Get in
By car
Lahti is exactly 104 km from Helsinki, a one-hour drive on the expressway number 4 connecting the two cities.
By bus
Buses to Lahti depart from Helsinki every half hour. Currently, journey to Lahti by bus takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Buses arrive at the Lahti Bus Station(Linja-autoasema)in the city centre. Ticket costs around 14,20€ - 17€. By the way, "pikavuoro" means express-service, "vakiovuoro" means normal service, and "tilausajo" means charter service.
By train
Travel from Helsinki to Lahti by train takes about 50 minutes. The train service is provided by VR, the national train company. There are several train types:
If you travel with children, you should choose Perhelippu(Family ticket). With each adult, one child can ride for free. For example, if you have three children, you will only pay for 2 adults and 1 child.
Get around
Lahti has a good system of public transport. You can ride from one part of the city to another with a single ticket of 3€, kids 1,50€. Kauppatori is the center of Lahti's public transport system, but be aware that many bus lines go in both directions from Kauppatori.
See
Lahti has a partly deserved reputation as an unattractive, economically depressed industrial town. In the recent years, however, Lahti has improved its reputation with a lovely harbor area with outdoor cafes and bars. In the harbor area there is also beautiful Sibelius Hall which is used for concerts and conferences.
Parks
In Laune park, you'll have lots of fun. There's a traffic city, where you can drive with free bicycles and scooters. There are pipes and water, and parents can rest on grass while kids are having fun.
:Free of charge
:Bus no. 31 from Kauppatori stop A
Vesiurut means water organs. Every day at 1 pm and 6 pm, at the park there is a small 15 minute concert. The fountain starts in unison with music from speakers up in the trees. There are some classical music pieces and some Finnish pop music pieces. You can sit on rocks around the fountain, but be aware - you can get wet ;) During the fall, there are also lights playing.
:Free of charge
:Very close to the city center
Barnyard animals in the sweet country milieu right in the city center. Open only in Summer.
:Free of charge
Puksu train goes through the city's entertaining places. It starts from Vesijärvi harbour, then goes to Laune park, then Farm Animal Yard, "Little Marketplace" and back to Vesijärvi harbour.
:4€ Adults, 2€ kids
In the summer, the bottom part of the highest ski jump is opened as a pool. There's a shallow kids area as well as a deeper area, which goes quickly from 2m to 3m deep. Swimming ability required. You can borrow trunks and glasses.
:4€ Adults, 2€ kids.
You can play almost anything in the sports park. There are tennis courts, a tennis wall, volleyball court, baseball field and of course a football field. Inside, there are tennis, badminton, and squash courts.
:Outside prices unknown
:Inside tennis 12€/hour, squash and badminton 8€/hour.
There's a list of parks at http://www.lahtitravel.fi/asp/system/empty.asp?P=1796&VID=default&SID=196908986635435&S=0&C=19653
Do
Lahti has the best known symphony orchestra in Finland, Sinfonia Lahti. Annual winter sport event, Salpausselän kisat is very popular and worth to see.
Buy
Shopping centers
Lahti has several big shopping centers. One of them is Trio at Aleksanterinkatu 20. There are many shops, as the center is divided into four sections - Trio Aleksanteri, Trio Opaali, Trio Forum and Trio Hansa. Each part has 2 or 3 floors.
:http://www.trio.fi
:Opened on weekdays between 8 am - 8 pm, Saturdays between 8 am and 5 pm.
Sokos shopping center at Aleksanterinkatu 19-21. It's a big center with 3 floors and basement floor. Upper three floors are filled with shoes, clothes, toys, electronics, dishes, games, movies and everything that you need in your household. In the basement, there's a S-Market grocery store, what has a store in almost every city in Finland.
:http://www.sokos.fi
:Opened on weekdays between 8 am - 9 pm, Saturdays between 8 am and 6 pm.
A large Finnish shopping chain Tarjoustalo is in Trio Aleksanteri, Aleksanterinkatu 18. There's also a Tarjoustalo Super Center at Alhonkatu 3.
:http://www.tarjoustalo.fi
:Opened on weekdays between 9 am - 8 pm, Saturdays between 9 am and 5 pm.
: Bus no. 72 from Kauppatori stop C
Liike shopping center is near the city centre. Mail order business Anttila has a big 2-floor store there, what sells nearly everything found in the catalog. There are also several smaller shops, a cafe and a grocery store K-Market Cassa in Liike.
Shopping center Syke is located just opposite of Liike. Unlike Liike, which has a few shops. Skye has many shops. One of the biggest is Euromarket, which sells clothes, electronics, household products and food.
Eat
Drink
Other places worth to visit are restaurant Taivaanranta and Teerenpeli which have their own whisky distillery and beer brewery. In Teerenpeli there is very nice athmosphere and friendly service.
Sleep
More hotels in Lahti and hostels in Lahti
Lahti (Lahtis in Swedish) is a Finnish city of 98,413 inhabitants (2005), bordering the Vesijärvi lake. It became a city in 1905. Originally a part of Hollola, it has since grown considerably larger than its current neighbor. The symbol of the city is a burning train wheel. The terrain is unusually hilly, the city being situated on a series of ridges created in the last glacial period.
Sports
Lahti is best known for its annually held World Cup winter games called "Salpausselän kisat". The city endeavours for achievements in sport, which has led to such things as the hosting of a World Games event. As of 2007, it is the only city to host the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships six times, doing so in 1926, 1938, 1958, 1978, 1989, and 2001. The city also has an Association Football (soccer) club, FC Lahti, and an ice hockey team, the Lahti Pelicans. Lahti also has perhaps the best known symphony orchestra in Finland, Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonia Lahti). It concentrates on Sibelius's music.
Transportation and Communication
It is also a significant railroad crossroad and the site of two enormous radio masts, which once were used for the longwave transmitter of the Finnish broadcasting company. Nowadays the former transmitter building holds a museum. Lahti also harbours cultural ambitions, and recent years saw the building of a large congress & concert center, the Sibelius Hall. This has sparked much controversy amongst the population, many of whom feel that the money used for these purposes would be better spent on health care and education.
Education
In the educational sector, Lahti is modest, with the notable exception of the Lahti Polytechnic's renowned Institute Of Design.
Status and area
Economic statistics
Trivia
The asteroid 1498 Lahti was named after the city by its discoverer, the Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä.
Born in Lahti
Sister cities
External links
