Skip to content
Geonivora
Municipality

Viitasaari

Located in Saarijärvi-Viitasaari, Central Finland Region Coordinates: 63°05′00″ N 25°50′00″ E

Viitasaari
Tiia Monto · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Population
7,174
7.2K
Elevation
84 m
above sea level
Local time
UTC+02:00
Europe/Helsinki · UTC+02:00
Places inside
1
listed under Viitasaari
When to go
June–August
See the climate
Airports
JYV Jyväskylä Airport77 km
KUO Kuopio Airport100 km

About Viitasaari

Viitasaari is a municipality. Location: Saarijärvi-Viitasaari, Central Finland Region. Population: 7,174. Elevation: 84 m.

From Wikipedia

Viitasaari is a Finnish town and municipality located in the Central Finland region. It is located between the neighbouring municipalities of Pihtipudas to the north and Äänekoski to the south. The town has a population of 5,695 (31 December 2025) and covers an area of 1,589.13 square kilometres (613.57 sq mi) of which 340.43 km2 (131.44 sq mi), or 21%, is water. There are altogether 230 lakes in Viitasaari. The biggest lakes are Lake Keitele, Lake Kolima and Muuruejärvi.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Built
1635
Area
1,248 km²
Official website
viitasaari.fi

Source: Wikidata

Travel notes for Viitasaari

From Wikivoyage

Viitasaari is a small town in Central Finland, by the lake Keitele.

Understand+

Viitasaari is a small town surrounded by lakes: the 230 lakes in the municipality cover a fifth of the municipality's area. Sounds by the centre separate Ylä-Keitele from Keski-Keitele, both parts of the 500 km2 (190 sq mi) Keitele. Half of the 6,500 inhabitants live in the town itself.

The area was inhabited already in the Stone Age. Sámi people are believed to have arrived more than 2,000 years ago and still lived here in the 16th century. Western hunters and fishermen have been here since the 300s, Tavastians since the 1000s. The area was settled by Savonians in the 16th century. Henrik Gabriel Porthan, who raised interest in the history of Finland in the 18th century, was from Viitasaari. 1882 Viitassari got a municipal doctor, the first in Finland.

Town of Viitasaari, Keskitie 10, ☏ +358 14 459-7411 (M–F 09:00–15:00), viitasaaren.kaupunki@viitasaari.fi. Mon–Fri 08:00–16:00. (updated Feb 2022)

Get in+

National roads 4 (E75) and 77 run through the town, the latter here part of the Blue Highway from Mo i Rana in Norway, via Vaasa, Viitasaari, Kuopio and Joensuu to Petrozavodsk in Russian Karelia. E75 runs through Finland from Helsinki in the south via Jyväskylä, Viitasaari and Oulu to Utsjoki in the far north. The distance to Kuopio is 75 km, to Jyväskylä 105 km.

There are coaches from Helsinki, Lahti, Jyväskylä, Oulu and Rovaniemi.

1 Viitasaari bus station (Viitasaaren linja-autoasema), Rantatie 2 (in the town centre).

Small craft can reach Viitasaari from Lahti, Heinola, Jyväskylä and Äänekoski by the Keitele–Päijänne–Vesijärvi waterway. Commercial traffic on Keitele is nowadays of minor importance.

The railway from Jyväskylä northward passes through the municipality, but the nearest passenger stop is at Pyhäsalmi in Pyhäjärvi, 87 km north from Viitasaari centre.

Jyväskylä airport is 78 km away. Most coaches from Jyväskylä drive via the airport.

Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · abridged

Places bordering Viitasaari

  • Kannonkoski
  • Keitele
  • Kinnula
  • Kivijärvi
  • Pihtipudas
  • Vesanto
  • Äänekoski

Twin towns and sister cities of Viitasaari

  • Nõo vald· Estonia

Source: Wikidata. Only places with a page on this site are shown.

Population of Viitasaari over time

Population of Viitasaari over time
2009 7,195
2010 7,174
2011 7,065
2012 6,957
2013 6,895
2014 6,870
2015 6,666
2016 6,607
2017 6,411
2020 6,168
2022 5,954
2023 5,877

Censuses and official estimates; source: Wikidata.

Climate of Viitasaari

Best months for sightseeing

Best months for sightseeing: June–August.

This month · November

A cold month

Day 0° · Night -4° · Rain 51 mm

Hottest month
July (day 21°)
Coldest month
February (night -12°)
Wettest month
August (82 mm)
Driest month
February (28 mm)

Bars: average monthly low and high temperature. Below: precipitation. Monthly averages for 1970–2000 at about 18 km resolution, adjusted for elevation. Highlighted months are mild and relatively dry. Source: WorldClim 2.1 (CC BY 4.0).

Show values as a table
Climate of Viitasaari
Month JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Average high (°C)-5°-5°1°6°14°19°21°18°12°6°0°-3°
Average low (°C)-12°-12°-7°-2°4°9°12°10°6°1°-4°-9°
Precipitation (mm)362832343960778259535144

Other places to visit in this season: June July August

How to get to Viitasaari

The nearest airport is Jyväskylä Airport (JYV), 77 km to the south as the crow flies. For international flights: Kuopio Airport (KUO) (100 km). The nearest large city is Umeå, 290 km to the west.

Airports

  • Jyväskylä Airport (JYV) Jyväskylän Maalaiskunta 77 kmsouth
  • Kuopio Airport (KUO) Kuopio / Siilinjärvi 100 kmeast
  • Kokkola-Pietarsaari Airport (KOK) Kokkola / Kruunupyy 152 kmnorthwest

Nearby large cities

  • Umeå Population: 130.2K 290 kmwest

Straight-line distances; road distances are longer. Airport data: OurAirports.

Day trips from Viitasaari

Within 100 km: 2 historic and cultural sites, 3 natural sites, 44 lakes, rivers and coasts.

0–25 km4 places

  • Keitele Lake 20 kmSE
  • Muuruejärvi Lake 16 kmW
  • Vuosjärvi Lake 20 kmSW
  • Pihtipudas TV Mast Landmark 25 kmN

25–60 km17 places

  • Saanijärvi Lake 39 kmN
  • Koivujärvi Lake 50 kmNE
  • Elämäjärvi Lake 44 kmN
  • Salamajärven Kansallispuisto Natural site 58 kmW

60–100 km28 places

  • Porovesi Lake 83 kmNE
  • Näläntöjärvi Lake 87 kmN
  • Kiuruvesi Lake 75 kmNE
  • Lievestuoreenjärvi Lake 87 kmS

Straight-line distances.

Places in Viitasaari

1 place
  1. 1 Viitasaari 5.8K

Bar: population relative to the most populous place in this list.

Nearby attractions & nature

Everything nearby

Sources & licences

Data last updated: · 2 independent sources