Lappeenranta is connected to neighboring cities and municipalities by road, with railways heading north and south from the city.
During the summer, when Lake Saimaa and Saimaa Canal are accessible by water, there is a connection by ship from Lappeenranta to Vyborg, Russia.
There is also an international airport in Lappeenranta. Thanks to scheduled flights between Lappeenranta, Weeze and Riga, the metropolises of Europe are within easy reach. Lappeenranta Airport is Finland's fastest growing international airport with 364% growth in passenger numbers in 2010. Making a business or leisure trip to Brussels or London from Lappeenranta is no problem, especially after a direct route to Brussels-Charleroi opened in November 2010. Traffic Connections: Daily flights between Lappeenranta and Riga. Scheduled flights to Brussels (Charleroi), and Weeze. RyanAir will begin to fly to Milano (Bergamo) on 30 March 2011 and the flights are already being sold.
Express train connections: To Helsinki in about 2 hours and to St. Petersburg in about 1.5 hours on the new Allegro train.
Two highways, 6 and 13 pass through Lappeenranta. Bus companies operate frequently to Helsinki and other cities, even Saint Petersburg in Russia. Highway 13 extends to the Russian border, some 25 km from the city center, where the Nuijamaa border station is the second busiest border crossing in Finland. Russian tourists usually use this pathway to come to the city either by bus or a car.
The main railway station of Lappeenranta connects the city to the rest of Finland with fairly modern trains, operated by VR [2]. The travel time to Helsinki is currently 2 - 2½ hours (EUR 41.30 as of end-2011). Trains to Saint Petersburg and Moscow stop at a smaller station in Vainikkala, located near the Russian border, about 30 km from the city center. There are connection buses [3] from Lappeenranta City to Vainikkala railway station.
