Transportation to Lappeenranta and Imatra region

Fast connections to Lappeenranta and Imatra region

Lappeenranta and Imatra region is located in the Province of Southern Finland, South Karelia, near the Russian border. The Saimaa area is conveniently located and has great transport connections, so your journey will be pleasant, whether you choose to come by air, rail or road.

By plane

Arriving to Finlands Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is easy and fast from any direction. Lappeenranta is located 220 km and Imatra 255 km from Helsinki. Coming to the region from Helsinki is easy by bus or train connection as well as with rental car.  You can hop on a train directly from the Airport station. See bus and train connections below.

There are no flights from Lappeenranta airport currently. Any changes will be updated immediately.
The airport of Lappeenranta is located 2 km from the city centre.

By train

Lappeenranta and Imatra are easy to reach by train, only about 2 hours from Helsinki. See the timetables.

Vainikkala railway station is only about 20 km from Lappeenranta city centre. Allegro (to St. Peterburg) and Tolstoi (to Moscow) trains stop in Vainikkala. There is also a taxi service from Vainikkala. In Allegro train passports and visas are checked onboard the train between Helsinki and Vainikkala. In Russia, the controls are conducted between St. Petersburg and Vyborg.

Taxi service from Vainikkala

By bus

Flexible bus connections are available daily, no matter in which direction you are travelling from.
See the timetables on Matkahuolto, Expressbus and Onnibus.

Local bus connections are available between Lappeenranta and Imatra.
There is also a bus service from Vyborg to Lappeenranta. See timetables from Matkahuolto.

By your own car

On the pages of Finnish Transport Agency you can find information on weather conditions, major road works, distances etc.

Here you can search for maps and routings: Google Maps.

To Russia

From Southern Carelia there are good connections to Vyborg and St. Petersburg in Russia. You can go by bus or train, on a cruise or on a guided tour. You can buy tickets and tours from Saimaan Matkaverkko/Saimaa Travel. The train connection to St. Petersburg departs from Vainikkala railway station, which is located about a 20 min. drive from Lappeenranta. From Lappeenranta central railway station there is a bus connection to and from Vainikkala railway station. For train timetables please see VR (Vainikkala-St.Petersburg).

You can ask for bus tickets at Savonlinja.