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Town in North Savo, Finland
Photo: Aenneken from Kaarst, Germany, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Varkaus is a town in North Savonia. The adjacent municipalities of Joroinen and Kangaslampi are also handled in this article.
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Mekaanisen musiikin museo
As the name reveals, it's a museum presenting mechanical music instruments, gramophones, jukeboxes and such.
Finland's first canal with guard locks, opened in 1840. Nowadays the boats use a wider canal, opened 30 years later, but the original one is still open as a museum.
The main sight is the altar fresco – the largest in Northern Europe.
The water tower is unique in that the tower is also inhabited. It has a lookout post and café on the roof.
Joroinen Church in a cross-shaped wooden church built in 1793. The altarpiece in by famous Finnish painter Pekka Halonen.
Beautiful Orthodox Chapel in Joroinen.
A modern church from 1973.
Lush islands and rocky islets. Best explored by boat or canoe, but there is a boat service to the main island and taxi boats available. Nature trails, an old croft, Saimaa seals and osprays. Tour skating in winter.
One of the finest golf courses in Eastern Finland.
All-you-can-eat lunch buffet (10:00-18:00), popular among truck drivers. Outside lunch hours they serve à la carte and different hamburgers and pizzas.
formerly Scandic Hotel Oscar
Your secret forest getaway in Joroinen. Quality restaurant and accommodation.
A hypermarket.
A hypermarket.
A grocery store.
By train
Trains between Pieksämäki and Joensuu stop at Varkaus railway station.
By bus
Varkaus is at the crossroads of highways 5 and 23. Buses between Helsinki to Kuopio, among others, stop in Varkaus.
By plane
There are no longer any scheduled flights to Varkaus airport. The closest airports with regular passenger traffic are in Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Joensuu and Savonlinna.
By boat
Varkaus is situated on the shores of Lake Saimaa which is accessible from the sea via Saimaa Canal.
There are a few local bus lines operated by City of Varkaus in the town center (map) if you don't want to walk or drive.fi and Moovit route planners include local buses of Varkaus.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Kuopio / Siilinjärvi · International · KUO
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