Cycle Route Helsinki - Lappeenranta

Finnish national route no. 7, running eastwards from the capital of Helsinki along the south coast towards the Russian border. Passes the old and beautiful town of Porvoo with some nice wooden structures, one of two atomic power stations near Loviisa, the important harbour of Kotka (which means 'eagle' in Finnish) and very near the border crossing point of Vaalimaa, the most important 'land door' to Russia, which during the cold war was a famous spot for exchanging agents. The last part of the route runs along the border to Russia. Actually many Finns believe that it's not really Russia, but an eastern part of their 'Karjala', Carelia. It was lost after Word War II, when Finland to its regret had to sign the treaty of Moscow, making the then second biggest Finnish town of Viipuri (now Vyborg) a part of the Soviet Union, now the Russian Federation. The route no. 7 ends at the picturesque town of Lappeenranta on the shores of the biggest Finnish lake of Saimaa. Its name in Finnnish means 'shore of the Lapps', in Swedish it's Villmannstrand, which can be translated as 'wild man's beach'. Perhaps a place you'd like to visit, if you're a man? After the visit it's very easy to catch a train back to Helsinki or even further to the east and north towards Imatra and Joensuu.

www.pyoraillensuomessa.fi (English version and then 'old pages' as the new site is still under construction.