It is easy to stop by Toriseva! A path (about 150 metres) leads up from the highway rest stop to the Café and to the area's best vantage point. Along the path you can already find one of Toriseva's specialities, a verdant brook valley along with its rare grove flora. If you don't want to climb the steep path for some reason, you can also reach the Café by car.
Toriseva Café is worth visiting even if only to see what a café looked like some decades ago. We have endeavoured to preserve the cosy atmosphere and furnishing of the Café as close to the original as possible.
TORISEVA NATURE TRAIL (1,2 or 6,5 kilometres):
The Toriseva area has several guided paths. The Toriseva nature trail (6,5 kilometres) begins from the Café, runs along the edge of the lakeside cliff to the southern end of Lower Toriseva (1,2 kilometres), and then through fields, riverfronts and woods back to its starting place. Along the trail there are thirteen marked guiding points that tell about the area's nature and history, as well as two camp-fire places, one of them with a lean-to. You can get brochures about the nature trail (also in English!) from the Café. The Pirkan Taival hiking trail also runs through Lower and Middle Toriseva.
PDF-brochure of the trail.
CAFÉ SERVICES:
We offer freshly brewed coffee, prepared according to the traditional method, and pastries that are served fresh from the Café's oven. We also bake our own bread rolls and savoury pies. Among our specialities are almond pie, coconut chocolate cake and juicy apple pie served with plenty of vanilla sauce.
SERVICES FOR GROUPS
- by prior arrangement from May to September!
Coffee services.
A presentation on the history of the Café and the Toriseva Lakes (about 15 minutes, in Finnish, Swedish or English).
The Café has room for over 50 customers (38 places inside + 15 on the terrace)
The Café's yard is also accessible by bus!
The Toriseva excursion for groups:
The path (about 1,2 kilometres) on Lower Toriseva's lakeside cliff has a breathtakingly beautiful view. The excursion can begin from either end of the lake, either from the Café or from the famous Inkerinkallio. You can access both ends of the lake by bus, so you don't have to walk the path back and forth. Admiring the scenery on the path should take about 45 minutes. At the beginning or in the end of the excursion coffee will be served along with a presentation on the history of the Toriseva lakes and the Café itself. In the terrain our guide will lecture on the nature around Toriseva, the photographer and writer I.K. Inha, the Pilvilinna villa once owned by the artist Armid Sandberg, and of course Inkeri, who gave her name to the grandest cliff in Toriseva.
Coffee service 3,30 € / person (coffee + bun).
Guidance (Finnish, Swedish, English) 2 € / person.
Minimum size of the group is 20 people, maximum size 50. The excursion along with the coffee service takes about one and a half hours.
There are steep ascents and descents on the path, so the excursion is not suitable for people with weak legs.
Remember to dress according to weather and have good walking shoes or sneakers for the path.
You may also add other places of interest to the excursion: for example the I.K. Inha photography exhibition, the Art Nuuttila center of modern art or a cruise on the ship Kimalle on lake Tarjannevesi. If so desired, we may also tailor a full day programme in and around Virrat for your group. For more information on the sights of Virrat:
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LOCATION:
Toriseva ravine lakes are located in Virrat in Northern Tampere Region right next to Main Road 66. You can find Toriseva Café in the northern end of the largest and southernmost of these lakes, Lower Toriseva, next to the Toriseva highway rest stop. The street address for the Café is Torisevajärvientie 493, Virrat.
The path to the Café: Stairs ascend from the northern end of the rest stop to a path (about 150 metres) that leads to the Café. The path is steep and rugged, so if you for example have weak legs or a baby carriage with you, use the main road that also leads to the Café. Via the path you can get up to the Café and to the vantage point or down to the shore of Lower Toriseva.
The main road to the Café: If you are coming from the south towards Virrat, turn right at the juncture after the highway rest stop. If you are coming from the north, turn left at the juncture about 100 metres after the the Toriseva sightseeing information board (before the highway rest stop).
Distances: about five kilometres down Main Road 66 from the centre of Virrat to the direction of Ruovesi. When coming from the south, about 29 kilometres north from Ruovesi down Main Road 66.
If you come with your own car: From South down Main Road 66 (Orivesi-Ruovesi-Virrat), about five kilometres before the centre of Virrat. From West, North or East, turn to Main Road 66 from Järvisuomentie (Highway 23) by the Kitusen Kievari service station and drive about five kilometres to the direction of Orivesi and Ruovesi. You may park your car either at the highway rest stop or at the Café's yard.
By bus: Veolia regular service routes (Tampere-Virrat-Ähtäri) to both directions stop at the Toriseva highway rest stop (marked as Jäähdyspohja in time tables). The final destination of busses from Pori, Seinäjoki and Jyväskylä is the Virrat bus station; from there you can get to Toriseva either by the Veolia regular service route or by taxi (GSM phone number 0100 2020; the taxi station is situated at Keskustie 5, about 100 metres from the bus station towards the centre of Virrat).
Map link
