Finland: Recommendations for Pyhatunturi area and Finland in general
 

Hi,
My wife and myself will have a furnished cabin in the Pyhatunturi area for
a week at the end of July.

As it's our first Finland tour, we appreciate answers to:

a. Recommendations for interneraries and suggested
attractions (we'll have a car).

b. Since we'll be flying in to Helsinki, I'd also appreciate
recommendations how many days to spend in Helsinki, any attractions on our
way (by car) to the cabin. What's the length of the drive? Would it be
better to take a train or bus to ?? and rent there a car?

c. What's the weather in that region during the end of July?

d. Are there any (English language) sites where we can find zimmers, B&B,
barn or similar accomodations?

Thnaks a lot in advance !

M. Badt

"Michael Badt" kirjoitti
...
Hi,
My wife and myself will have a furnished cabin in the Pyhatunturi area for
a week at the end of July.

As it's our first Finland tour, we appreciate answers to:

a. Recommendations for interneraries and suggested
attractions (we'll have a car).

b. Since we'll be flying in to Helsinki, I'd also appreciate
recommendations how many days to spend in Helsinki, any attractions on our
way (by car) to the cabin. What's the length of the drive? Would it be
better to take a train or bus to ?? and rent there a car?

About 970 km.
Train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi takes about 10 hrs (night train 12-13 hrs)
and cost about 70 EUR/person one way (90-100 EUR in 2-berth cabin). From
Rovaniemi to Pyhatunturi is about 150 km drive.
Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi starts from 123 EUR return.
Blue1 (owned by SAS) flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi starts from 59 EUR
one way.

c. What's the weather in that region during the end of July?

Anything from 0 to 30 C, from sunshine to snow, and lot of mosquitos.

Lauri

d. Are there any (English language) sites where we can find zimmers, B&B,
barn or similar accomodations?

Thnaks a lot in advance !

M. Badt

Michael Badt informed
rec.travel.europe with the following:
Hi,
My wife and myself will have a furnished cabin in the Pyhatunturi area for
a week at the end of July.

As it's our first Finland tour, we appreciate answers to:

a. Recommendations for interneraries and suggested
attractions (we'll have a car).

I'll skip this one as I haven't been thereabouts.

b. Since we'll be flying in to Helsinki, I'd also appreciate
recommendations how many days to spend in Helsinki,

That obviously depends on how long you can spend in Finland in total.

any attractions on our way (by car) to the cabin.

What sort of attractions you are interested? And this depends a bit on
what route you choose, but there sure is p1lenty of places between
Helsinki and Lapland.

What's the length of the drive?

Sigficant, the distance is over 900 km. Quick search with public
transportation route planner journey.fi¹ gives routes with travel
times starting from 15 hours.

Would it be better to take a train or bus to ?? and rent there a car?

Car certainly offers flexibility, but trains and busses may be somewhat
more relaxing way to travel. I would also include flying to Rovaniemi
into the travel method options, even if it isn't the cheapest one.

c. What's the weather in that region during the end of July?

Quite usual summer weather I suppose: possibly sunny and hot or wet
and cold or then something in between. Of course in the north the
temperatures are not as hot as in the south, but for example the
July weather statistics for Sodankylä² show avegerage min & max
temperatures 9.1 and 19.4.

d. Are there any (English language) sites where we can find zimmers, B&B,
barn or similar accomodations?

I don't know if there is a list, but the Finnish term for the farm
accomodation, "maatilamajoitus" might help you. Quite many Finnish
camping sites also offer cabins, which might be suitable option too.

² URL:http://www.fmi.fi/weather/climate_6.html
--
Heikki "Hezu" Kantola,
Lähettämällä mainoksia tai muuta asiatonta sähköpostia yllä olevaan
osoitteeseen sitoudut maksamaan oikolukupalvelusta EUR100 alkavalta
tunnilta.

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 21:19:12 +0300, Michael Badt
wrote:

Hi,
My wife and myself will have a furnished cabin in the Pyhatunturi area for
a week at the end of July.

Damn. Now I have to look up. Ah. found it.

As it's our first Finland tour, we appreciate answers to:

a. Recommendations for interneraries and suggested
attractions (we'll have a car).

It's a long trip. If you drive you'll want to take the direct
route through Lahti, Jyvaskyla, Oulu, Rovaniemi.

b. Since we'll be flying in to Helsinki, I'd also appreciate
recommendations how many days to spend in Helsinki,

Spend as much time as you can in Helsinki; it's one of the most
pleasant world cities around.

any attractions on our
way (by car) to the cabin. What's the length of the drive? Would it be
better to take a train or bus to ?? and rent there a car?

