Alvar Aalto designed this place before the Second World War, and you can still read the plan on the ground. Sunila is a pulp mill on a rocky island near Kotka, on the Gulf of Finland, and Aalto designed both the mill buildings and the housing for the workers, in the late 1930s. The houses step down the slope in terraces among the pines, with an eye for views and shared space, which was unusual for an industrial settlement then. The mill still runs, with smoke rising over the pines on cold mornings, so the place is a working one, not a museum, and the housing area is lived in by residents who deserve some quiet.
The landscape is quintessentially Finnish coast, flat rock, low pines, granite outcrops polished by the ice and shallow bays full of reeds. Kotka itself is a harbour town on a group of islands at the mouth of the Kymijoki river, and it is one of the busiest ports in Finland. It has a good maritime centre, Maretarium, an aquarium of Finnish waters, and the Langinkoski rapids nearby, where a fishing lodge was built for Tsar Alexander III, who liked to fish there. Karhula, on the mainland side, has an old glassworks tradition.
Riding in this corner of Finland is relaxed. The roads are smooth, wide and nearly empty, with speed limits that are strictly enforced, so there is no reason to hurry. The countryside is flat, with long lines of spruce and birch, and in summer the light lasts until ten or later. Beware of elk at dawn and dusk, and of road surfaces that can be rutted after a hard winter. The best months are June to August, with September bringing cool, clear air and autumn colour.
Fuel and food are easy in Kotka and Karhula, both of which have good supermarkets, cafes and petrol stations. Order a plate of vendace or Baltic herring, or a salmon soup, and finish with a cardamom bun. Hamina, fifteen kilometres to the east, is a star-shaped fortress town worth a detour. Bring a jacket, since the sea wind is always colder than you expect.