Things to do in Kokkola, Finland – 12 tips

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: September 2026 | What can you do in Kokkola, Finland? Much more than we had initially expected! Here you will find the charming wooden town of Neristan, interesting museums and exciting history, but also the sea, the archipelago and beautiful excursion destinations. We spent several days in and around Kokkola and here we have collected our 12 best tips.

Kokkola, Finland

Kokkola, or Gamlakarleby as the city was originally called, is one of 15 cities founded by Gustav II Adolf in 1620. The city has two traditional neighbourhoods - Neristan and Oppistan. Neristan was home to craftsmen and sailors, while Oppistan was home to the wealthy. Today, Neristan is a wonderfully beautiful and well-preserved wooden town, while Oppistan has been modernised.

Kokkola is a great city to visit, where you'll find museums, parks and many great destinations in addition to the wooden town centre. As for the language, this is a bilingual municipality with Finnish as the majority language. During our visit, on our motorhome trip, we could speak Swedish in many places, but not everywhere.

Kokkola is located in Central Ostrobothnia, Finland, about 120 kilometres northeast of Vaasa.

What can you do in Kokkola?

So what can you do in Kokkola? First and foremost, you'll want to check out the beautiful wooden town, but there are also plenty of great excursions to be had. Here are our top tips.

1. check out the wooden town of Neristan

The wooden house district of Neristan covers 12 blocks, with hundreds of wooden houses and courtyards. The oldest buildings date back to the 18th century, and you'll find plenty of charming and colourful houses. You can wander around on your own, preferably with an explanatory brochure from the tourist office in hand.

Some of the buildings you can discover include Snellman House, where the philosopher J.V. Snellman lived during his youth, and Rahmska farm which was built by the shipowner Johan Rahm.

2. Discover the Museum Quarter and the Rooska Estate

In Neristan you will find the Museum Quarter which houses buildings from four centuries and is part of the K.H. Renlund Museum. The red building Pedagogiet, completed in 1696, is Finland's oldest surviving secular wooden building in an urban environment.

Opposite Pedagogiet you will find the Lassander house from 1748. In the new building of the museum quarter you will find "Kieppi", the Kokkola Natural History Museum. In addition, the historical home "Fredrik and Anna Drake's home" is located here, which can only be viewed by appointment.

Nearby is the Rooska Farm, with the K.H. Renlund Museum. It houses a valuable art collection and the camera collection of photographer Leo Torppa.

3. eat waffles

There is a very cosy and very popular waffle café in the courtyard of the museum quarter, where you can eat sweet waffles with jam and ice cream or savoury waffles, for example with salmon.

4. Be fascinated by Kokkola Church

Kokkola has had several different churches. The first wooden church was demolished in 1876 to make way for a larger church, which was destroyed in a fire in 1958. The current church was designed by architect Aarne Nuortila and was completed in 1960.

5. Eat ice cream at the Market Square

The Market Square in Kokkola surprised us by accommodating the likes of a huge number of ice cream parlours. We think we counted six or seven ice cream parlours in this little square. So here you can enjoy an ice cream and take your time to find your favourite. Our favourite ice cream in Finland is "vanilla and cloudberry" from Ingman. So God!

6. Strolling in the English Park

Kokkola has a marvellous English park. The park was created in the area where the old tar square was located, during the period between the 17th and 19th centuries when tar was the city's most important export product.

Today it is a great place to stroll around the park - or perhaps walk or cycle through it on the way from the campsite. The park has been planted with all the tree species found in Finnish nature, and there are also a few different sculptures, including a wooden statue of Gustav II Adolf.

The park also displays an English barque, a landing craft captured at the Battle of Halkokari during the Crimean War in 1854. Nine Englishmen died in the battle and are buried in Marie Cemetery in Kokkola.

7. Hang out in Havsparken

Havsparken is a very nice area by the water in Kokkola, right next to Kokkola Camping. There is a beach, barbecue areas, beach volleyball courts, frisbee golf course, outdoor gym, paddle court and playground. In the summer, the Burger Village beach restaurant is open. M/S Jenny's cruises to the archipelago and the lighthouse island of Tankar also depart from Havsparken.

8. Visit the Tankar lighthouse

One of the most popular places to visit in Kokkola is the lighthouse island Tankar, and many people told us to take a trip here. Unfortunately, we didn't make it because the weather was so rainy, but maybe you'll find it on a sunnier day!

On Fyrön Tankar, beautiful nature meets a charming red and white lighthouse. The island also has a Café Tankar, a seal hunting museum, a hotel, a sauna, a nature trail and a small church. During the summer season, the boat M/S Jenny runs regularly to Tankar from Havsparken at Kokkola Camping.

