Northern lights over the frozen Lake Lappajärvi

Southern Ostrobothnia (Etelä-Pohjanmaa) is a region of Western Finland. The region is made up of 18 municipalities. Southern Ostrobothnia is truly a region with many attractions and things to do for visitors. The regional center of Southern Ostrobothnia is Seinäjoki, with nearly 60 000 inhabitants.

Cities

• 1 Alajärvi
• 2 Alavus
• 3 Kauhajoki
• 4 Kauhava
• 5 Kurikka
• 6 Lapua
• 7 Seinäjoki
• 8 Ähtäri

Municipalities

• 1 Evijärvi
• 2 Ilmajoki
• 3 Isojoki
• 4 Jalasjärvi
• 5 Karijoki
• 6 Kuortane
• 7 Lappajärvi
• 8 Soini
• 9 Teuva
• 10 Vimpeli

Get in

There are flights to Vaasa from Helsinki, and the main north-south railroad passes through Southern Ostrobothnia so you can easily get in from places like Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu and Rovaniemi. Buses going east or southeast from Vaasa pass through the region and there are also direct buses to Seinäjoki from Helsinki.

Get around

Trains of national operator VR are possible to use for travelling inside province.

Matkahuolto has a dense bus network covering most of the province.

Onnibus offers discount bus service by few routes.

Google Maps includes timetables of trains, long distance buses and local transport of many cities and towns. Other useful route planners are Matka.fi for trains and local buses and Matkahuolto Reittiopas for regional buses.

By taxi

• Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi, Menevä
• Keskustaksi offers taxi service in whole province
• Taksini, ☏ +358 100 84999. Also bookable by app. Fixed price based on calculated route and time if destination address given when booking by app or web. Flag fall M–Fri 06:00–20:00: €6.00, Sa 06:00–16:00: €6.00, other times and holidays: €9.20; 1–2 persons €1.66/km, 3-4 persons €1.95/km, 5-8 persons €2.30/km (July 2020). (updated Jul 2020)

See

• Giant kettle Pirunpesä (Devil’s Nest). The deepest earth erosion in Europe, located in the village of Ylivalli, Jalasjärvi manucipality. 
• Wildlife at Ähtäri Zoo.
• Alvar Aalto center, the administrative and cultural center of Seinäjoki, designed by Alvar Aalto in the late 1950s.
• Visit the small vodka museum in Koskenkorva, Ilmajoki
• Crater Lake Lappajärvi, created by meteorite impact 77 million years ago.

Do

• Dance tango at the yearly Tangomarkkinat festival in Seinäjoki.
• Be a race driver for a day at PowerPark in Kauhava.
• Shop until you drop at Keskinen's "village store" in Tuuri, Alavus.
• Watch the yearly athletics competition in Kuortane.

Festivals

• Nummirock: 20–23 June 2018 Kauhajoki. Midsummer's metal festival Nummirock celebrates its 32nd year (date needs updating)
• Rytmiraide: 18–19 August 2018 Kurikka. Jazz happening in the Old Station of Kurikka celebrates its 10th installment. (date needs updating)