Kotka is a busy port town on the Gulf of Finland, about two hours east of Helsinki. Water defines the place — the harbour dominates the centre, a large part of the population works in shipping or related industries, and the Kymijoki river rushes through the outskirts with some impressively powerful rapids.
The main attraction is the Langinkoski Imperial Fishing Lodge, a rustic log cabin built for Tsar Alexander III, who came here to fish for salmon in the 1880s. The setting, in dense forest alongside the rapids, is lovely. On the waterfront, the Maritime Centre Vellamo occupies a striking wave-shaped building housing three museums, and Maretarium presents Finnish fish in naturalistic tanks on the shore of Sapokka bay. The old Haukkavuori water tower has been converted into a lookout point with good views over the city, the harbour, and the surrounding archipelago.