Backpackers
Guide to Lapland aka budget travelling in Finnish Lapland
If
you're not willing to read all story, go to the end, there's some
tips for travelling in Lapland.
Links
to sites are highlighted in story.
Our
goal was to realise our honeymoon which we have been planning for 6
years. Because neither of us were willing to go to tourist places in
sunny beaches we decided to head to north instead. So this is a story
of two nearly first timers (both have been in Lapland as kids) in the
Finnish Lapland. And maybe first but certainly not the last time in
Lapland.
20.9.2015
Akaa-Länkipohja
Morning
was sunny and our travel fever didn't give us peace so we packed up
and started our car and headed out to Länkipohja.
First
day leg was just over 100 km so we drove peacefully by little roads
through Valkeakoski and Kangasala to
Eräjärvi-Sahalahti-Kuhmalahti-Västilä route to Länkipohja.
We
mostly spent our day at my mother-in-laws place, just briefly visited
to The Memorial of Battle of Länkipohja.
Relaxing
in the sauna and straight to bed. Our real journey would begin in the
morning.
21.9.2015
Länkipohja-Kuopio-Kajaani-Ranua
We
took off from Länkipohja around 7 am and headed to north. Weather
was quite foggy.
We
was suppose to drive from Jyväskylä through Kuopio to Kajaani and
from there to Puolanka and still upwards all the way to Ranua where
we would spend our next night. Lenght of stage was about 670 km and
luckily no rush at all.
First
stop was in Jari-Pekkas Neste in Hankasalmi where we had really nice
breakfast buffet. Price was quite cheap, 7,90 euros and very wide
selection: Bread, toppings, vegies and bacon, little sausages and
scrambled eggs. This would keep us going for another few hundred
kilometers.
Fog
did slowly diseppear little before Kuopio and when we stoppd to buy
some snacks for cardrive at Marjahaka ABC in Iisalmi sun was shining
already. Little bit forward and we were at our first point of
attraction Ruins of Castle Kajaani. Unfortunately the house thats
yard was suppose to be parking lot for tourists, was under
construction so we settled to take pictures from a distance at nearby
bridge.
 |
| The Ruins of Castle Kajaani |
Back
to car and coordinates to Hepoköngäs at Puolanka in our navigator
and we were off from Kajaani. We drove through Paltamo and there we
spotted quite phenomenal view to Lake Oulu.
Road
got narrower but it was still stated as highway to Puolanka. Change
in view was quite obvious alread, we were far away from home.
In
Puolanka there is highes freely flowing waterfall in Finland, 24
meters high Hepoköngäs. It's about 10 km from main road and few
hundred meters walk from parking lot. It totally was worth it. We was
only at top of fall, but if you are up for little hike there was
about 2,5 km long nature route around Hepoköngäs. We didn't take
the hike, cause it was just like pit stop for us. We still got some
amazing pictures and video from it.
Few
hundred kilometers forward through Pudasjärvi and we were at our
next night stand, Holiday Village Gulo Gulo in Ranua Zoo. Place
itself is new and therefor tidy and clean. Although our cabin was
chilly and even rising the temperature from thermostates didn't help.
And worst of all was zoos restaurant, Polar Bear Restaurant. We
headed there for dinner about 2 hours before closing time. There were
no customers at all only one waiter and he had personal call in his
cellphone right when we got in. His decision was to go out back and
continue that call for several minutes, my husband went to wash his
hands and the time he get back, waiter was still in the back. So we
left and got a nice burger meals from local kebab-grill. Not quite
the gourmet I was waiting for, but better than serveless restaurant.
22.9.2015
Ranua-Rovaniemi-Äkäslompolo
We
had paid already for breakfast with accomodation where we headed
right after it started at 8 am. It was rich and tasty but maybe
little bit over priced, 13 euros / person.
Ranua
Zoo on the other hand gets our complimestn at any time. Zoo opens at
10 am and we was told by the night before that if we desired to go
there a bit earlier, it would be possible. After breakfast we decided
to check if reception was open already, it was informed to be open at
10 am also, but fortunately it was open already. We check-out from
our cabin and receptionist called to Zoo ticket sales and tehy let us
in almost one hour before opening time.
