Ankkapurha Culture Park in Kouvola
21.11.2022

Group trip to Kouvola

If you are a media representative looking for story tips about Kouvola or a tour organizer planning a group trip to Kouvola, you can find inspiration from this list. If you would like some more information, don’t hesitate to contact VisitKouvola.


You'll find interesting destinations and story tips from this list of destinations in the Kouvola region. For more information, remember that you can always contact VisitKouvola.

The Kimola Canal opened to boaters in the summer 2020. From Pielavesi lake, 400 km away, you can navigate through Vesijärvi, Päijänne and Konnivesi lakes to Kymijoki river.

Tykkimäki area

Finland’s third largest amusement park is Tykkimäki. The whole family can enjoy different games and other fun activities in Tykkimäki Actionpark, which is located inside Prisma Kouvola. You don’t have to wait for next summer to enjoy fun and games.

Repovesi and Verla area

Repovesikeskus takes you into the wild! You can book your accommodation, meals and programme all in one go. If you’re holding a meeting, we can suitable venues for you through the Repovesi Centre corporate network. Programme and hiking services are mainly organized in the Kouvola area, in Repovesi National Park and in Verla. Reservations can also be made easily online.

Verla Mill Museum took its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List 21 years ago. Finland has seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, one of which is located in Kouvola. Verla groundwood and board mill, the surrounding workers’ residential area and hydroelectric power plant make up one site, which was added to the World Heritage List in 1996. It is a very well-preserved example of a late nineteenth century forest industrial site typical in northern Europe and North America. Verla is one of the few that have survived to the present day.

Vuohijärvi Nature and Culture House at Vuohijärvi (Goat Lake) near Repovesi National Park has shot to the top of the list of cultural sites in Finland. The former church building is now also a gallery. There are different concerts and events taking place in the center year around. You can also rent the facilities for your own events from October to March. Vuohijärvi Nature and Culture House is part of the Salmela culture complex.

Woikoski Feeling includes WHD Gård and Woikoski Car Museum in Nurmaa, Woikoski Factory Museum in Voikoski, and Kirjokivi Manor in Vuohijärvi. Woikoski Feeling offer`s an atmospheric milieu for all the most important events in your life – weddings, birthdays, christenings and other family events. For companies they can arrange meetings, conferences and other events with skill and experience. They also offers accommodation from suites in a manor to a wilderness hut for solo travelers and groups.

You can make your day even more exiting with different programs, like visiting the authentic Woikoski factory museum, hunting pheasants, exhilarating off-road driving, and competitive disc golf or just by relaxing in nature. Stylish saunas are the perfect way to end the day before heading to bed. After a fun day you can rest in a suite, a room, GuestHouse, cottage or in a wilderness hut. Restaurant can prepare tasty meals suited for every event. Woikoski car and factory museum are open all year for groups per order

 

Mustila area

Mustila Arboretum, the most important arboretum in the Nordic countries, is in Elimäki. Mustila Arboretum was founded by Councillor of State Axel Fredrik Tigerstedt in 1902. More than 250 species of trees grow in the park, and new species are being tested all the time. In 1908 Axel Tigerstedt planted a Douglas fir which is now over 40 metres tall. A spruce can live a thousand years so the tree’s story is only just beginning, even if its trunk is already so broad that you cannot wrap your arms around it. In early summer, hundreds of blooming rhododendrons and azaleas delight visitors to the park. A church also nestles among the trees – perhaps the only Finnish forest church. You’ll find peace of mind and soul there. Mustila Arboretum is open every day of the year.

At Elimäki, Mustila Wine chamber and shop is in the same grounds as Mustila Arboretum. In the cosy wine chamber, the owner Marja Tigerstedt offers wines and liqueurs for you to taste, along with other MariaMamma delicacies such as jams, jellies and juices. Besides wine and other delicacies, you can also buy a variety of gift items in the wine shop.

Right on the other side of Route-6, you'll find Alppiruusu, a cafe restaurant with a gift shop and a farmer's market with a great variety of locally made products.

Along the Kymijoki River

Ankkapurha Culture Park   brings together interesting destinations on both sides of Kymijoki river. The area spreads from the historic Anjala Church to the mansion milieu of Anjala Manor. On the other side of Kymijoki, you can enjoy Industrial Museum and the area designed by famous Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto. The park has activities for families, people on the move, culture lovers and anyone seeking relaxed summer vibes!

In the summer, there are guided tours around the park that give more insight to the different subjects. You can use the free Citynomadi-app to learn more about the area. There are also other activities to participate, such as yoga and different types of sports. Old granary serves visitors as an atmospheric summer café with art exhibitions upstairs. Free hammocks and a barbeque grill in the “Edible Garden” offer a good relaxation and a picnic spot. The Magazine café also hosted different exhibitions during the summer. 

Ankkapurha is also the home to Anjala Youth Center, one of the most popular camp school destinations in Finland. Anjala Youth Centre offers lunch restaurant and hostel accommodation for visitors in the Culture Park.

The facilities and extensive supply of programmes create a great environment for various events. There are quality accommodation for groups of up to 149 persons, catering services, sauna, meeting rooms and a professional staff, all year round.

The organisation in the background of Ankkapurha Culture Park is Ankkapurhan kulttuurisäätiö (Ankkapurha Culture Foundation). By using the Park's services, you are supporting our work with children and young people. Youth centres are non-profit organisations, any profits are invested in developing the youth centre activities.

A city of culture

Kouvola Theatre presents hilarious comedy, touching drama, and fabulous musicals – simply unforgettable.  

Kymi Sinfonietta is a unique, two-town philharmonic orchestra, which started playing in early 1999. The orchestra combined musicians from Kouvola and Kotka City Orchestras. Their orchestral music tradition dates back a hundred years. Kymi Sinfonietta has a comprehensive and high-quality programme, delivered by conductors and soloists of the highest international standards.

Poikilo Museums are located in the Kouvolatalo (Kouvola house cultural centre) in the Kaunisnurmi museum quarter. Kouvolatalo is worth a visit in itself; it is considered one of the most beautiful postmodernist buildings in Finland.

Kouvola centre

Veturi is South-East Finland’s largest and most attractive shopping centre, and also the 8th biggest in Finland. It has a great location on one of the busiest trade transport routes, highway 6. Almost 80 companies are operating at Veturi. The shopping centre is accessible, relaxed and pleasant. Besides shops, restaurants and cafés, Veturi has a state-of-the-art cinema. There is free parking for almost 2000 cars.

Prisma Kouvola hypermarket offers a wide and varied selection of groceries as well as clothing, leisure and home ware. The price and the quality are right at Prisma. The Prisma shopping centre is at your service with a food court, Emotion, Alko and many other shops. Free indoor parking is spread over three floors.

Quality accommodation

You can’t miss the Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna in the centre of Kouvola – it’s such a beautiful pink. The hotel offers fine accommodation, delicious lunches and dinners in a charming French country milieu. Seven different conference rooms of various sizes make the hotel an excellent setting for special occasions and events. Sokos Hotel Vaakuna has been awarded the Allergy Label by the Allergy and Asthma Federation, which means, for example, better indoor air and allergy-friendly furnishings.

Iitti

Radalla Resort​, conference and recreation hotel, offers stress-free accommodation, a tasty breakfast based on local raw ingredients, relaxing sauna and recreation services for pleasant meetings and memorable festive occasions. Rooms have views of the lake, Urajärvi, or the woods. Some of the rooms have a balcony or terrace.The hotel is in the countryside outside Iitti, right on the lake shore, near Iitti Golf and KymiRing motor racing adventure centre.