Virolahti

Virolahti is a municipality in Kymenlaakso, in the southeastern corner of Finland.

Understand
The central town of the municipality is Virolahti. However Virolahti is probably best known for the border crossing to Russia at Vaalimaa. The area around Vaalimaa has a disproportionate number of shopping malls and stores (some of them defunct) for such a small municipality. The reason was Russian tourists from Saint Petersburg and surroundings that arrived for shopping trips before COVID and the invasion of Ukraine practically closed the border.

Get in
Motorway 7 from Helsinki via Porvoo, Kotka and Hamina (part of the E18) passes Virolahti and goes to the. From Russia, A-181 (also part of the E18) goes from St. Petersburg to Vyborg and on to Torfyanovka (the Russian border station). Regional road 387 comes in from Lappeenranta.

The eastern end of the King's Road is at the border.

You can get in by car, and there are also buses from Helsinki along regional road 170 (old highway 7). Buses between Finland and Russia, inasfar they still run because of the sanctions, stop at Vaalimaa.

Sleep
There are campsites and cottages.

Go next

 * Hamina
 * Miehikkälä
 * Vyborg