Whole
route is about 2,5 km and it's covered with wooden decks so you don't
have to worry about getting your shoes muddy or anything. Altho decks
can be slippery when leaves fall from trees above so there needs to
be little bt careful. It rained a bit all the time so we were more
than pleased about decking. Zoo was just as nice as I remembered and
ticket prices aren't too high considering the experience you get from
it.
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| Sleeping otters |
 |
| Couple of polarbears |
 |
| Brown bear |
 |
| Reindeers |
It
took about hour and a half to tour the zoo and we really did spent
some time by each animal corral and it really paid off. Cause of the
rain most of the animals were pretty good sheltered themselvels in
the bushes etc. Now we saw even the most timid ones while we had the
time to wait and hang out a bit by their corral.
From
Ranua we kept going towards north and Rovaniemi. By the read we
spotted a memorial of the Laplands War where we decided to stop. My
husband took some pictures from the memorial and I ate some really
good blueberrys straight from the ground.
In
Rovaniemi it was pouring rain so it was nice to know that next stop
was indoors. Arktikum is a science centre of arctic nature and also a
museum of living in Lapland. We visited in basic exhibitions which
are Arctic Centre's Arctis in Change and Provincial Museum of
Lapland's Northern Ways.
Basic
ticket is 12 euros and if you are unemployeed you get your ticket in
8 euros.
Arktikum
has won 2015 Tripadvisors Certificate of Excellence and 2015
Travelers' Choice awards. And I don't wonder why, we felt so welcomed
there and employees share tips from museum itself and other places we
should go in our visit in Lapland. Some of them were related out next
stop Äkäslompolo so they were very helpful.
 |
| Entrance to Arktikum |
 |
| The River Ounasjoki and Arktikum from the outside |
At
this point we were a bit hungry already so we decided to go to Shell
of Arctic Circle which has gotten lots of gratitude from its sautéed
reindeer. And yes, it was worth it. Serving included salad buffet,
water or kvass(home made non-alcohol beer) for drink and coffee as
dessert. Price was only 16,90 / serving so price and quality A+.
And
now towards our final destination Äkäslompolo. Between Kittilä and
Ylläsjärvi there was emergency landing road for planes in our
route.
 |
| Enough straight road for planes to land |
Our
next bed located in 7 Fells Hostel which is right outside of centre
of Äkäslompolo and has got lots of gratitude from customers after
establishing in 2014. Hostel have just been awarded by
hostelsgeeks.com -site as 5 star hostel. It's owned by former
backpacker and its athmosphere is very relaxed and pricing goes along
that backpacker ideal. We had booked a studio which has own toilet,
shower and little kitchenette.
 |
| View from our window in 7 Fells Hostel |
In main building of hostel there is
bigger kitchen where customers are also allowed to cook for their own
meal. There was also a nice public lounge aside of reception where we
spent most of our time. Not because room would have been bad but
because of socialising with other customers and employees. We highly
recommend 7 Fells to all who wish a bit more relaxed athmosphere than
in hotels or less isolated than in cabins. People are friedly and you
get free coffee or tea while hanging out in lounge and good tips to
go see in surroundings. One good tip was Restaurant Rouhe (Restaurant
Groats in eng) in Äkäslompolo where we headed in our first night.
We got first tip about this place from employee in Arktikum and
another in 7 Fells so we decided to go check it out. In 2013
established restaurant didn't look like much from the outside but the
inside, oh wow!
 |
| Huge fireplace in Rouhe |
My
husband took grilled beef tenderloin and I took beef entrecote. We both like our
beef medium and there were no doubt that they were perfect. Price
level was quite normal comparing other classy restaurants in Finland,
around 25 euros / serving. I took blueberry-whitechocolat baked ice
cream as dessert and it really completed the menu we took. Service was
really good, both two waitresses that served us were polite and
friendly and made us feel like they really cared about our needs
while dining. Unconditional recommendations for Rouhe. And by
mistake, we did enjoy our evening so much that we even forgot to take
pictures of our servings.
After
dinner we continued pleasant night by hanging out with hostels
employees at the lounge and that's the thing that brings us back to
Äkäslompolo and 7 Fells Hostel, the people in Lapland. There wasn't
a single place in Lapland in our trip where we wouldn't felt welcomed
and where people wouldn't have been nice and friendly to us.
