Our next sightseeing destination in Finland was a short train trip to Hämeenlinna from Riihimäki, a city of about 68,000 inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of Finland. Founded in 1639, it is the oldest inland city and was one of the most important Finnish cities until the 19th century.
We all set out on a day trip to this beautiful village, only 20 minutes by train from Riihimäki. We enjoyed the peaceful morning walk to the train station by Topparoikka, an impressive statue of the St.Petersburg-Riihimäki railway that was opened in 1870.
The Riihimäki train station was impressive. The quality of restaurants in European stations is far superior to that of the fast-food outlets in Australia.
Hämeenlinna town was quaint and peaceful, with a lake running through the centre. There are 339 lakes in whole or in part in the city of Hämeenlinna. We all loved exploring this beautiful village on foot; you could understand why the locals chose it as their home.
