Harbour area
The harbour, the parks nearby, the fortress and myllysaari beach are a perfect place to chill out in summertime, sitting on the terraces, drinking, eating and watching the boats and things that happen. live music played on many summer days. early in august there is a popular festival called "linnoituksen yã¶" engl. the night of the fortress in the harbour and fortress area.
Lake Saimaa
And the saimaa canal. take a cruise from lappeenranta to the saimaa, saimaa canal or vyborg, russia through the canal! this canal was build to connect the saimaa to the baltic sea at the dawn of industrialisation. the canal was modernized in the 1960s. finland pays rent for the russian parts of the canal. the current hire contract expires on 2013, and finland is currently trying to start negotiating extension to the contract. the canal itself connects to the bay of finland, on russian territory, close to vyborg finn. viipuri. the canal is mostly used by cargo ships, but there are also passenger boats operating from lappeenranta to vyborg. it is also used by private boats from finland and abroad.
In winter, the city seems to quiet down a little. The main attractions during winter are the city theatre and major league ice hockey and basketball games. Also many possibilities exist for practising winter sports. There are tens of kilometres worth of cross-country skiing tracks a popular stage circles around the airport, and also a small downhill skiing slope. Many outdoor and indoor ice-rinks are available for skating. The city bay becomes a skating track during winter.