Nurmes

The Bomba house

Nurmes is a town in North Karelia.

Understand

Nurmes is a town of 8,000 inhabitants situated at the northern end of Lake Pielinen.

Get in

By car

Being pretty much off the beaten track, the easiest way to travel to and from Nurmes is by car.

By train

The national railway operator VR runs a twice-daily train from Joensuu, the trip takes a little less than two hours. 🌍 Nurmes railway station is centrally located.

By bus

There are bus connections to Joensuu.

By boat

This is (besides Iisalmi) as far north as you get with a yacht via the Saimaa waterways. Welcome from anywhere! (10.5 or 12 m hight restriction at Joensuu, though).

Get around

The town small, so you can easily get around by foot.

See

• 🌍 The old town (Puu-Nurmes). The "Wooden Nurmes" consists of 19th century wooden houses that are still inhabited. 
• 🌍 The Bomba house and Karelian village. A replica of a common Karelian log house village. The largest house is the main building for a resort. 
• 🌍 Ikola Museum, Kotiniementie 2, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 27.6–5.8 (2016) M–F 10:00–16:00. Farming and industry museum. €4/2. 
• 🌍 Kötsi Museum, Kötsintie 2, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. M–F 10:00–16:00. A museum where you can learn about the history of Nurmes. Free. 

Do

Nature

There are some nature parks in the area around Nurmes, where you can walk, swim, fish and camp in the summer and enjoy cross country skiing in the winter.

Festivals

• Nurmes Film Festival. Late in the summer every year Nurmes hosts a film festival with older and newer Finnish films.  
• Nurmes Christmas Carol Festival (Nurmeksen Joulumusiikki). A yearly christmas song festival, obviously in December. 

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

• 🌍 Sokos Hotel Bomba, Tuulentie 10, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. Large resort hotel with great views over the Pielisjärvi lake. Nerby is the replica of a traditional Karelian house built as a home for the large Bombi family in 1854, now a restaurant that is part of the resort. (updated Jan 2018)

Connect

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