The New Pohjola Route
Ad - Visit Oulu & Pohjola Route
Summer has been quite amazing and warm this year! We’ve had almost tropical temperatures. With that in mind, we decided to pack our summer clothes, swimsuits and hiking gear and head north once again. Oulu region had just opened its new Pohjola Route and we wanted to see what it was about. We knew that the area has beautiful landscape and many hidden gems, so it was time to see them for ourselves!
We started our trip from Ii and we had a sweet little walk around Hiastinhaara after our arrival. The river and beach by the parking lot was so welcoming, but we had to keep going after the walk towards our next destination, a place that I had passed by so many times, without stopping. Finally, I was able to go and see the rapids of Koitelinkoski! As I expected, they were marvelous! It was surely a nice day and we finished it with a little biking trip around Oulu.
After a relaxing morning and a nice visit to Oulu Botanical Garden, we headed to catch our ferry to Hailuoto!
It was another amazing place I had been wanting to visit for so long - even just the ferry ride was an experience itself. We made it straight to Marjaniemi, where the beautiful sandy beach was waiting for us in a warm sunny day. We picked up our picnic basket and headed to the beach.
Unfortunately we couldn’t stay in Hailuoto for the night as it was time to hit the road again. It was a hot day, so a stop in Kempele for some ice cream was very welcome and a brief visit to the famous Liminka Birdwatching Tower was really nice. It was getting late and “the Captain’s Sauna” was heated just for us in a gorgeous historical neighborhood in Raahe, so there was no time to spare.
The next day was once again a beautiful one, but very windy. Our stop in the marvelous sandy beaches of Kalajoki had to cut short and skip swimming this time. Luckily, we had picked up a kite on the way down, so it became our main activity there and a fun way to go to enjoy the beach for a little while.
Rokua and Syöte were calling, so we had to go! We were kind of excited to drive inland and see some forests and fells. First stop was Rokua Geopark. At our arrival, the weather was beautiful, so we decided to go and visit Pookivaara and the fire watch tower. The sunset turned out to be magical, so it was definitely worth it!
Last but not least was Syöte area, which is less known for most people from the south. It is definitely a nice destination in summer and winter. The experience we had here and our stay in the Hotel Iso-Syöte definitely have definitely set this place on the map for me!
To summarise, it was an incredible fun trip with several places worth visiting. Hopefully, you’ll find some nice tips to go and visit the new #pohjolanrengastie!
Road trip to Norway - #Finntothewild
I had an empty slot in my calendar and I gave a call to my friend Konsta and asked him to join me on a road trip to Western Norway. Luckily he was also able to make it and we were set.
We started by taking the ferry from Turku to Stockholm. We spent the first night at our friends place in Stockholm and headed to Hamar the next day. In Hamar we were just in time to see the May 17th celebration which is the Norwegian Constitution Day. We watched the beautiful parade there and headed Northwest after the celebration.
It was time for the actual camping trip from there on. We had to turn around on the first day due to the amount of new snow on a mountain pass. It was just too much for our summer tires. We made it near Oppdal and set up our tent right next to a river, which was great! It's actually very easy to find good camping spots in Norway and they usually come with a pretty nice view!
The towns we visited were, Sunndalsøra, Åndalsnes, Ålesund, Geiranger, Stryn, Hemsedahl, Oslo and all the smaller towns in between. The drive is very nice and the road goes mostly along the fjords or over the mountains, which I like a lot. Hours pass when you just enjoy the views.
Driving in Norway isn't free. Not only the gas price is pretty high, there is tolls and ferries along the way. We had to pay around 60€ for the tolls and 25€ for two ferries. It's definitely not a big amount, but good to remember when you are planning a road trip to Norway.
Gear:
We got some awesome gear to test out from a Finnish outdoor brand Halti.
Jacket and pants: We picked up some super lightweight pack-away jackets and pants named Pisara. They were perfect to the changing weather conditions we experienced. They kept us dry and protected from the rain and wind for the whole trip! Click here for more details.
Tent: We've actually broken a tent in the wind traveling in Norway, so we were happy to have a nice tunnel tent XPD Finland 3 from Halti with us. It is easy to setup and can withstand the weather conditions easily. I don't want to give it back to them anymore!
Sleeping bags and mattresses: We were pretty much Halti from head to toe. We had their sleeping bags and mattresses and I can say that good gear makes such a difference! Having lightweight and high quality gear will keep you smiling on your trips!
See some of the photos from our trip below!
- Daniel
Colours of Lapland
We have visited Lapland multiple times in the winter and spring, but never have we seen it without snow. This year we wanted to make sure that we would head up there and see the nature in all the beautiful Autumn colours called "ruska" in Finnish. We set the time and Visit Finland was kind enough to help us make the trip happen.
We packed the car and headed towards the North of Finland. Whole drive was a beautiful trip through the roads along the autumn coloured forests. We arrived to our destination Äkäslompolo in Ylläs when it was already dark. Even on our first night we were able to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. We were excited for the next few days that we were going to spend there.
The best time to see the Autumn colours in Lapland is usually the two middle weeks of September. If you want to catch the Northern Lights, you should head to Lapland in the beginning of Fall or in the beginning of Spring.
Here are some photos and a video of our hiking and camping around the Ylläs area. Enjoy!
