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?


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