Kauniainen is Finland's smallest municipality, only 6km2 (2,3mi2) in diameter, located in the middle of another municipality, Espoo. It has a lovely small lake area that is perfectly suitable for a lazy stroll to enjoy the absolutely huge spruce trees and leafy green oak trees. The area is only about 15km from the centre of Helsinki and easily accessible by car or by public transport, so a perfect place for a quick relaxing visit.
My friend and I were in the area when we, quite literally,...
Lake Pakasaivo located in Muonio, Lapland, is also known as the Hell of Lapland. When we saw a little star on the map with a text "Hell of Lapland", we knew we have to go and check it out! The last 10km before reaching the area really challenged us because the tiny dirt road is not necessarily the most comfortable to drive on. But on the positive side: we did see reindeer in the forests while driving slowly towards the area! Pakasaivo is approximately 60 metres deep, second...
Early and misty Sunday morning, the skies were covered in clouds and heavy fog was all you can see.
We jumped into the car and started driving into the woods. As you can expect during Lokakuu, which literally means Mud-moon, which is the Finnish name for October - the road was muddy and it got even worse as we made our way to the heart of the forest.
We finally arrived in Vasakaira, the smoke from the fireplace, mixed with the smell of fresh air welcomed us as we parked just...
If you happen to be driving by Tepasto village in north of Kittilä, have a little walk at Perhejärvi nature trail. There is a nice few kilometers walk to Kaakkurilampi (kaakkuri=red-throated diver, lampi=pond) and a nearby fire place. You might also encounter some gnomes in this trail!
I went to Tepasto when it had already been snowing a little, but it was still possible to walk in the forest. The moose hunting was about to start soon, so this was the perfect moment to head to the...
We were on a roadtrip from Jyväskylä all the way to Enontekiö in north western Lapland, and we wanted to visit Hepoköngäs along the way. We knew the largest free-falling waterfalls in Finland were somewhere in the Kainuu region just above the midriff of Finland so we took out an old-fashioned map and checked out that it was located in Puolanka, about 100km above the town of Kajaani. Yes, it was sort of along our route (it wasn't really… the detour added several hours to our travel...
Kanavuori, Chicken Mountain, is a hill and nature trail located in Jyväskylä, Central Finland, and in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. So it is not a mountain, let's be clear on that. The hill may not sound high at 197 meters, but it totally surprised us with its steepness.
Kanavuori is located in Vaajakoski about 9 km from the Jyväskylä city centre, just off from a a Finnish national road number 4. You can reach it by bus or by bike from Jyväskylä centre. Bus lines 1, 3...
Metsäkoivula trail is an easy day trip from Helsinki as it is located in a small town called Somero, about 100 kilometers from the capital area. Nearby are the national parks of Liesjärvi and Torronsuo, but Metsäkoivula has some unique characteristics that make this small trail worth a visit. Not only this trail is located in my hometown but there is a beautiful view to a small forest lake that occasionally attracts swans, a Moonshiners' Creek now serves as a perfect spot for a barbecue,...
Having four distinctive seasons is definitely a huge benefit for those living in Finland. Every year in the autumn we enjoy our third colour explosion of the year when autumn colours arrive. Lapland, the area above the Arctic circle, is one of the best places to see autumn colours because of its unique nature which means autumn colours arrive in one area in a whoosh.
I was visiting Finnish Lapland happily in this exact moment but there with me in Lapland were thousands of tourists who had...
We were driving around through the scenic wonderland of Lakeland Finland and decided we wanted to see the views from a higher vantage point. We scoured the maps and saw that Neitvuori (means Maid Mountain in Finnish) is one of the highest peaks in the area, a good 184m (600ft) above sea level so it would provide us with great views over Saimaa lakes. We drove from Savonlinna towards Neitvuori along road 62 because it also offered us great views while we were driving through small villages,...
If you see something unbelievably beautiful, make sure you don't destroy it and do your best to preserve it for the next generation to enjoy. This was the case with Kiikunlähde spring in Hollola: it is enchanting and breath-takingly beautiful but easily destroyed by tourists who don't take make sure they protect it. (more…)
