Savonlinna Finland

Forests, lakes, a 550-year-old fairytale castle and a famous opera festival... Charlotte Smith is entranced by this charming Nordic town

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The journey to Savonlinna is not for the faint-hearted. After a perfectly ordinary flight to Helsinki, I find myself on a minute, Aeroexpress Regional Embraer - complete with forward-facing propellors. Suffice to say the 45-minute trip is hair-raisingly exhilarating, and though I feel every bump and lurch in the pit of my stomach, the view of Finland's lakes and forests is extraordinary.

It's appropriate that such a remarkable journey should end in a remarkable location, and the lakeside town of Savonlinna is certainly that. Quiet, charming and built on several islands, with a cobbled town centre, it's home not only to Lake Saimaa's rare freshwater seal but also to Olavinlinna, the world's northernmost still-standing medieval castle, which dates right back to 1475.

Set on its own rocky islet at the meeting point between two waterways, the castle is only accessible by footbridge or boat. Illuminated by the setting sun at twilight and well-placed uplighting after dark, it's a picture-perfect fairytale castle made even more special as a venue for the month-long Savonlinna Opera Festival, which each year attracts 70,000 visitors from around the world.

The story goes that, in 1907, Finnish soprano Aino Ackté visited Olavinlinna Castle for a political meeting, as Finland strove to exert its independence from Russia.