Jyväskylä



Jyväskylä is a lively university city and the capital of Central Finland. About a third of the city's 148,000 inhabitants (2023) are students. Beautifully set between lakes and ridges, many motorsports fans are familiar with the city as the Neste Oil Rally of the World Rally Championships series takes place around the city each July. The works of the notable Finnish architect Alvar Aalto can be seen throughout the city.

Understand
Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, gave the city the nickname "Athens of Finland". This nickname refers to the major role of Jyväskylä as an educational centre: the "seminar" founded in 1863 was the first institution educating teachers in Finnish. The seminar later developed into a university, inaugurated in 1954. The city is home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.

There are 328 lakes in the municipality, and lakes and rivers constitute 20% of its total area.

Most of today's Jyväskylä was built after the Continuation War, when evacuees from territories ceded to the Soviet Union were settled in the city, and housing was badly needed.


 * Visit Jyväskylä website

By car
Jyväskylä is an important node in the Finnish highway network, and roads from many directions pass through it. These are the major ones:
 * Highway 4 comes from Lahti and Helsinki (south) and Oulu and Lapland (north).
 * Highway 9 comes from Tampere and Turku (south-west) and from Kuopio (north-east).
 * Highway 13 comes from Mikkeli (south-east) and from Kokkola (north-west)
 * Highway 18 comes from Vaasa (north-west)
 * Highway 23 comes from Pori (south-west) and from Varkaus (east)

By train
Jyväskylä is connected to the other Finnish cities by railroads. A normal train ticket between Helsinki and Jyväskylä for an adult costs around €50. Student discounts are only offered to those studying in Finland.

The (Jyväskylä travel centre, or Jyväskylän matkakeskus in Finnish) is open from 06:00 to 22:00 from Monday to Saturday and from 08:00 to 22:00 on Sundays. Train tickets are sold at ticket machines at all opening hours or you can buy the tickets online. Since 2021 there is no booking office.

By bus
Buses travel between Jyväskylä and other Finnish cities, as well as smaller destinations. Direct routes are available for example from Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Lahti, Oulu, Kuopio, Lappeenranta, Mikkeli, Kajaani, Savonlinna, Joensuu and Kokkola. A bus ticket from Helsinki to Jyväskylä with one of the Matkahuolto associated bus companies will usually cost about €10-50, and can usually be bought from the driver. Online is recommended.

A discount bus operator Onnibus offers significantly cheaper intercity bus travel to and from Jyväskylä, though the tickets must be bought online.

Coming via Tallinn or Stockholm, there may be coach connections from the ports of Helsinki with arranged transfer, mostly via Kamppi. Coming via Turku harbour, there may be a direct service from the ferry terminal to Jyväskylä. If you come by plane, some services to Jyväskylä depart directly from Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

By plane
is a small airport 20 km from Jyväskylä centre. NyxAir flies from Helsinki. used by the Finnish air force with a base nearby, and their flight school. There are also some direct charter flights to popular holiday destinations.

You reach the city by taxi in 15–20 minutes. Calling a taxi from the airport is easy as there is a special Taxi Phone. A taxi will cost approx. €50–60 (2021) to get to the city centre.

By boat
Päijänne Cruises Hilden operates between Lahti and Jyväskylä and between Jyväskylä and Suolahti through the Keitele-Päijänne Canal.

Get around
Jyväskylä has invested in cycle and pedestrian routes. As the town centre is not big you might want to walk or cycle to see the sights. Almost 1/3 of the population of Jyväskylä are students who mainly use bicycles to get around in the central area. Roads are also in good condition. There are bicycle and car rentals in the city.

By bus
Local buses travel between the different parts and suburbs of Jyväskylä. You can use route planner.

Single tickets are sold by the bus driver. The basic fare for adults is €3 and for children €1.50 per trip (2021). The night fare (23:00-04:00) is €1 extra, often making a taxi a cheaper option when travelling in groups of three or more. If you need to change buses during the trip you have to show your receipt in the next bus within one hour from buying the ticket. Waltti mobile app can be used for ticket purchase.

Matkahuolto Routes and Tickets app is able to first plan the route and after it sell the right ticket for it.

If you plan to stay longer and want to use the bus service regularly, you might want to consider buying a bus card, which will be cheaper (much cheaper if you are a student living in Jyväskylä). A basic day ticket costs €8/6/4 (2021). A 30-day bus card costs ca €60 (without reduction) and it can be used as much as wanted during this 30-day period.

No matter which part of Jyväskylä you want to get to, there are approximately three buses leaving each hour during the daytime. However, during the summer months from June to August the frequency is reduced to two buses per hour, in some more remote villages there are no buses at all. You can buy the tickets at the Jyväskylä information centre on Asemakatu in the city centre.

By taxi
Taxis can be usually be found waiting at the Jyväskylän matkakeskus or other taxi poles in the centre of the city. If there are no taxis present, you have to call for one. The taxi service number in Jyväskylä area is. The starting cost in daytime M–Sa is €4 and at other times €7 (2021). The cost per travelled kilometre varies between €1.09 and €1.75 depending on the number of passengers and time of the day. The price list is always available in the taxis.


