Finland Guide
The Lake Region
Known unofficially as tuhansien järvien maa, which loosely translates as "the land of a thousand lakes", Finland boasts more than 40,000 waterways and lake chains, the majority of them – chiefly the Päijanne and Saimaa systems – located in the Lake Region. Unique in Finland, and indeed in Scandinavia and western Europe, a third of the area here is taken up by water. Each of the lake chains features countless bays, inlets and islands interspersed with dense forests, while the settlements have grown up around paper mills which used natural waterways and purpose-built canals to transport timber to pulping factories powered by gushing rapids.
Wherever you go in the Lake Region, water is never far away, further pacifying an already tranquil and verdant landscape. Even Tampere, Finland's major industrial city, is likeable as much for its lakeside setting as for its cosmopolitan cultural delights. It's also the most accessible of the region's centres, being on the railway line between Helsinki and the north.
Unless you want total solitude (which is easily attained), it's best to spend a few days in the larger towns and make shorter forays into the more thinly populated areas. Although the western Lake Region is mostly well served by trains, rail connections to – and within – the eastern part are awkward and infrequent. With daily services between the main towns and less frequent ones to the villages, buses are generally handier for getting around. Slow, expensive ferries (including a few offering day-trips to Russia) also link the main lakeside towns, while practically every community runs short pleasure cruises, but to really explore the countryside, you'll need to rent a car or bicycle.