23.9.2015
Äkäslompolo-Ylläs-Kittilä-Äkäslompolo
Morning
was rainy and we decided to get some breakfast at Cafe & BarRouta (Cafe&Bar Ground Frost in eng) in Jounin Kauppa (Jouni's
Shop in eng). Jounin Kauppa is kind of an phenomenon in Finland. It's
shopkeeper Sampo Kaulanen is really a personality and really active
in social media like Facebook and Instagram. We bought ourselves
Jounin kauppa's hoodies as souvenirs and drank cups of coffee and ate
a pair of really delicious rolled buns stuffed with ham and cheese in
Routa. We took just one coffee each but there it's okay to refill
your cup with no extra cost. Lots of locals was there as well for
morning coffee and that's always a good sign. Entrepreneur of the
Routa has also been voted as happiest entrepreneur of Finland in
2015.
Next
place of interest was the peak of the Ylläs fell and we took a
gondola ride there. Little bit of expensive, 13 euros / adult for
both up and down ride.
 |
| Gondola from the bottom of the fell |
But up there it's a whole different world.
Cause it was rainy morning peak was inside a raincloud and because of
that view were rubbish.
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| "Awesome" view from the peak of Ylläs |
So take a hint and go there as a sunny day or
atleast later on the day not at morning. Gondola ride was exciting as
I suffer quite bad fear of hights but I survived. It was really windy
up there so we headed straight to Restaurant Ylläskammi 718. Really
intimate little cabin at the top of the fell and it has unbelievably
good donuts. Price for cup of coffee was quite high, 2,70 euros / cup
but donut is affordable 2,80 euros each. But I guess you pay a bit
for experience also in the price of coffee cup. Restaurant is the
highest located restaurant in Finland.
 |
| Blogger enjoying her cup of coffee and delicious donut |
Ride
down in gondola was really nice, I wasn't afraid at all and after
exiting from the cloud view was unbelievable.
After
Ylläs we wanted to go see fell called Levi also but because of the
clouds we decided to take some pictures from the bottom of the fell
and not pay another ticket for gondol that would just take us in the
middle of the rain cloud again. But there is a possibility to go to
peak of Levi also by gondola and it costs about the same as in Ylläs.
 |
| The Levi fell |
As
the rain had stopped we took a bit of time on the way back to
Äkäslompolo and took some pictures at Laplands beautiful nature and
the view from Sightseeing road of Ylläs which goes along the side of
the Ylläs fell from Ylläsjärvi to Äkäslompolo.
 |
| Autumn colors called ruska |
 |
| View from Sightseeing road of Ylläs |
Back
in Äkäslompolo we went for lunch at the Restaurant Toweri which is
located in the old shopping centre of Jounin Kauppa. Because we were
there a little early, restaurant opens at 1 pm we took a tour in the
shopping centre where is few souvenir shops and gift shops.
At
the restaurant we took garlic bread as starter and Double Tower
Burger as main course. I took batate chips with my hamburger and my
husband took normas chips. Both were really pleased about our dishes.
Burger was big and chips crispy and both really tasty. Price was
quite cheap as restaurant serving, 15,50 euros / serving and starter
was 2 euros / serving. Service was again really good and waitress who
served us was friendly and polite and made us want to come there
again.
After
lunch we headed back to hostel and changed our hiking gear for
something more comfortable and went to lounge for coffee and hanged
out there again with employees and couple of other guests. At some
point hostel hostess came back from her relaxation trip and movie
night begun. At this summer there has been every wednesday a
documentary movie night in 7 Fells Hostel that we now had a change to
be part of. That kind of communality that you can't get part of in
hotels or cabins. And yet if you don't want to take part of it, you
have a chance to go to your own room and relax there.
We
got sleepy at the middle of the movie and so we said goodbyes to
everyone and went to our own room and started to get ready for next
days long ride to Kalajoki.
24.9.2015
Äkäslompolo-Kalajoki
At
the morning we packed our things and started our journey back to
south. About 500 km ahead of us and destination Kalajoen Hiekkasärkät
sand dunes and hostel Tapion Tupa there.
We
took brakes time to time to took some photos at The River
Tornio-Muoniojoki.
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| The mighty river of Tornio-Muoniojoki or as locals say "Väylä" (eng. The Path) |
For
breakfast we stopped at Pörröporo (Fluffy reindeer in eng) in
Juoksenki and we both ate Reindeer panini which was really delicious.
