
Mikkeli or you might choose some alternatives. One of them is ABC stations. They are everywhere
throughout Finland. If we talk about the roads to the described places, the
first one would be ABC station on Lappeenrannantie,
if you keep going straight to Lappeenranta. It is right after the turn to Imatra. The second ABC station is on Lahdentie,
it is a big one right at the big intersection, where you can find the road to
Jyväskylä starts. Obviously,
there are more of them even in Mikkeli.
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| Mikkeli (near city center) |
Another alternative to the city center is a very
beautiful place called Kenkävero.
There is a nice restaurant worth visiting, a museum-shop for customers, and
some other territories to discover. It is sometimes also a place for some
summer events. To get there you need to find Sokos Hotel and go on the bridge till you have harbor on your left
and a tunnel with a pedestrian road on your right. You need to turn there and
go all the way to Kenkävero.
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| Restaurant in Kenkävero |
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| Shop-museum in Kenkävero |
Not far from Kenkävero, actually, right
across the street, there is a very beautiful and pretty new park called Mikkeli Puisto. It
is a peaceful place with lots of amazing flowers, trees, and you can walk to
the lake and enjoy the view. Some concerts often take place in the park. Well,
you can also see the old rail going from the city center; this part of the rail
is abandoned and not in use for a long time. You basically cross it when
entering the park. You can walk that direction as well and explore more on your
own. Basically, it is possible to walk there; it takes about 20-30 minutes.
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| Mikkeli Puisto (park in Mikkeli) |
If you keep going straight on the main
road, you see a small road going to the right. It leads directly to Kyyhkylä, and the main road
keep going to the intersection with a road going to Imatra. But before that,
there is a historic place on the left side. Use the link for a better
navigation. It is quite difficult to find it if you are there for the first
time. That is a rare and interesting pothole right in Mikkeli.
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| Pothole in Mikkeli |
Getting back to that intersection, there is a big
bridge and a nice amazing view to the lake with a typically Scandinavian
nature. You can stop by at a café right after the bridge and enjoy everything
you see while having a coffee.
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| Bridge on a way from Mikkeli to Imatra (view from a café) |
If you go back to the turn when you had harbor on your
left, then you need to continue your walk to get to the largest supermarkets in
Mikkeli, Prisma and K-Citymarket. When you are on the
bridge, you can see a charming view of the harbor on you left, and those
supermarkets on your right. Just follow the road and at the pedestrian
intersection turn right. You will find the place easily.
Talking about other part of the town, well, you might find it interesting to visit Saksala, a district of the town. Passing through you can enjoy a view of the harbor form another angle. To get there you can choose between the city center and the way from Prisma. So, if you choose the city center, then go from Porrassalmenkatu and after the hospital you turn right on the road going down to Mannerheimintie. Turn left and walk till you see Saksalankatu, a short road going a little under the bridge. Keep going straight till you see wooden pedestrian bridge, there you are in Saksala. If you go through it, you mainly see the district, if you turn right you will see the harbor. If you choose the road from Prisma, you can have Prisma behind you and simply walk on a pedestrian straight. You will get to Saksala in 10 minutes or even less.
Talking about other part of the town, well, you might find it interesting to visit Saksala, a district of the town. Passing through you can enjoy a view of the harbor form another angle. To get there you can choose between the city center and the way from Prisma. So, if you choose the city center, then go from Porrassalmenkatu and after the hospital you turn right on the road going down to Mannerheimintie. Turn left and walk till you see Saksalankatu, a short road going a little under the bridge. Keep going straight till you see wooden pedestrian bridge, there you are in Saksala. If you go through it, you mainly see the district, if you turn right you will see the harbor. If you choose the road from Prisma, you can have Prisma behind you and simply walk on a pedestrian straight. You will get to Saksala in 10 minutes or even less.
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| District near Prisma and K-Citymarket suprmarkets |
You can also walk on Porrassalmenkatu to Juvantie;
there you see a small church, but it looks really amazing. If you turn left,
you get to a very interesting part of the town. If you go straight, you also
discover a lot of things; basically Emola
is a nice place to visit. If you turn right, you get on the road to Juva, with its own
beauty. So it is up to you which road to choose and what to explore. But if you
are headed to the left, you get to a small pond surrounded by a small park and
some houses. You can take a rest in there. But you can always go to the city
center and see Kirkkopuisto, the central park in
Mikkeli. It is right in front of the shopping center Stella.
