Kuopio between Puijo and the city’s history

Puijo shows Kuopio at its forested best: protected woodland, nature trails and a challenging highland trail shape the experience on the ridge. Within the city, museums, historic wooden houses, parks and notable buildings tell the story of the cultural history of Kuopio and North Savo. This lets you decide how to balance nature experiences and discoveries of the city’s history on your trip.

Forest trails and views on Puijo

About 200 hectares of the forests on Puijo are protected. Most of the forests in the Puijo area belong to the European Union’s Natura network. There are various ways to enjoy exercise and recreation here, including disc golf, cross-country skiing and mountain biking. Three nature trails are each about two kilometres long. If you need shorter distances for planning your day, be sure to distinguish these approximate lengths from the considerably more challenging Puijo Trail.

The Puijo Trail has an elevation difference of more than 100 metres. Steep sections make it challenging in places. There is also an approximately 200-metre accessible nature trail at the summit. These different trail details can help you decide in advance whether to include a short nature trail loop or the highland trail in your plans.

At the Puijonnokka shelter, you can rest and grill sausages over an open fire. From there, you get a good view of northern Lake Kallavesi. The Konttila Trail passes through old-growth forests and the traditional cultural landscape of Konttila. The site is an old parish croft and represents the traditional hill-settlement landscape of eastern Finland. Information boards along the Puijo Trail cover the surrounding nature, former towers on Puijo, sledding and Puijo’s cultural history.

Kuopio’s museums and historic centre

For a different perspective on the region, Kuopio’s museums offer exhibitions on visual art, regional history and the nature of eastern Finland. The permanent exhibition on cultural history and natural history at Kuopio Museum takes visitors from the history of North Savo to the changing nature of eastern Finland. “The Age of Humans” tells the story of North Savo from the Stone Age, when people arrived in the area, to the latest cultural trends. The exhibition “Nature in Flux” explores the history and current state of nature in eastern Finland. Younger museum visitors will also find a special attraction: the second floor of Kuopio Museum has an interactive playroom.

The Old Kuopio Museum is a historic wooden quarter in the centre, made up of eleven old wooden houses. The interiors show how people in Kuopio lived from the late 18th century through the 1930s. Here, you can get a glimpse of life in the past and learn more about Minna Canth, an advocate of equality and a writer. Kuopio Museum itself is Finland’s third-oldest museum building.

The cityscape also offers cultural history in the open air: the historic buildings and alleys in the city centre are part of the Kuopio National Urban Park. Snellmaninpuisto is Kuopio’s oldest park; it and its surroundings are among the city’s most significant historic core areas. Kuopio Cathedral was built in 1816 to plans by P. W. Palmroth. It was the city’s fifth church and, when it was built, Kuopio’s first public stone building. The Town Hall is a protected building within a nationally significant built cultural environment. Väinölänniemi public beach is also part of the Kuopio National Urban Park.

City walk, music and planning your trip

The City Center Walking Tour is an easy, self-guided route through culturally significant sites and parks. It is about two kilometres long and takes one hour. This makes it quite different from the Puijo Trail, with its elevation difference of more than 100 metres and steep, challenging sections in places. If you’d like to combine parks and cultural sites on a walk, consider the city route; Puijo offers different trail conditions for those focusing on forests and the highland trail.

The Kuopio Music Centre is home to the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra and hosts concerts by well-known Finnish popular music performers. Its facilities are also used for meetings, conferences and exhibitions. Together with the museums and historic cityscape, it makes for a varied cultural offering. When choosing a holiday rental in Kuopio, you can first consider whether you’d like your trip to focus more on Puijo’s trails and forests, museums and city history, or cultural events.

More places to explore: Mustinlahti, Karttula, Vesanto, Vuorela, Rautalampi, Varpaisjärvi, Tervo and Tuusjärvi.

For the broader travel overview: North Savo.