Self-drive trips into Finland’s heart and soul
Discover two independent self-drive itineraries through Finland, from Turku and the southwest coast to Savonlinna, Karelia and the Saimaa lakes.
A self-drive tour is one of the best ways to see Finland beyond Helsinki, and our two independent itineraries follow the southwest coast and the eastern lakes, from Turku, Finland's oldest city, to Olavinlinna Castle in Savonlinna.
Much of Finland reveals itself slowly, in small coastal towns, lakeside villages and long stretches of forest between them. Our Finland specialists designed these two self-drive tours to follow that rhythm, combining the country's key cultural sites with time on quiet roads and by the water.
Photo: Visit Finland
What is it like to drive in Finland?
Driving in Finland is generally relaxed. Roads are well maintained and, outside the cities, traffic is light, especially on summer evenings when the daylight lasts late. For many visitors, the drive itself becomes part of the holiday. Watch for elk warning signs on country roads, particularly around dawn and dusk.
Between the visits booked on your itinerary, the free Finnish Museums app shows the museums nearest you with directions and English descriptions. It maps more than 1,100 museums across Finland, including small local ones that are easy to drive past.
When is the best time for a self-drive tour in Finland?
Summer is the best time for a self-drive tour in Finland, and our self-drive itineraries run from May to September. The days are long, lakeside towns and markets are at their most active, and summer festivals such as the Savonlinna Opera Festival take place in July.
From the Sea to the Lakes: Finland's cultural heritage
From the Sea to the Lakes is a self-drive tour through Finland's southwest coast and historic inland towns, with Turku, the Iittala glass village and the artists' homes around Lake Tuusula among the highlights. Finland's coast includes one of the largest archipelagos in the world, and for centuries small fishing towns and villages have lined the shores of the Baltic, many of them home to Swedish-speaking communities.
One of the best ways to understand Finland's history is through its fortresses, castles and manor houses, many dating from the long periods of Swedish and Russian rule.
Photo: Elina Sirparanta
Turku
Turku is Finland's oldest city and was European Capital of Culture in 2011. You will explore its main sights with a private guide and on your own, including Turku Castle, Turku Cathedral and several museums. Afterwards, have lunch at one of the cafés along the Aura River.
Photo: Visit Finland
Iittala glass village
If Finnish friends give you glassware, it may well carry a small red sticker with a white "i". That is the mark of Iittala, a brand Finns are proud of, and many leave the sticker on for good. The glassworks has operated in the village of Iittala since 1881, and the red "i" logo was designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1956. On your visit, you will learn how the company became part of everyday Finnish life.
Photos: Visit Finland
Lake Tuusula's artist community
Towards the end of the tour, you will explore the Lake Tuusula artist community by bicycle. From the late 1890s, some of Finland's leading painters, writers and composers settled on the lakeshore, and several of their homes are open to visitors. Stops include Halosenniemi, the lakeside studio home of painter Pekka Halonen, and Ainola, where Jean Sibelius lived with his family from 1904.
Green Forests & Blue Lakes: eastern Finland
Green Forests & Blue Lakes is a self-drive tour through eastern Finland's lake district and Karelia, with Lappeenranta, Joensuu, New Valamo Monastery, Punkaharju and Savonlinna along the route. The forests, ridges and lakes of this region sit close to the heart of Finnish identity. They shaped Finnish painting and music, and much of the folk poetry that Elias Lönnrot gathered into the Kalevala, Finland's national epic, was collected in Karelia. The tour also explores the region's Russian influences and its wartime history.
Photo: Visit Finland
Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta sits on the shore of Lake Saimaa in South Karelia, close to the Russian border, and its history reflects its place between two cultures. Its main landmark is the fortress, and the town is also the Finnish end of the Saimaa Canal, which opened in 1856. The canal was built to link Lake Saimaa with Viipuri on the Gulf of Finland, a Finnish city until the Second World War and now Vyborg in Russia.
Photo: Visit Finland
Karelian food in Joensuu
Karelian cooking is known for its generosity, and Karelians for their hospitality. The cuisine centres on slow-cooked dishes, forest produce such as mushrooms and game, and pies and pasties for both everyday meals and celebrations.
Joensuu, the regional capital of North Karelia, was founded in 1848 by decree of Tsar Nicholas I, when Finland was a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. The Carelicum culture centre is a good introduction to the town and the region. In summer, the market square is the place to try Karelian pies, made with a thin rye crust and a rice porridge filling. You will have the chance to learn how to make them later on the tour.
Photo: Visit Finland
New Valamo Monastery
Your drive continues to New Valamo Monastery in Heinävesi. Finland has two national churches: the Evangelical Lutheran Church, to which most Finns belong, and the Finnish Orthodox Church, with around one per cent of the population. Orthodox communities were historically concentrated in Karelia, and the monks of Valamo moved here from their monastery on Lake Ladoga during the Second World War. A guided tour introduces Orthodox traditions and life at the monastery, and includes a tasting of wines made on site.
Photo: Visit Finland
Punkaharju
The Punkaharju ridge, with pine forest running between two lakes, is one of Finland's best-known landscapes and has been celebrated in Finnish art and writing since the 19th century. Forest covers around three quarters of Finland's land area. It supports the economy and shapes everyday leisure, from summer hiking and winter cross-country skiing to berry and mushroom picking in late summer and autumn. Under the Finnish principle of everyone's right, or jokamiehenoikeus, anyone can walk freely in the forest, whoever owns the land.
Photo: Visit Finland
Savonlinna and Olavinlinna Castle
In Savonlinna, construction of Olavinlinna, the castle of St Olaf, began in 1475. It was built to defend the eastern border and secure the region for the Swedish Crown. Make time for Savonlinna's market square too.
Photo: Visit Finland
Savonlinna is surrounded by Lake Saimaa, Finland's largest lake. Each July, Olavinlinna hosts the Savonlinna Opera Festival, with performances held inside the castle walls.
Combine both tours
To see more of Finland, you can combine Green Forests & Blue Lakes with From the Sea to the Lakes for a longer journey from the coast to the eastern lakes.
From the Sea to the Lakes self-drive in Finland
Green Forests & Blue Lakes self-drive in Finland
Log Cabins & Bears of Finland self-drive
Browse all our independent and self-drive tours and our tours in Finland.
Read more about Finland
For more road trip ideas, see our top 10 road trips in Scandinavia and Finland. If you are starting or ending in the capital, our guide to the top things to do in Helsinki and our insider's guide to Porvoo are good places to start. You can also browse all our articles about Finland.
Main picture: Asko Kuittinen