Pienten Helsinki
Published 10.7.2020
The Little Finland team's adventures series visits places recommended by other families in the Little Finland service. This time we took a detour through Lahti to Vääksy and Pulkkilanharju. The Lahti and Vääksy combination makes for quite a nice day trip, especially when traveling from Southern Finland, and there would be plenty to do for several days.
Vääksy, located in Asikkala, is known for its canal, which connects Lake Päijänne and Lake Vesijärvi. And since our little adventurers had never seen a canal before, it was clear that we had to visit Vääksy. Asikkala is at quite a convenient distance for a day trip from Southern Finland, so the decision to go was easy. We could easily make it here for a day trip and on the way we could also stop in Lahti, at least at the Laune Family Park, which children love.
At this point, it should be noted that the trip was made by car, so without better information I don't dare say how you could get here in any other way. Maybe by train to Lahti and then by connecting service to Vääksy? This possibility should be investigated more carefully.
Travel Plan: Home by Evening
Our travel plan was as follows: From Helsinki to Lahti and Laune Family Park (travel time just over an hour from Helsinki). Next from Lahti to Vääksy, about half an hour's drive. After spending some time in Vääksy, we also drove to see the national landscape at Pulkkilanharju, which was an amazing Finnish experience for everyone despite a light rain shower.
Vääksy with Children
Kalmarin Beach
Our first stop was Kalmarin swimming beach, also known as Vääksy's Riviera. The beach hadn't been praised without reason by the person who recommended it to Little Finland, because it was amazing! The water in Lake Vesijärvi was clear and warm, and according to the information board, it was still excellent quality swimming water. The beach extends for a long distance and remains shallow with soft sand. On a windy day, there weren't many other people on the beach, but you could buy treats from the kiosk and rent things like SUP boards. The beach also had a nice playground! The area offers several sports activities and rentable equipment. The swimming experience at Kalmarin beach is excellent!
Along the road leading to the beach, you'll find Vääksy Traffic Park, which is open in summer Tuesday to Friday 9:30 – 17:30 and Saturdays 10 – 14. We didn't stop there this time, but the park looked really good.
The Vääksy Canal Area
We spent a long time marveling at the Vääksy canal. Boats entered the canal frequently on this sunny day, and it was interesting to watch the canal in action. The lifting bridge was also thrilling for the children. You can walk along the canal and also see Lake Päijänne and the visitor boat harbor where you can watch boats.
On the side of the canal near Helmen, we discovered a brand new playground. **The playground named Children's Experience Park** was small but wonderful: a little slide, a basket swing, trampolines, and a water play area where children could play and experiment with how the canal works. The water play could have been even more fun if we'd had a small toy boat with us (a tip for the nearby shop to stock small plastic boats ;)). We spent a long time here and there were also excellent picnic spots in the Vääksy River area.
Near the playground there's also a free toilet container that does the job perfectly.
You can continue your adventure along the forested riverbank to the Myllytonttu nature trail, where you'll find a fishing spot for children and young people. Fishing rods can be borrowed from Päijänne-talo.
Only later did we realize that Asikkala has a total of eighteen playgrounds, so on the next visit you could plan the entire trip around visiting different playgrounds.
Around the canal area you'll find several cafes and ice cream is available at all of them. Many kiosks also sold local ice cream.
Vääksy Services
Vääksy also had small shops, craft stores, accommodations, cafes, and restaurants - with a real summer resort atmosphere. A local mill also sells its products for takeaway. I can't make lunch recommendations based on this visit, as we did the trip with our own packed food and ice cream by the canal approach.
At Päijänne-talo we didn't visit on this trip, but there you would have found a **Fishing Museum** and real, live fish (small entrance fee). Travel services and fishing rod rentals are also available at Päijänne-talo.
Pulkkilanharju
From Vääksy we drove through Pulkkilanharju, which is truly a national landscape and a place that must be experienced. It takes about a quarter of an hour from Vääksy to reach the ridge. From the road that runs along the narrow ridge, views open out to lake landscapes on both sides of the road, and there are good stopping points along the way. At this point in the day, our travel group was already feeling tired and a light rain shower surprised us, so we turned the car toward home and didn't explore more lake landscapes. If we'd had more time and energy, there would certainly be much more to see and experience here.
Would we go to Vääksy again and recommend it to others? Absolutely! Vääksy was an excellent and well-thought-out destination for traveling with children and absolutely deserves its reputation as a family-friendly travel destination. We will definitely return, if only because Kalmarin beach alone was amazing!
ps. Tip: if rain clouds threaten the coast, it's worth checking the inland weather forecast. On the day we visited Vääksy, it was raining in Helsinki, but the Lahti region had summer weather!