9. Discover Kokkola National City Park

Finland has national city parks that emphasise urban life, culture and nature. Kokkola National City Park was established in 2020 and promotes archipelago life and maritime cultural heritage. Most of the area is a water area that extends from Kokkola railway station out into the archipelago to the Tankar lighthouse.

The area can be explored by bike or by boat, and there are harbours, birdwatching towers and beaches. In summer you can visit the sandy beaches of Rödbergen and Vitasand on Trullön.

10. Check out the Kokkola local history museum

The Kokkola Homestead Museum is located in the Kyrkbacken neighbourhood and showcases local culture from the 19th century. Here you can see a variety of buildings from the past, such as a smithy, smokehouse, windmill and vicarage. The museum and its exhibitions are open a few days a week during the high season.

Near the local history museum, you can also check out Kokkola's medieval stone church, the oldest parts of which date back to the 1460s. In the late 18th century, the church was expanded under the direction of Anders Chydenius to become a cross church.

11. Shopping at Caravanlandia

Are you travelling with a motorhome or caravan? Then we can recommend checking out the Caravanlandia camping shop in Kokkola to replace or replenish what you need. Here you can find everything from spare parts to cleaning products, and we got a lot of good help here.

12. Visit Toivonen Zoo and Farmer's Museum

Just northeast of Kokkola you will find the Toivonen Zoo and Farmers' Museum. Here you can learn more about rural life in Central Ostrobothnia in the past and also see traditional farm animals. In the summer, there are various exhibitions and a cosy café in the area.

Excursions from Kokkola

The way of seven bridges

The Seven Bridges Road (regional road 749) runs from Kokkola southwards, via Larsmo and Pietarsaari, to Uusikaupunki. This is a very nice stretch to drive along the coast, which is ideal if you want to continue your journey to Pietarsaari and Uusikaarlepyy. On the way, you can also experience Café Bryggan, Köpmanholmen and the Santa Claus world "Tyynelän Tontut".

Café Bryggan

Café Bryggan is a fantastic cosy café located in the archipelago. Here you can have coffee on the jetty and it is also possible to swim and rent a canoe or SUP board.

Larsmo

Larsmo is a municipality and an island located in the sea belt between Kokkola and Pietarsaari. Here, we can highly recommend two experiences: a boat trip to Köpmanholmen with lunch and a visit to the Tyynelän Tontut gnome farm. You can read more about both of these experiences in our report on Pietarsaari.

READ MORE: What to do in Jakobstad, Finland - 20 tips

Jukkolanmäki barn

Jukkolanmäki barn is located on Jukkolanmäentie on the way to Vattaja and Ohtakari, north of Kokkola. This is a barn that has been converted into a beautiful party venue. In the summer there is a cosy café here and when we were here there was also a really cool art and design exhibition with fashion designer Jukka Rintalan.

Vattaja and Ohtakari

Approximately 4 miles north of Kokkola you will find the amazing sand dunes of Vattaja. The sandy beach, which is over 15 kilometres long, is one of the longest in the Nordic countries. However, do not expect any tourist complexes or large tourist flows. This is a relatively unspoilt natural area suitable for anyone who wants to hike, cycle, birdwatch, surf the waves or sunbathe and swim in peace. Very beautiful!

Right next to Vattaja is Ohtakari, a charming little island with a fishing village. Today there are small holiday homes as well as a guest harbour, a summer café, a nature trail, an observation tower and a caravan park. There should be a small fishing museum as well, although we missed this.

More to see and do in Kokkola

There is of course even more to see and do in Kokkola than our suggestions. You can find some more tips here.

• Fishing village in Öja can be visited by boat or bicycle, for example. There is a summer café, a beach, a diving tower and a museum.
• Kelviå local history museum is located 1.5 km from Kelviå church village and is open on request.
• Lochteå local history museum has an extensive collection of artefacts.
• Sand Magpie offers a nature trail, birdwatching tower, frisbee golf, sandy beach and more.

Where can you stay in Kokkola, or park your caravan?

There are several different hotels to choose from in Kokkola. There are also rooms and apartments and, for example, the possibility of staying on the lighthouse island of Tankar. We are travelling by motorhome and stayed at Kokkola Camping. This campsite is nicely located by the Sea Park, within walking and cycling distance to the centre of Kokkola.

The campsite has everything you need, including a miniature golf course. Right next door there is a marina, a sandy beach, a summer restaurant and various activities such as padel and an outdoor gym.

More things to do around Kokkola

From Kokkola it is relatively close to the beautiful city of Jakobstad, which has a lot to offer. There are also beautiful beaches and much more nearby.

• Things to do in Jakobstad
• The sandy beaches of Kalajoki
• Things to do in Raahe