Pörröporo also sells souvenirs and meat products. After breakfast
we stopped few kilometers later in Arctic Circle cause we missed
mandatory photos while we were at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi.
And
next stop Kukkolankoski rapid where we also took some pictures at the
river.
Our
trip continued quite cosy all the way to Oulu but after that traffic
went mental. Apparently people in Finlands western coast have their
own rules in traffic and others need to adapt. Speed limit tells the
minimum speed and no passing sings were like request to take over the
one in front of you. Of course it's not suppose to be like that but
after being almost 1500 km in a car and only near calls took place in
the last few hundred kilometers in the coast it got quite scaring. So
if you are not actually going to western coast I recommend to take
some other route to Lapland and back.
Afternoon
we got to our last accommodation in Kalajoki Sand dunes, hostel
called Tapion Tupa which is old rustic place with affordable rooms
with breakfast. Unfortunately this place won't take much credit from
us and only because the service we got there. Employees weren't that
friendly and you needed to wait for service every time you needed it.
Room itself was little but cosy and it had its own bathroom. Although
toilet was at the back in the bathroom, shower in the middle and sink
by the door so you don't want to take a shower until last thing at
night without getting your feet wet.
Because
neither of us had never been in Kalajoki before we looked some tips
for dinner at the Tripadvisor. And the place with best reviews was
Irish pub Sandy Kelt. It's located at the southern end of the dunes
as our accomodation was in the northern end but it gave us
opportunity to go by the dunes and took some incredible pictures from
there.
The
pub itself looked like any other modern house at the outside but the
interior was pretty authentic Irish pub. Old Irish songs were played
at the background for the athmosphere and decorations made the place
look just like you have walked in actual Irish pub.
We
both had Black Angus steak and there were couple of problems. As I
told earlier we both like our beef medium, well here the medium was
nearly well done. Luckily it didn't affect much in the taste. And the
sides were suppose to be roasted summer vegies but it contained only
broccoli, cauliflower and springonions and atleast I think there are
much more to offer in Finnish nature as summer vegies. For me it
wasn't really that bad but my husband don't eat cauliflower so he
didn't have much to eat besides steak and potatoes.
 |
| Black Angus steak |
Service
was really good and made us feel like we were taking cared of by our
waitress. Even the change of shifts didn't affect it.
Dessert
list was unfortunately quite narrow to compare the menu whole but we
still manage to find really delicious Baileys cheesecake in it and it
really made the dinner.
 |
| Baileys cheesecake |
Rest
of the night we spent in our own room cause at this point we seemed
to be only guests at this hostel.
25.9.2015
Kalajoki-Virrat-Akaa
In
the morning we quickly packed our things and headed out to breakfast
which included in the roomprice. It was real disappointment. First it
was served late, it supposed to start at 7.30 am but we needed to
wait like 10 minutes to get anything. And the assortiment was truly
lousy. Yes it didn't cost any extra but still I would have been much
happier to pay like 60 euros for room and not get any breakfast at
all that expect something and not get it. There were porridge, bread
and toppings, yoghurt, orange juice and coffee and tea. Nothing warm
exept the porridge. At least not at the start. Service in the place
was also so unfriendly that we don't recommend Tapion Tupa to anyone.
After
leaving Kalajoki we basicly drove straight to home because we missed
our five cats who waited at home so much in this point.
General
tips for backpacking and traveling in Finnish Lapland:
-
Ranua Zoo is great place to go check out northern animals in quite
natural habitant but we suggest you go and accomodate and eat
somewhere else
-
Arktikum in Rovaniemi is a place to go if you don't know anything
about northern lifestyle and arctic nature
-
If you're going near Ylläs accommodate in 7 Fells Hostel in
Äkäslompolo, affordable and friendly place with few different types
of rooms and privacy, you are not going to regret it!
-
Restaurant Rouhe, even if you are in a budget trip, take one night
and eat like kings in this place
-
Ylläs1 -gondola, extreme type of traveling to the peak of Ylläs
fell and Restaurant Ylläskammi 718 at the peak
-
take some time and ask for good hiking or skiing routes example from
7 Fells reception or visit Nature Centre Kellokas in Äkäslompolo
because there are miles and miles of nice routes to explore in
surroundings of Ylläs
Thanks
for taking the time to read our travel story, hope it helps many
people with their trip here in Finland
Please
leave a comment, so we know you have visited in our blog!
