Kuopio

Understand

thumb|250px|Market Square during the Sunday flea market

Kuopio was established as a parish in the 1550s and incorporated as a city in 1782. Kuopio has a population of around 122,000 (2021).

Kuopio is on a peninsula in the middle of the lake Kallavesi. The lake has an area of , or if all Iso-Kalla is counted and then the 10th largest lake of Finland, in length with a shoreline of . Some 400 islands are larger than a hectare. The Heinävesi and Leppävirta routes provide boat and ship access to Lake Saimaa downstream. Kuopio and neighbouring are the far end of 4-m shipping lanes from the Baltic Sea via Saimaa Canal. 2.4-m fairways continue to Iisalmi.

See

thumb|Summer day view from Puijo tower

Buy

thumb|Interior of Kuopio Market Hall

Eat

Kalakukko fish pie, The best-known speciality in the province of Savo is probably the ‘kalakukko’ fish pie, a type of rye bread pie stuffed with fish (the name literally means "fish rooster"). Once you have tasted warm ‘kalakukko’, it is hard to resist. The best places for shopping for a genuine ‘kalakukko’, consisting vendace or perch and bacon baked inside a rye crust, are the Market Hall and the Marketplace. You should also try fried vendace (muikku, a fresh-water fish) at local kiosks and restaurants.

Go next

thumb|Kermajärvi on the Heinävesi route

(in Leppävirta, 54 km from Kuopio) — Spa hotel with the only ski and multipurpose sports hall in the world built into rock. The skiing, biathlon and curling facilities are available around the year. For children there is also a snow play area.

You could continue by ferry or boat, either on the route Kuopio–Heinävesi–Savonlinna (a national landscape) or Kuopio–Varkaus–Savonlinna–Lappeenranta. Savonlinna is famous for its castle and the opera festival held in its courtyard. Lappeenranta is the starting point of the Saimaa Canal to Vyborg and the sea.