Laakonki

Turku & Finland's South Coast


The cafe inside the Merikeskus Vellamo is excellent – worth a lunch stop even if you're not visiting the museum itself. The lunch buffet (available 11am to 3pm) always includes two main courses, with plenty of accommodation for special diets. Big windows offer a great view of the ice-breaker Tarmo and the big blue beyond.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Turku & Finland's South Coast attractions

1. Merikeskus Vellamo

0.01 MILES

In a tanker-sized, wave-shaped building with walls of metal and printed glass, this state-of-the-art dockside museum recounts Finland’s seafaring life…

2. St Nicholas Orthodox Church

0.46 MILES

Towering above Isopuisto Park, the 1801 St Nicholas Orthodox Church is Kotka’s only building to survive the Crimean War. It's believed to be the work of…

3. Kotkan Kirkko

0.54 MILES

Kotkan kirkko's distinctive steeple is visible throughout town. Inside the neo-Gothic church there’s artful woodcarving, a resounding baroque-style organ…

4. Maretarium

0.76 MILES

Kotka's modern Maretarium has more than 20 giant fish tanks representing various bodies of water. The Baltic tank is the largest, with local sea life fed…

5. Sapokka Vesipuisto

0.99 MILES

Sapokanlahti is a natural inlet in central Kotka that provides the setting for the tranquil, award-winning Sapokka Water Garden. The centrepiece is the…

6. Langinkoski Imperial Fishing Lodge

2.35 MILES

Situated 5km north of Kotka amid the salmon-rich Kymijoki's rapids, this rustic wooden lodge was built in 1889 for Tsar Alexander III. Most of the…

7. Kotkan Saaret

6.62 MILES

The smattering of islands off the coast of Kotka are former military outposts, some of which are now open to the public. Several boat trips depart from…

8. Orthodox Church of Sts Peter & Paul

10.97 MILES

Topped by a classic onion dome, the 1837 Orthodox Church of Sts Peter & Paul is the work of architect Louis Visconti, who designed Napoleon’s mausoleum.