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Kirkkopuisto (the name derives from an old church that
used to be in that park, “kirkko” means “church” and “puisto” means “park”)
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Take your time walking in the city center. It is
really nice and comfortable for tourists and citizens. If you are in
Kirkkopuisto, you can keep following Savilahdenkatu (and observe a lot during
your walk) till you see a turn to the right. There you get to Raviradantie, one
of the main streets where students live. There is a good school on the left
side of the road right after where student apartment buildings end. If you
continue your way passing Uusikuu Hotel,
you get to the racetrack on your left (right after the intersection with a road
to Jyväskylä. The place is called Mikkelin Ravirata.
There are many events take place all year round. At the end of the road you can
see the ice-stadium with a free gym (at least it was free in 2010). But do not
worry; there are plenty of open-air places with free equipment.
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| School on Raviradantie |
In front of the turn to Raviradantie,
there is a nice place where most of the concerts take place, graduation
ceremonies and other events. I mean Mikaeli. It
is an interesting building with an unusual design. And there is an amazing view
to the pond, or a small lake, depending on a viewpoint. People always swim in
it in summer. Take your time to visit it.
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| Mikaeli |
If you walk all through the park around
the pond, you get to Saattotie, which leads you to Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences. On
your way you will see lots of buildings, some parks, but when you reach the
university, you should turn left. If you go ahead till the intersection, you
might turn left to get to Lidl (a shop) or continue following that road. That
road will eventually lead you to the ABC station on a road to Lahti. But on the left side
you will see a very nice and peaceful district with a charming lake near it.
The lake is called Pitkäjärvi as well
as the ABC station near it. To get there you will be going on Hietakatu.
If you look at the map, you will see that this lake is connected to Urpolanlampi, a pond (a lake), which is connected to Saimaa. Yes, there are lots of lakes, ponds and rivers in Finland. Here is the last place for now, which I would like to describe. It is Urpolan Luontokeskus. It is a park Urpola, where you can be outside of the town being in it. It is very picturesque and amazing. Find some time for this lovely place.
If you look at the map, you will see that this lake is connected to Urpolanlampi, a pond (a lake), which is connected to Saimaa. Yes, there are lots of lakes, ponds and rivers in Finland. Here is the last place for now, which I would like to describe. It is Urpolan Luontokeskus. It is a park Urpola, where you can be outside of the town being in it. It is very picturesque and amazing. Find some time for this lovely place.
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| Urpola |
And a few words how to get to Mikkeli using transport. First of all, by car. It is very easy and fast, it might take time at the customs, but the road is simple. Secondly, you can take a bus, but you need to know the schedule since there are two companies operate between Russia and Finland, i.e. Sovavto from Russian side and Saimaan Liikenne from Finnish side. But both websites are in Russian since many travelers are from Russia. There is also a website in Finnish but mostly about the region and related issues. To check the schedule for regular buses within Finland, you can choose between Matkahuolto and ExpressBus. Navigation is quite easy. The third option to travel is train. The company operating in Finland is called VR and if you travel by train you go either from Sweden or from Russia. In both cases you will have to change the train. If you go from Russia, which is the most popular destination now, you will change the train in the town of Kouvola. You can try Allegro train from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki with its stop at Kouvola. It is rapid and comfortable. And it is very easy when you arrive to Mikkeli because everything (bus and railroad station) is in one place. So, enjoy the ride!
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| Railroad station in Mikkeli |
So far I was trying to describe some places briefly so
that you could choose what interests you most and so that you could have your
own emotions, memories and opinion about those places. These are all the
descriptions based on my experience, opinion and interests. Therefore, you
might have your own ones, which is great. That is why you need to travel more,
explore the chosen destinations, keep planning on new routes, and keep
following on new “chapters of the journey”!
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| Near Mikaeli |
Kirill “Traveler” Malyutin
About Travel Smart series:
“Travel Smart” is a section,
narrating about different countries and good travel tips, advised by the
author, Kirill Malyutin. The series contains recommendations, including selected
places to visit, character accommodation, and reasonable
shopping. Simply get inspiration!
All stories of the series → О серии «Travel Smart»:
«Travel Smart»
– раздел, в котором автор Кирилл Малютин рассказывает о разных странах и дает
необходимые в путешествии советы. Серия включает в себя рекомендации по
посещенным автором местам, характерным средствам размещения, а также разумному шопингу.
Вдохновитесь приключением!
Все выпуски серии →
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