Heinola

Heinola is a town of 18,000 people (2021) in Päijänne Tavastia.

Understand

The name Heinola is derived from the Finnish word "heinä," which means hay, and refers to the town's location in a rich agricultural area. The town was officially founded in 1776, but it had already become an important trading hub by the 1700s due to its location on the shores of Lake Ruotsalainen and the Heinola rapids, which were important transportation routes for goods.

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, Heinola experienced significant growth as new industries were established in the area, including a paper mill, a sawmill, and a tannery. The town became an important center for commerce, industry, and transportation, and it played a key role in the development of the Päijänne Tavastia region.

During World War II, Heinola suffered significant damage from bombings, and many buildings and infrastructure were destroyed. However, the town was quickly rebuilt after the war, and it continued to develop and modernize in the post-war era.

Get in

Heinola is located halfway between Helsinki and Jyväskylä (140 km from each) on highway 4 (E75), some 40 km north of Lahti, and 100 km south-west of Mikkeli. There are good coach connections especially along highway 4, see Matkahuolto.

The railway from Lahti has no passenger transport, except occasional museum trains.

Get around

You can walk around downtown.

By bus

See Lahti#By bus

By taxi

See
  • 🌍 Heinola Bird Zoo (Heinolan lintutarha), A. F. Aironkatu 3. Heinola Bird Zoo is an aviary that contains more than 500 species of birds. (updated Sep 2022)
  • 🌍 Heinola Art Museum (Heinolan taidemuseo), Kauppakatu 4, ☏ +358 44 769 4216, . Heinola Art Museum is located in the 1830 Empire-styled house, and includes the Art Foundation's library and a collection of European porcelain from the 18th to 19th centuries. (updated Sep 2022)
  • Some wooden houses in central Heinola.
  • 🌍 Tähtiniemi Bridge (Tähtiniemensilta). Finland's second longest bridge, which takes motorway 4 across Lake Ruotsalainen. (updated Sep 2022)

Do

Buy

There are some shops downtown, and about 2 km southwest next to the motorway you can find a large hypermarket store 🌍 K-Citymarket.

  • 🌍 Heinola Market Halls (Heinolan Kauppahallit), Kausantie 1. M–F 10:00–17:00, Sa Su 10:00–15:00. One of Finland's largest flea markets, which has sections for sports goods, fishing equipment, clothes, crafts, household goods, music and antiques. (updated Jul 2022)
  • 🌍 Heila farmer's market (Heinolan Heila), Työmiehentie 35 (Easy stopover along the main road 5/E75.). It offers memorable experiences with genuine Finnish flavours in the restaurant and cafeteria and wide range of local foods from all over Finland. Visitors will be pleased to find a spacious car park, and tidy toilets and baby care facilities. (updated Nov 2023)

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Go next
  • Lahti — the nearest large city, 40 km south
  • The world heritage listed former groundwood and board mill in the village of 🌍 Verla, about 50 km southeast.
  • Continue north along Highway 4 to Jyväskylä and beyond, or northeast to Mikkeli and Eastern Finland along Highway 5.
Routes through Heinola
Jyväskylä ← Leivonmäki National Park ← Joutsa ← Hartola ←  N  S  → Lahti → Helsinki
Mikkeli ← Pertunmaa ←  N  S  → END


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