 * Smartphone apps: 02 Taksi, Cabo, Uber
 * Smartphone apps: 02 Taksi, Cabo, Uber
 * Smartphone apps: 02 Taksi, Cabo, Uber
 * Smartphone apps: 02 Taksi, Cabo, Uber
 * Smartphone apps: 02 Taksi, Cabo, Uber
 * Smartphone apps: 02 Taksi, Cabo, Uber

By electric kick scooter
German Tier, Swedish Voi and American Bird rent electric kick scooters for use in the centre. Tier has also electric bicycles.

See




Jyväskylä has many buildings by the famous architect Alvar Aalto. These include kaupunginteatteri (City Theatre), some buildings in the main campus of the university and the Alvar Aalto Museum.



Museums
Exhibitions and art museums: Admission is free on winter Fridays to Jyväskylä Art Museum, Craft Museum of Finland and Museum of Central Finland. Ask for a student discount, though often a Finnish student card is necessary. The national Museum Card gives free admission in most museums.



Nature trails
There are several recreational 'nature paths' in Jyväskylä. They are mainly situated in forest areas.

Do
The city's web site has an event calendar for current and upcoming events.


 * Laajavuori nature trail and other trails for hiking, cycling, riding etc. Part of the Laajavuori area is protected.
 * Laajavuori nature trail and other trails for hiking, cycling, riding etc. Part of the Laajavuori area is protected.
 * Laajavuori nature trail and other trails for hiking, cycling, riding etc. Part of the Laajavuori area is protected.

Winter activities


Equipment can be found at some second-hand shops and flea markets, in addition to sport shops. See Buy below. Equipment for hire in Laajavuori.



Swimming and beaches
Jyväskylä has plenty of lakes and these provide nice opportunities for swimming and general beach activities during the warm summer months. Some of them offer ice swimming during the winter.



Buy
During the summer, the marketplace (Yliopistonkatu 15) is a good place to visit if you want fresh vegetables or fish, flowers or craft items.

You'll definitely want to look for shopping opportunities at the Jyväskylä pedestrian street Kauppakatu.







Second-hand bookshops
There are three antiquarian book stores in Kauppakatu.



Flea markets
There is also a few flea markets worth visiting in Jyväskylä.

The second-hand equipment for winter sports (ice-skates and skis) may be bought for example from SPR fleamarket in Palokka or Jyväskylä Sportti-Divari.


 * Keskustan Kirppis, Vapaudenkatu 40-42. A popular self-service flea market right in the centre of the city.
 * Keskustan Kirppis, Vapaudenkatu 40-42. A popular self-service flea market right in the centre of the city.

Eat
It's cheap to have lunch at the student restaurants. They are scattered all over the university area. With a Finnish student card it costs about €2.6. Without the card it costs about €5.5. There are many pizzerias offering large pizzas for as cheap as €5, guaranteed to fill your belly.
 * Student restaurants:

Drink
Alko shop (wine, strong beer and spirits) e.g. in the Sokos department store on Kauppakatu.

Pubs, Bars and Nightclubs
Nightlife is centred in the downtown part of Kauppakatu and cross streets, some also in the uptown part of Kauppakatu, near the University. As most of the bars are situated on Kauppakatu or very close to it, pub crawls can be easily arranged in Jyväskylä. Start from Yläkaupunki and work your way down to the clubs in Alakaupunki!

Alakaupunki (Downtown)
A large number of bars, restaurants and nightclubs are located around the pedestrian district. Cheaper places in this area include Bar Explosive and Bar Passion. Suggested establishments:



Yläkaupunki (Uptown)
If you prefer a more laid-back night scene than euro-disco hell, walk uphill along Kauppakatu until you are past the church. This is where Yläkaupunki begins. Suggested establishments:



Sleep
There are a few hotels in the vicinity of the train station. All the major hotel chains (Scandic, Cumulus, Sokos) can also be found in the city.

Budget

 * Time Hostel
 * Time Hostel

Connect
The city of Jyväskylä does not offer a free wifi as such. However, e.g. every library in the city has both computers with internet access free, and free wifi. Usually the wifi password is written on a sign somewhere but you can ask any librarian, as they all speak English. Many companies offer free wifi.



Restaurants and bars also have wifi connections for customers, but a password is usually needed and must specifically be asked for.

Stay safe
The crime rate in Jyväskylä is generally low. However, it's best to avoid obviously drunk people during weekend nights after the bars close. Long queuing for taxis or late night snack sometimes frustrate some partygoers to seek fighting opponents. Sometimes this results to a temporary conversion from a pedestrian district to fighting arena, but the common sight of patrolling police makes the occurrences more rare. Despite this, walking on the streets at night (or any time of day) is safe.

In the winter time the streets might be slippery and that it is mandatory by traffic law to wear a reflector during the dark period.

Go next

 * Laukaa — a neighboring municipality with lots of lakes, nature reserves and activities.
 * Petäjävesi — in this town 40km to the west you can visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the magnificent example of rural building skills and peasant art in the old Petäjävesi church.