e-Car Adventures: Cultural tour from Tampere in artists’ footsteps

11.03.2024


Kuva (c): Visit Tampere ja Discovering Finland

The nature around Tampere has inspired many painters and poets since the National Romantism era in late 1900th century. Take this route and follow the footsteps of famous Finnish artists like Ellen Thesleff, Hugo Simberg and Akseli Gallen-Kallela – sustainably with an electric car!

Start your e-car nature adventure environmentally by renting a modern vehicle at downtown Tampere. Avis delivers the car straight to you, so you can start your trip at the doorstep of your hotel, if you like.

First, head from Tampere towards Kangasala on route 12/E63. Follow Teisko sign and enjoy the peace of smaller road 338 that twirls in traditional rural landscape amongst fields and lakes. To start your day energetic, stop at restaurant Maisa for a Sunday brunch by the vast view of Koljonselkä lake.  http://www.restaurantmaisa.fi/

Have your first art stop at Murole village. The sceneries of Murole rapids and canal drew the attraction of Ellen Thesleff, an expressionist Finnish painter and regarded as one of the leading Finnish modernists, whose family lived in the village in a house called Casa Bianca. Unfortunately, the house has been demolished but the sceneries car still be found in Thesleff’s famous paintings like Echo and Summer Night.  https://jarvienreitit.fi/en/julkaisut/ellen-thesleffs-murole/ By the canal, you can also enjoy lunch at Murole Summer Café. https://muroleenkesakahvila.fi/

In the centre of Ruovesi (some 30 km from Murole on route 337), an old pink wooden house might draw your attention. The house hosts a 130-year-old bookstore called Vinhan kirjakauppa. https://vinhankirjakauppa.fi/ Spare some time to drop in because this is not just a bookstore. There are also accommodation, café, a store of antiquarian books and an art gallery that hosts different events. So ask for the next event and throw yourself in open-minded.

When in Ruovesi, have a stop at their local history museum only a few blocks from the bookstore. There you can see for example an old windmill and visit a peasant house museum that feels like the habitants just left for a while. One of the museum’s founders was a productive poet, painter, and translator Heikki Asunta. https://www.ruovesi.fi/local-history-museum

By Ruovesi Lake, there’s another monument of Finnish literature history called Runeberg’s spring. J.L. Runeberg is the national poet of Finland who stayed in Ruovesi as a tutor in 1825-26. Later, he wrote a beautiful poet about a spring where white clouds reflect. Whether this was really the spring that inspired him or not, it is a beautiful place to visit in the middle of Finnish nature.  https://www.ruovesi.fi/runebergin-lahde

South of Ruovesi centre, by the lake of the same name rises Kalela, the workshop of Finland’s national artist, Akseli Gallén-Kallela, out in the wilderness. It is one of Finland’s largest log buildings from the 19th century and its original framework is still standing. Other famous Finnish artists would also pay a visit and paint here. Kalela was designed to be the artist’s studio and a home for his family. The building represents the fulfilment of Gallén-Kallela’s youthful architectonic fantasies, and it was built in accordance with the artist’s own detailed drawings in 1894 and 1895. Unfortunately, it is not open to public currently, but you can admire from outside the testament to the skill of the 13 country carpenters who built it in a year by chopping, sawing and improvising. https://www.ruovesi.fi/matkailu-ja-vapaa-aika/for-tourists/culture/kalela_2

Continue your journey to the east on route 344 to Mänttä-Vilppula, where Serlachius Museums offer not one but two league of their own museums: Gösta with modern and contemporary art and collections of Serlachius Manor, and Gustaf focusing on the family’s and town’s history. https://serlachius.fi/en/ Here you can perhaps recognize familiar Ruovesi sceneries in national romantic paintings of Gallen-Kallela and his colleagues. Both museums offer a restaurant or a café and charging stations for e-cars.

After visiting Serlachius Museums, hit the route 58 towards Tampere but prepare for a stop in Juupajoki. This small town hosts a good number of museums and art. First stretch your legs in an impressive ravine right at downtown. https://juupajoki.fi/en/visit-juupajoki/nature-routes-in-juupajoki/ A friend of arts and fashion should definitely head to Koskenjalka Shoe and Leather Museum located in the premises of the first shoe factory in Finland. After admiring the red brick building by the rapids, peek inside and find a shoe museum, handicraft shop and changing art exhibitions. https://juupajoki.fi/en/visit-juupajoki/museums/

After Juupajoki, your day trip is approaching to its end. Take route 58 to Orivesi and continue highway E63 back to Tampere. 

Facts on this adventure:

  • Total length of the route: 225 km
  • Time needed: You can drive the route through in one day. If you want to visit popular exhibitions in Serlachius Museums, consider booking a ticket online. Longing to spend more time in these artistic sceneries? Elongate your tour and book accommodation in Ruovesi area or Mänttä-Vilppula.
  • Charging stations: At Ruovesi Osuuspankki (bank) parking lot and both Serlachius Museums.
  • Who the route is for: Everybody interested in artists of Finland’s golden era and national romantic sceneries. The route also gives you a profound image of life in 19-20th century Finland. Exhibitions of Serlachius Museums offer new experiences to everyone.
  • The route in Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/D1oVS9CoSyC6bGQ5A

Book your e-car here: https://one.avisworld.com/en_GB/Avis-ecaradventures/

This route has been designed as a concept of REACT-EU funded Sustainable Tourism Mobility project.

Images: Visit Tampere / Kari Savolainen and Laura Vanzo