Karkkila

Karkkila (Swedish: Högfors) is a town in Uusimaa.

Understand


Karkkila was a quiet rural village until 1820, when the Högfors Ironworks (Högforsin ruukki), one of the first in Finland, opened up to exploit nearby iron ore deposits. Housing for workers soon sprung up and so did a strong Communist movement, making the town reliably the "reddest" in Finland at election time.

Steel production is long gone, but Karkkila's economy to this day is dominated by machinery manufacturers. Visitors are more likely to be drawn in by the numerous lakes and the countless summer cottages by their shores.

Get in
Highway 2 leads to Karkkila from Helsinki (1 hr) and Pori (2 hrs).

Karkkila is no longer served by train, since the Karkkila railway ceased operations in 1967.

By bus


There are roughly hourly buses from Helsinki's Kamppi bus station (&euro;9.80). For timetables, see Matkahuolto.

By taxi

 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi

Buy
Karkkila's market (tori), right next to the bus station, is open on Fridays. Get there early, since everything closes by 13:00.



Eat


Karkkila's claim to culinary fame is the potato sausage (perunamakkara), stuffed with pork and boiled potatoes, grilled and served with lingonberry jam. Pick some up from Lihamestari Vaske or the deli counter at S-Market.



Go next

 * Forssa
 * Loppi
 * Vihti