The distance from Helsinki is about 1000 km (about 600 miles).
There are no freeways and you will drive through the center of
most towns. Fortunately, the towns are few and far betweenaand
most are small. The road signs are in Finn, one of the more
unfathomable languages in Europe. While English is widely spoken
in Finland in general, the further you get from Helsinki or
cities like Oulu the fewer English-speakers you will run across.

The good news is ATMs are everywhere; look for the word "OTTO"

I would really suggest a train. There is service from Helsinki to
Rovaniemi (but you'll want to rent a car there). The night trains
are quite nice.

Day service, 07:04-16:53 with a change of trains in Oulu.
Helsinki-Oulu is an InterCity, which is quite nice. Second class
fare, adult is EUR 70.

There is a direct night train departing Helsinki at 19:20, arrive
Rovaniemi 07:51, a double sleeping compartment will cost you
about EUR 42 extra.

See www.vr.fi

c. What's the weather in that region during the end of July?

It's always cool in Lapland. We spent seventy days in Finland
last summer and it rained on sixty of them.

The worst part of the summer climate can be summed up in two
words: MOSQUITOS and MAKARRAS (kind of like American no-see-ums).

Take sleep masks: at the end of July the sun will set around
23:00 and rise about 04:00; it will never be dark.

d. Are there any (English language) sites where we can find zimmers, B&B,
barn or similar accomodations?


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Hatunen wrote:

The distance from Helsinki is about 1000 km (about 600 miles).
There are no freeways and you will drive through the center of
most towns. Fortunately, the towns are few and far betweenaand
most are small. The road signs are in Finn, one of the more
unfathomable languages in Europe. While English is widely spoken
in Finland in general, the further you get from Helsinki or
cities like Oulu the fewer English-speakers you will run across.



Allow me to plug the EXCELLENT Finnish Road Administration site (check out
the road webcams, you'll feel as if you are in Finland!):

www.tieh.fi/eindex.htm

"Finnra is responsible for Finland's public road network. Finnra´s mission
is to provide smooth, safe and environmentally friendly road connections. On
these pages you will find general facts about the Finnish road network,
information about road and weather conditions, transport permits as well as
research and development."

--
Best
Greg

Gregory Morrow wrote:
Hatunen wrote:


The distance from Helsinki is about 1000 km (about 600 miles).
There are no freeways and you will drive through the center of
most towns. Fortunately, the towns are few and far betweenaand
most are small. The road signs are in Finn, one of the more
unfathomable languages in Europe. While English is widely spoken
in Finland in general, the further you get from Helsinki or
cities like Oulu the fewer English-speakers you will run across.




Allow me to plug the EXCELLENT Finnish Road Administration site (check out
the road webcams, you'll feel as if you are in Finland!):

www.tieh.fi/eindex.htm

"Finnra is responsible for Finland's public road network. Finnra´s mission
is to provide smooth, safe and environmentally friendly road connections. On
these pages you will find general facts about the Finnish road network,
information about road and weather conditions, transport permits as well as
research and development."


Why not take a train one way and drive the other way. Overnight
train-car package between Helsinki and Kemijärvi costs some 200 - 300
euros one-way, and it includes transportation of car and a sleeper
compartment for three passengers. With fuel prices hovering around EUR
1.15 - 1.25 per litre it's a good deal not to speak of saved time and
personaö comfort.

http://www.vr.fi/heo/eng/hinnat/hinnat.htm click "car-carrier"

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On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 09:12:25 +0300, valtsu
wrote:

Gregory Morrow wrote:
Hatunen wrote:


The distance from Helsinki is about 1000 km (about 600 miles).
There are no freeways and you will drive through the center of
most towns. Fortunately, the towns are few and far betweenaand
most are small. The road signs are in Finn, one of the more
unfathomable languages in Europe. While English is widely spoken
in Finland in general, the further you get from Helsinki or
cities like Oulu the fewer English-speakers you will run across.

Allow me to plug the EXCELLENT Finnish Road Administration site (check out
the road webcams, you'll feel as if you are in Finland!):

www.tieh.fi/eindex.htm

"Finnra is responsible for Finland's public road network. Finnra´s mission
is to provide smooth, safe and environmentally friendly road connections. On
these pages you will find general facts about the Finnish road network,
information about road and weather conditions, transport permits as well as
research and development."

Why not take a train one way and drive the other way. Overnight
train-car package between Helsinki and Kemijärvi costs some 200 - 300
euros one-way, and it includes transportation of car and a sleeper
compartment for three passengers. With fuel prices hovering around EUR
1.15 - 1.25 per litre it's a good deal not to speak of saved time and
personaö comfort.

http://www.vr.fi/heo/eng/hinnat/hinnat.htm click "car-carrier"

I should have mentioned that myself. Load your car on at Helsinki
and get it back up north. But I think it makes even more sense to
rent the car in Rovaniemi. You could drive it back, but I don't
know what sort of drop off fee there might be for one-way usage.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *