Laihia

Laihia is a town in Ostrobothnia, Finland. Like the inhabitants of Scotland and Gabrovo the locals have a reputation of stinginess which is the theme of the Laihia jokes. The town even has a Museum of Stinginess!

Get in

By car

Laihia is located at highway 3 between Vaasa and Tampere, where highway 18 to Jyväskylä branches off.

By train

VR connection buses from Seinäjoki to Vaasa pass through Laihia.

By bus

Buses from Vaasa eastward (e.g. to Seinäjoki) pass through the town. The Opas.matka.fi route planner has information about routes which are part of Vaasa regional traffic (e.g. line 341). The Onnibus line between Helsinki and Vaasa stops at the highway, stop name is Laihia Ratikylän liittymä.

Get around

Matka.fi route planner includes some information about regional traffic which can be used also for local trips.

See

Laihia jokes Like the Scots, the allegedly extremely stingy locals of Laihia are the theme of jokes in Finland. For instance, a Laihian was in Vaasa and when asked what he was doing there, he told people he was on a honeymoon. "But where is your bride then"? they asked him. "She already has been to Vaasa once".

• 1 Laihia local museum (Laihian Kotiseutumuseo). Like other similar museums in Finland, this museum showcases the daily life one or two centuries ago. One speciality of the one in Laihia is Nuukuuren Museo — the museum of stinginess. It's aptly located in a shack from the 18th century which apparently was still inhabited in the 1980s. (updated Mar 2015)
• 2 Laihia church. A wooden church from 1805, one of the city's landmarks. (updated Mar 2015)

In addition there are a couple of monuments dedicated to Santeri Alkio. Originally from Laihia, he founded what today is the Finnish Centre Party, was among the members of the first Finnish parliament in 1907 and stayed an important political personality during the first years of Finnish independence.

Go next

Routes through Laihia

Umeå () ← Vaasa ←	N  S	→ Kurikka → Jalasjärvi → Tampere
Vaasa ← Merges with ←	NW  SE	→ Ylistaro (Seinäjoki) → Lapua → Kuopio