Lake Saimaa
About
Lake Saimaa and The Saimaa Canal. Take a cruise from Lappeenranta to the Saimaa, Saimaa canal or Vyborg, Russia through the canal! This canal was build to connect the Saimaa to the Baltic Sea at the dawn of industrialisation. The canal was modernized in the 1960s. Finland pays rent for the Russian parts of the canal. The current hire contract expires on 2013, and Finland is currently trying to start negotiating extension to the contract. The canal itself connects to the Bay of Finland, on Russian territory, close to Vyborg (Finn. Viipuri). The canal is mostly used by cargo ships, but there are also passenger boats operating from Lappeenranta to Vyborg. It is also used by private boats from Finland and abroad.
