The purpose of the thesis was to search for walking routes in the centre and on the west side of Hämeenlinna. The aim was to find different kinds of routes giving varying experiences and also to examine what kind of information would encourage people to start exercising and using these routes. The thesis was commissioned by the city of Hämeenlinna.

The theoretical frame of reference brought out the importance of exercise for human's well being and introduced the basic rules of an exercise programme for a beginner. The theory part also examined how the natural environment and the constructed environment create cosiness in the city area. The meaning of the theory was to study how a pedestrian forms an experience of the environment. The first working method was to locate suitable routes from the city structure by using a map, personal knowledge and by making numerous visits on the field. Then a test group walked through all the routes and measured time, calories and the average heart rate. The third research method was an inquiry on walking exercise. This was replied by 28 residents of Torikatu 24 in the autumn of 2014.

According to the results 83 percent of women and 50 percent of men would start walking exercise, if they had a map of the routes nearby. Men were motivated most by the information of the destinations, women were more interested in the length of the route, the time spent and the calories consumed. Almost all felt that forests and parks remove stress, but about half of the repliers felt the same way also about constructed city locations. As a conclusion to the thesis a series of maps was produced for Hämeenlinna calorie park. The main map gives an overall picture on the whole net of routes, other maps point out places and views to experience. Some suggestions were given to make improvements along the routes and also an effective launching of the calorie park was emphasized. In the future the routes of the calorie park could be extended to the east side of the city.