Touring in Finland

[Stuart]

l've been thinking about touring in Finland 2006.
l would probably use YH's and campsites (wild or official) and would prefer to travel to Finland by sea. l live in north east scotland.
Has anyone toured there and can they offer any advice?

[Andy Tallis]

I rode from Turku to Raudanjoki (50m North of Rovanemi) last late April/early May using Youth Hostels and camping. I was trying to go to North Cape but had to alter my strategy and go south to Bodens and head up through Sweden to Norway because the weather was so bad.
I don't think it's realistic to tour using only Youth Hostels. There can be large distances between them and they are quite expensive. Campsites in Scandinavia generally have kitchens anyway which is very useful.
The terrain was relatively flat and there is plenty of daylight in spring/summer. I was unlucky with the weather though - dry but freezing at night (OK) till Rovanemi where I had blizzards and got freezing. That was an exceptionally bad spring though. I've heard that the mosquitoes are bad in summer too.
The roads were generally OK and not too busy though I didn't like the cycle tracks alongside them (just used the road most of the time.) Smaller roads could be unsurfaced though.
English was almost always spoken.
The maps I got were great, cheap and double sided (fantastic - halves the weight.)

Hope this helps.
Will try to answer any other questions if you like.

P.s. I got a ferry from Stockholm to Turku as I was on a front door to front door tour so I'm afraid I can't help a lot with getting there unless you want to ride across Sweden too. Turku seemed a good place to arrive though - not too big and relatively easy to get out of.

Information on youth hostels can be accessed via the HI website - I got a leaflet sent through the post.

[Jon H]

Toured in Finland back in 2000, had a great time, Lapland and the Finnish lake district are well worth exploring, but you do need to like trees, lakes and long roads. Camping isn't such a problem as there are a good spread of sites about and where there aren't there are recognised bivi spots where you can camp wild. In summer we didn't have too much problem with mossies. Take advantage of the 'Finnrail' pass where you can travel anywhere you like in Finland on 3 separate days for £50, great value.
You can find more info. on Finland on our site www.cycletourer.co.uk/cycletouring/finland.shtml

[Helen]

Went this year for 2 weeks in June. Object: Arctic Circle, midnight sun and Helsinki. Flew Manchester-Helsinki via Amsterdam with KLM for £150. First time we'd taken camping stuff with bikes. Got 3 days-in-a-month rail pass about £80 now (in summer same thing is slightly cheaper and called "Holiday Pass". Got train to Rovaniemi. V comfortable. Enjoyed wild camping/campsites and Helsinki Olympic Stadium YH. Managed to get washed at petrol stations and lakeside picnic sites. Campsites usually have kitchens. Then got train SE from lovely Oulu to do part of Great Lakes route (thanks to seeing it on cycletourer website, which I like very much). Third train back to Helsinki, then nipped E along coast to pretty Porvoo and back - King's Road.
Would love to go back and do coast ride up to Oulu. Finland v cycle friendly. Excellent cycle paths. Survived horrendous mozzies with Jungle Formula or citronella repel. Head net a lifesaver!
Camping wild: we rode till quite late, as it was light, then nipped off road to find a clearing. Glad I had a companion, though, as some strange characters - lots of alcoholism and depression around.
Will do write-up for HQ as soon as poss.
Might be able to post you some info.