Lohja
Lohja (Swedish: Lojo) is a town and municipality in Southern Finland.
Understand
Lohja has been a focal point for the population and economy of Western Uusimaa since the early 14th century. It was renowned as a trading centre in the Middle Ages. The local inhabitants were among the pioneers of the Finnish mining and construction material industries. By Finnish standards, Lohja has long-established traditions in horticulture and especially in market gardening. These traditions are represented by the symbols of present-day Lohja: limestone and an apple.
Lohja has chosen to be officially bilingual, although the Swedish minority is small enough (4 %) that this is not required by law.
Get in
Lohja can be reached by national road 1 (E18). There are frequent bus connections from Helsinki Kamppi terminal to Lohja (about 50 km). There are also connections from Raseborg.
Get around
See
- 🌍 Tytyri limestone mine. with a museum 100 metres underground
- 🌍 Lohja museum (Lohjan Museo), Rovastinkatu 4.
- 🌍 The surroundings of Lohjanjärvi lake.
- 🌍 Lohja Church (Lohjan Kirkko), Laurinkatu 40. The Gothic Church of St. Lawrence, from the 15th century.
- 🌍 Paikkarin torppa, Torpantie 20 (around 20 km northwest of central Lohja, in Sammatti village). Childhood home of Elias Lönnrot, author of the Finnish national epic Kalevala. Entrance 3 € / 2 €.
Do
- 🌍 Boating or canoeing (on the nice Lohjajärvi lake).
- 🌍 Karkali natural park. A herb-rich forest area on a peninsula in Lohjanjärvi. There are trails of ½ km to 6 km through the strict nature reserve. Swimming possible. The largest limestone cave in Finland, Torhola, 30 metres deep, is on the peninsula before the nature reserve. Avoid entering it in late autumn and winter though, not to disturb overwintering bats. The daily Lohja–Sammatti bus has a stop 8 km from the area. The area is easily reachable by bike (18 km from Lohja) or by boat.
- Swim in Lohjanjärvi, See website for locations. Waters of the Lake Lohjanjärvi get nice and warm in the summertime and provide cooling and refreshment to locals and travelers alike.
Festivals
- Rantajamit: 4–6 July 2019. The 28th installment of the biggest music festival in the Lohja calendar.
Buy
Climate, soil and roots of tradition of producing high quality apples and apple derived products go deep here. Apples and products refined from apples are good here.
- Lohja market is in between Lohjantähti and bus station and is a bit of a thing in Lohja due to long trading traditions. Open Tue, Thu-Sat 07:00-14:00
- Lohjantähti shopping mall contains Alko, restaurants and shops
- Prisma by the bus station and Citymarket just west of the city center are well stocked hypermarkets
Eat
Drink
- Pub Wame (Wanha Mestari), Suurlohjankatu 4, ☎ +358 44 0275555. Timeless pub. Not the cheapest drinks but great opening hours and kitchen open week days 14-22.
Sleep
- Matkakoti Linnakangas, Kauppakatu 3 (If you came by bus to the bus station then it is just across the street in front of the bus station), ☎ +358 19 324 488, e-mail: hotel@linnakangas.com. Matkakoti Linnakangas is centrally located just across the main street looking from the bus station. 17 rooms with 34 persons max capacity. Guest kitchen for the economizing traveler. A timeless classic for the no-frills traveler with very attractive prices. economy.
- Gasthaus Lohja, Laurinkatu 1 (Head west on Laurinkatu towards Virkkala. It is on your left side in the uphill, can't miss it.), ☎ +358 19 331771, e-mail: info@gasthauslohja.fi. Hotel, restaurant and bar a few hundred meters west from city center. Free wi-fi. Bar teracce has a view on the lake Lohjanjärvi. midprice.
Connect
- Prepaid data sim cards are widely available from R-kiosk at reasonable prices. Customer convenience wifi is not very widespread in Finland except in traffic due to everyone having a data plan in their phone.