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SORJONEN’S LAPPEENRANTA – The Bordertown

Bordertown Filming Locations Tour

Lappeenranta is the home town of the popular television detective Sorjonen. Join our Tourist Information services on a tour of the shooting locations of Bordertown. The tours will shed light on the background of the crime series filmed in Lappeenranta, while taking you to some of the most recognisable backdrops of the series’ first and second seasons.

The Center Walking Tour focusing on the Borderdown series’ main character’s work places starts in front of the Tourist Information of the IsoKristiina shopping centre and the Harbor Walking Tour focusing on the Bordertown crime scenes starts at the Sandcastle Tourist Info at the harbor.


The 2nd season was shot in Lappeenranta in the autumn of 2017 and had its international premiere in the spring of 2019 after premiering in Finland during the autumn of 2018. Both Center and Harbor Walking Tours take about an hour and cost 10 euros.
The tours are available in Finnish and English. The scheduled English-language Harbor Walking Tours start from the Sandcastle Tourist Info at 4pm on 16.8 and 23.8. The tour showcases the crime scenes around the Old Town known as Fortress and harbor area. Sandcastle itself was also a crime scene in the 2nd season. Note that the tour is walked in a hilly area.

English-speaking tours of first and second season are provided upon request for groups of at least five, or for 50 euros per tour. Finnish-speaking tours can also be booked for private groups with the same pricing.
Further information and reservations:
tel. +358 5 667 788
lappeenranta@gosaimaa.com

“A TOWN OF NICE CRIME”

Two worlds meet in the Lappeenranta border region: the fictional crime series Bordertown and the real summer destination. First broadcast by Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE in 2016 and sold to more than 180 countries, Bordertown was specifically written with Lappeenranta in mind and its first and second seasons were shot in town in the late summer of 2015 and 2017 respectively. According to Miikko Oikkonen, the Lappeenranta-born creator of the series, the town is depicted in Sorjonen as if it were one of the main characters.
The crime series tells the story of top National Bureau of Investigation investigator Kari Sorjonen, whose wife Pauliina is recovering from a serious illness.

The family decides to move to Pauliina’s childhood landscape, a small border town in Eastern Finland in Lappeenranta. Sorjonen accepts a position in the Serious Crime Unit to enable his family to spend more time together, and to give himself less serious crimes to solve. However, the crimes committed in the idyllic border region have a greater personal impact than anything he has encountered before. Threats soon turn up on Kari's doorstep. The nightmare continues in the 2nd season where the past haunts the characters.


The main roles are played by Ville Virtanen, Anu Sinisalo, Matleena Kuusniemi, Ilkka Villi, Kristiina Halttu, Mikko Leppilampi, Janne Virtanen and Laura Malmivaara. The series is produced by Matti Halonen of Fisher King.


Sorjonen is an internationally acclaimed Nordic noir series and the most internationally successful Finnish drama series. It won the Golden Venla award for the best drama series in 2016 and MipTV’s Drama Screening award in Cannes. Over one million Finns have watched its every episode.

Sorjonen or Bordertown has been available through Netflix in Great Britain, United States, Canada and Scandinavia since April 2017. It has also premiered in France, Germany and Spain to name a few. Federation Entertainment who markets the production tells that the series has been sold to 180 countries to this date.

New York Times lists Bordertown as one of the 11 Most Interesting Foreign Crime Series and The Daily Dot considers Sorjonen as one of last year’s best 15 drama series. Also BBC America includes it as one the greatest 10 crime series that cross borders.

“Bordertown is a sleek, stylish crime drama that contrasts the macabre with the intimate. Visually sumptuous, you won’t forget the Finnish landscape that cuts the usual crime drama shadows and arcing flashlight beams.” —David Wharton/The Daily Dot (US)

"We’ve been waiting for a powerful, intense foreign TV series to arrive this year. There have been several good ones, but nothing has really made us sit up and take notice, driven us to binge…until now. The Bordertown TV series is a beautifully filmed thriller, clean and modern, with unsettling cases involving abduction, murder, and more. Nordic noir fans will be hooked instantly." - NetflixTVShowsReview (US)

"Finland has produced a crime show that can stand alongside Borgen or The Bridge" –EP/The Telegraph (UK)