Welcome to our posts about Finland – that so-called cold country (it’s actually warm in summer) in the north of Europe. It’s the home of Santa Claus, the sauna, white summer nights, and a lot of dedicated ice-hockey fans.
Join us while we discover what Finland has to offer – from delicious food to funny incidents. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you have any questions or thoughts!
Visited: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
We appreciate your comments and thoughts about Finland and our traveling.
Enjoy our stories from Finland!
Raatteen Portti lies to the east of Suomussalmi in Eastern Finland. It is the gateway to Raatteentie, the Raate Road. The road played an important role for Finland during the Winter War. It was from here that the Soviets tried to split Finland in half. Today the road is a museum road and Raatteen Portti…
Suomussalmi is a locality as well as municipality in northern Finland, in the region of Kainuu. The main settlement in the municipality shares its name, but is also known by its former name Ämmänsaari. The population of around 7.000 in the municipality is considered to be unilingually Finnish-speaking. This is a border region, with the border…
The Purasjoki Frontline lies along the Raatteentie, the Raate Road, and it played an important role during the Winter War. Purasjoki is the river here, with trenches and other fortifications. These trenches along the Raatteentie lie just to the east of Suomussalmi and not many kilometers from the current border between Finland and Russia. A…
Pelkosenniemi, or Pelkosenniemen Kirkonkylä as it is also known, is a village in Northern Finland, in the province of Finnish Lapland. It is the seat of the local municipality that shares its name. The municipality has a population of around 950 inhabitants, out of whom around 300 lives in the urban area of Pelkosenniemi Church…
Raate is a small border settlement in Eastern Finland, right at the border with Russia. It lies along the historical road Raatteentie, or Raate Road, to the east of Suomussalmi. The area was made famous for the Battle of Raate Road during the Winter War. There is still a border guard station here and the…
Looking for something unusual? Looking for something bizarre? Well, that is something you might find just north of Suomussalmi. Hiljainen Kansa is an art exhibition outdoors. You can consider it one single art installation. Translated this is The Silent People and it consists of hundreds of peat-headed figurines, each with their own clothes. Their creator…
Sodankylä, or Sodankylän kirkonkylä, is the central village of the Sodankylä Municipality within Finnish Lapland. Around 4.800 people live in this small urban area in northern Finland. This is the church village of the former parish, which is the actual translation of “kirkonkylä”. The center of the village lies between the rivers Kitinen and Jeesiöjoki….
Looking for gold? You are not alone, especially if you visit Tankavaara. This is a village in northern Finland, within the Sodankylä Municipality of Finnish Lapland. This is known as the “Gold Village”, or Tankavaaran Kultakylä in Finnish, and is today a tourist attraction. Who knows, maybe you will find gold and maybe you will…
Saariselkä is a resort village in northern Finland, in the region of Lapland. Its main attraction is the ski center along the slopes of the two nearby mountains of Kaunispää and Iisakkipää. The village is home to several hotels and separate lodges. Reindeer walks the streets and tourists come for either skiing or summer activities…
Kuusamo is a town in northern Finland, in the eastern part of the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. To its north lies Finnish Lapland while not far to the east is the border with Russia. The town is one of Finland’s large tourist hubs and the surrounding area includes places such as Ruka, one of the…
Kaunispää is a mountain just to the north of Saariselkä in Finnish Lapland. This is the reindeer country of northern Finland, with the possibility to see reindeer herds grazing. The mountain itself reaches an altitude of 438 meters and offers a great view of the surrounding area. The possibility to see unobstructed for kilometers resulted…
Hyrynsalmi is a municipality and locality in the Kainuu Region in Northern Finland. It is an unilingual municipality with Finnish as its main language. The urban settlement of around 1200 inhabitants lies along the southern shores of the lake Hyrynjärvi, with the smaller lake Salmijarvi just to the east. Hyrynsalmi is probably best known for…