Finland / Suomen tasavalta / Republiken Finland – Let’s explore here
Finland is a Scandinavian country in the North of Europe, consisting mainly of very large forests and lakes. There are about 180,000 lakes, most of which are in the Archipelago Sea, and a similar number of islands. The forests take up almost 80% of the land! The highest point is Halti fell in etc far north east of the country, on the border with Norway, at 4,344 ft (1,324 m) above sea level.
Only Iceland has a capital city more northerly than Finland’s capital, Helsinki. The population is about 5½ million, which means that you are often wondering where everyone is, as the roads and towns are so empty!
Finland has a very long, and at times, quite violent, history including periods of time when it was part of Sweden and part of Russia. Currently Finland is one of the fastest growing countries in terms of wealth, and everything is super expensive! In fact so far, it’s been the most expensive place we’ve been to!
Current travels
We’ve created a blog for our visit to Finland. You may find it helpful, and you may pick up some tips, or more likely mistakes not to make that we’ve made 😉
On our current road trip we travelled from the top of Norway, Norkapp, way inside the Arctic Circle, all the way down through the country via Vuostimo, then Kemi, Oulu, Pattijoki and Vaasa in the Gulf of Bothnia and finally to the capital, Helsinki, before moving on to Estonia.
This is a map of the route we took through Finland
Kilpisjärvi – Kaeresuvanto – Kivilompolo. Karigasniemi – Inari – Kemijärvi – Rovaniemi – Kemi – Oulu – Pattijoki – Vaasa – Helsinki
It’s a massive country and everyone we’ve met so far has been super friendly. There are definitely better places that others, as is the case with all countries. There seems to be quite a wealth disparity between the South and the North. Many of the towns around the Gulf have some lovely squares with café culture, whereas in the North, many of the towns appear to be quite old-school Eastern bloc! It’s as if some of the more Northerly places have been left to fall into ruin, or as if the monies haven’t got round to those areas for renovation yet!
Like Sweden, there’s an enormous amount of forest, and even more lakes! Thankfully though it doesn’t rain as much as Sweden! As it’s summer we also found that in the North particularly the flies and mosquitoes are really pretty aggressive, especially near to lakes. So whilst the lakes look enticing, as soon as you exit the car, from out of nowhere, you’re attacked! They bite like crazy and do not let go just by shaking a limb! Whenever we set up camp, the mesh windows really emphasised just how many were out there to get us – really shocking!
This trip definitely improved our knowledge of this Finland, and enabled us to meet some really interesting people. We’ve also created a blog which you may find insightful for your travels?! 🙂
Our best places in Finland
Vaasa
What a great City Vaasa is! Loads to do and see! Great nightlife! Great university! Lovely setting! Well worth a visit!
Helsinki
A beautiful capital city that’s just so easy to get around! Excellent metro system. Really friendly people! Masses to see and do – amazing!
Helsinki Metro
Getting around the city is relatively simple, as their metro system is really to navigate. The whole thing works on an honesty system, with occasional checks whilst on the trains. We saw no checks in the time we were there – although we did buy tickets. Tickets can be bought from the machines at the entrance to the stations, and the instructions are all in English.
What’s it like to drive in Finland?
Finland has some of the straightest roads in Europe – they can go on and on and on and on! Because of this and the fact that, like Sweden, they mainly travel though forests and beside lakes, some of them can be quite dull. An example of this Storfjord to Kilpisjärvi road from Northern Norway that runs along the Finnish / Swedish border. A better road to travel on from Norway to Finland is the Lakselv to Karasjok to Karigasniemi to Inari road, which has many more curves, more varied forest, hills and many great undulating roads.
We did find one particularly fantastic road which, if you’re interested in rally driving, you should take note of: Sodankylä to Vuostimo. Great road to take at speed – save for the occasional pothole!
As noted earlier, the country is pretty big and the population is relatively small, and as such there’s not a lot of people on the roads! As many of the roads are also so straight, it’s easy to overtake if necessary … makes a change from Norway with its millions of tourists!
Similarly to Estonia, there also seems to be a large contingent of car enthusiasts who’ve renovated older American cars – nice!
We also found that many people are quite happy to sit six feet behind you for hundreds of miles without overtaking, which is plain weird!
We’ve also created a dedicated page to driving abroad, which you might find helpful 🙂
What currency do they use in Finland?
In Finland they use the Euro. The use of credit / debit cards is now widespread. Traveller’s cheques are accepted. There are lots of ATMs.
You should make yourself aware of the amount that your bank charges you for using credit and debit cards abroad. Often credit cards are cheaper for purchasing items directly, and for withdrawing cash from ATMs.
What language do they speak in Finland?
They speak Finnish in Finland. Swedish and Russian are also spoken, although as minority languages. In the capital, English is also spoken by the younger generations.
In our experience, many speak English everywhere we’ve been. As a matter of fact, I was in a provincial little shop buying some food, and the elderly lady spoke to me in Finnish – I looked blankly for like a second, and she said, ‘you know, you can just ask for me to say it in English! – Do you want the receipt!’ Lol, that told me! 🙂
What time zone is Finland in?
Remember, when you’re planning your next trip to take a look at what time zone it’s in.
Do I need a visa to visit Finland?
We’ve created a dedicated, more comprehensive page on visas, which you should find helpful. Check it out!
Is wild camping legal in Finland?
Yes, wild camping is fine in Finland.
Is it safe to drink water in Finland?
Yes, it is safe to drink tap water in Finland. Bottled water is also readily available across the country.
If you’ve got some awesome pictures, or some useful info that you’d like to share, let us know!
And don’t forget to check out all the other pictures!