Southern Ostrobothnia

Southern Ostrobothnia (Etelä-Pohjanmaa) is a region of Western Finland.

Regions

Northern lights over the frozen Lake Lappajärvi

•      Seinäjoki region – Seinäjoki is the cultural centre and biggest city of Southern Ostrobothnia. However neighbouring municipalities Ilmajoki and Isokyrö have longer history as a parish.
•      Härmänmaa – Though it now belongs to Seinäjoki sub-region, this area is known for being the area where knife-fighters (puukkojunkkarit) were most active in the 19th century.
•      Järviseutu – Literally Lake region, Järviseutu has most prominent lakes in Southern Ostrobothnia, the biggest of them being Lappajärvi, formed by a crater. Compared to the flatness of Southern Ostrobothnia, the eastern part of Järviseutu is pretty hilly, especially Soini and parts of Alajärvi.
•      Suupohja – Suupohja sub-region is mostly rural area, its only town being Kauhajoki.
•      Kuusiokunnat – Southeastern part of Southern Ostrobothnia. Includes two rural towns and one municipality. Has sports resorts in Kuortane and Zoo in Ähtäri.

Cities

Cities and towns in blue, rural municipalities in red.

Seinäjoki region

• 1 Seinäjoki
• 1 Jalasjärvi
• 2 Kurikka
• 2 Ilmajoki
• 3 Isokyrö – joined South Ostrobothnia from Ostrobothnia region in 2021.

Härmänmaa

• 3 Kauhava
• 4 Lapua

Järviseutu

• 5 Alajärvi
• 4 Lappajärvi
• 5 Soini
• 6 Evijärvi
• 7 Vimpeli

Suupohja

• 6 Kauhajoki
• 8 Isojoki
• 9 Karijoki
• 10 Teuva

Kuusiokunnat

• 7 Alavus
• 8 Ähtäri — with nationally famous Zoo
• 11 Kuortane

Understand

The region is largely agricultural, with fertile plains that support a strong farming industry, particularly in the production of milk and beef.

The region is made up of 18 municipalities. The regional centre is Seinäjoki, with nearly 60 000 inhabitants.

Get in

Finland's main north-south railroad (Helsinki–Oulu) passes through the region, as does the east–west Jyväskylä–Vaasa line, so you can easily get in from places like Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu and Rovaniemi. The trains stop only in some of the cities: all in Seinäjoki, some in Lapua, Alavus and Ähtäri (the latter with stations also at the hypermarket and zoo, respectively). See VR.

Buses going east or south-east from Vaasa pass through the region and there are also direct buses to Seinäjoki from Helsinki.

There is a ferry to Vaasa from Umeå, Sweden. There are flights to nearby Vaasa from Helsinki and Stockholm (check whether they operate).

Get around

Your best bet between towns and main villages is a coach or bus (see Matkahuolto), elsewhere car or taxi. Trains can be used for a few destinations.

Useful route planners include Matka.fi for trains and local buses and Matkahuolto Reittiopas for regional buses. You may need to use probable transport hubs in your searches to combine different types of transport.

By taxi

• Keskustaksi, ☏ +358 100-849-99 (€1.16+€1/min). Main taxi call centre of the region. Taxis also bookable by app. flag fall M–F 06:00–20:00 Sa: €6.00, Su and nights: €9.20; 0.90/min + €1.10/1.45/1.75 for 1–2/3–4/5–8 persons. (updated Jun 2023)

See

The round church of Vimpeli

Giant kettle Pirunpesä (Devil’s Nest) in the village of Ylivalli, Jalasjärvi, is the deepest earth erosion in Europe.

Ähtäri Zoo, east of Ähtäri, has species of the taiga, such as bears, wolves and wolverines, and at the rare end: snow leopards and two pandas.

The Alvar Aalto centre, the administrative and cultural centre of Seinäjoki, was designed by Alvar Aalto in the late 1950s.

You can visit the small vodka museum in Koskenkorva, Ilmajoki.

The Crater Lake Lappajärvi was created by meteorite impact 77 million years ago.

Do

• Dance or watch tango at the huge yearly Tangomarkkinat festival in Seinäjoki.
• Be a race driver for a day at PowerPark in Kauhava.
• Watch the yearly athletics competition in Kuortane.

Festivals

• Nummirock: June Kauhajoki. Midsummer's metal festival in late June. (date needs updating)
• Rytmiraide: August Kurikka. Jazz happening in the Old Station of Kurikka in late August. (date needs updating)

Buy

• Puukko knives in Kauhava
• Shop until you drop at Keskinen's "village store" in Tuuri, Alavus.

Stay safe

House in Ilmajoki during the flood

The Southern Ostrobothnia region is generally a safe place. However, there are a few natural risk factors, including the floods that occur in spring due to melting snow and ice, because the region is a low-lying area with many rivers. Travellers are mainly affected through the effects on traffic, such as roads that are covered by water and possibly closed.