CARBON FOOTPRINT: 34.63kg CO2 eq / person / day*

On this family rail holiday in Central Finland you'll visit two family-friendly destinations, the Ähtäri Zoo and a lakeside holiday resort next to Konnevesi National Park.

Your tour starts from Helsinki Central Railway Station (starting place can be changed), where you take a train towards Ähtäri. Ähtäri is a small town located in central Finland and it is known as the home of the Ähtäri Zoo. On the train, there is a restaurant car where you can have lunch or pick up lunch to your seats. On arrival, you can just walk from the railway station to your B&B, located in the centre of the village by a lake. Check-in and head out to see what Ähtäri looks like. Your accommodation for the next two nights is a small and adorable lakeside B&B with cozy rooms, located right in the town of Ähtäri. 

Next day, you'll head to Ähtäri Zoo by train or in summer 2021 also by bikes. After a 10 minute ride by train or a 25 minute cycling you will arrive at the Zoo where you can see wild Nordic animals as well as snow pandas and typical farm animals in Finland. Have lunch as you wish and make your way back to the village by taxi or cycle. After a long day in the zoo a lakeside sauna will be waiting for you. We recommend to have a proper lunch in the zoo so you can then just have something small in the cafeteria of your B&B or in the village. 

On the third day of your tour you hop on a train to Hankasalmi after breakfast and check-out. The train stops at Jyväskylä where you can have lunch before the journey continues to Hankasalmi where you will be picked up to a lakeside family holiday resort. You will stay in cozy log cabins unless you want to upgrade to a family glass igloo. Have a look around the resort, have dinner at the resort restaurant and spend a relaxed evening looking at the night skies. 

You will be kept busy on your fourth day. First you will have a canoeing or fatbiking trip with a local guide, in winter skiing or fatbiking trip. Paddling with an open canoe is easy but requires a bit of teamwork. After lunch buffet at the resort you will leave for a hiking, in winter snowshoeing trip to the Konnevesi National Park. There are plenty to do from bowling and minigolf to trampoline jumping at the resort. In the evening you'll have a lakeside sauna and remember to take a refreshing dip in the lake. 

On your final day you will be transferred to the train station after breakfast. You'll then head back to Helsinki or your next destination by train.

 * Carbon footprint calculation process is found here