Kuopio: the world's biggest sauna on Lake Kallavesi

In the heart of Finland's lake district, Kuopio holds the world's largest wooden sauna, capable of hosting hundreds of people.

Local boats and ferries remain the most common way to explore the lakes.

The Rauhalahti Sauna, among the world's largest, can simultaneously host hundreds of people according to the Finnish tradition of collective sauna.

Just minutes away, the Puijo Tower, a panoramic viewpoint over the city, offers a view that on clear days spans hundreds of lakes scattered throughout the landscape.

Heading toward the port, you board historic steam boats for scenic cruises on Lake Kallavesi, Finland's fourth largest.

By evening, Kuopio's local markets sell kalakukko, a bread stuffed with fish and lard typical of Northern Savo regional cuisine.

Finland counts over three million saunas for a population of barely five and a half million inhabitants, and Kuopio celebrates this tradition with its monumental sauna capable of accommodating hundreds of bathers together.

Kalakukko, a traditional bread filled with freshwater fish and lard baked slowly in a wood-fired oven, remains a distinctive specialty of the Savo region around Kuopio.