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From the dense forests of Lapland to the broad Bothnian Bay, journey in Finland is a examine in contrasts.
By Elizabeth Heath
“Reindeer!” Several of us shout in unison at our first sighting of those boreal deer within the wild, an antlered duo blithely munching on dewy grass. We’re at Pohjolan Pirtti & Kievari, a historic lakeside farm that feels a great distance from anyplace. In actuality, we’re a great distance away—from airports, main cities, or city conveniences, and we’re nearer to the Russian border than we’re to the closest freeway.
We heat our bones with sizzling blueberry juice drank from wood Kuksa cups, rub arms over a wooden range, and bake conventional Lappish flatbread, which we’ll later eat with moose casserole. It’s a microcosm of Finnish Lapland in just a few hours—huge, distant, dazzlingly wild, far eliminated, each in geography and perspective, and completely full of reindeer.
Reindeer Wranglers
©Elizabeth Heath
©Elizabeth Heath
©Visit Finland
The two deer we sighted early within the day have been simply the tip of the reindeer iceberg. By the time we arrive at Kujalan Porotila, a sixth-generation reindeer farm with a current sustainable tourism bent, our driver has already slowed a number of instances to let these denizens do their gradual trot throughout the highway. At the farm, herder Juha Kujala and his son stroll all the way down to greet us, every main a reindeer on a leash. The animals are as docile as well-behaved canines, and we every get an opportunity to stroll one, rub their furry antlers, and sink our arms into their dense coats.
A short while later, with reindeer furs rather than health club mats, we’re in an out of doors reindeer yoga class—making an attempt exhausting to concentrate on our asanas as grownup and child reindeer graze throughout us. They’re detached to our oohing, aahing and makes an attempt to pet them, displaying curiosity solely after we supply them a freshly plucked mushroom, which, together with moss and dozens of varieties of foliage that sprout on the spongy forest flooring, make for tasty reindeer meals.
Turns out that reindeer themselves are tasty meals, as we’ll be taught on the farm and through numerous different meals throughout the area. Reindeer meat is stewed, sauteed, dried into jerky and salted and cured like prosciutto. Reindeer fur and leather-based are used for clothes, rugs, and housewares, and reindeer antlers, which they shed and regrow yearly, are used for handicrafts and jewellery. And whereas it’s simple to anthropomorphize these light, cow-eyed animals—in spite of everything, that is Santa Claus and Rudolph nation—Kujala describes a circle of life that’s each sustainable and smart in a spot the place winter meals provides as soon as spelled life or demise for Laplander households.
Every single one among Lapland’s greater than 200,000 reindeer—and sure, that’s greater than the human inhabitants of the area—are owned by herder-farmers. Every one among them is collared and earmarked with the person herder’s notch, and a few are geared up with GPS trackers. In {the summertime}, they wander freely throughout the territory, typically roaming greater than 100 kilometres from “home.”
When winter comes, and heavy snow makes it more durable to graze, the herds arrive on their very own to the farms the place they know they’ll be fed and protected against predators. Individuals who stray from their herd are rounded up with snowmobiles. To management overpopulation and supply one among Lapland’s staple meals, a set quantity is culled annually, after which the cycle begins once more.
Next Stop for Our Travel in Finland—Russia
©Visit Finland
©Elizabeth Heath
©Elizabeth Heath
By the time we’re paddling canoes alongside the Oulangan River, the reindeer we go as they lounge on sandy seashores appear previous hat. It’s a difficult 16 km of rowing on a windy day, however on calmer stretches of the winding river, we will relaxation our paddles lengthy sufficient to marvel on this broad expanse of undisturbed wilderness and surprise if we’re nonetheless actually in trendy Europe.
At lunchtime, we’re led to a lean-to shelter and firepit, one among dozens of free-to-use refuges within the park. Tommi Kallberg, the proprietor of Oulangan Taika wilderness actions, gives thermoses of his selfmade reindeer stew as information Mikael chops wooden for the fireplace. Soon, we’re ingesting campfire espresso, the grounds settling within the backside of our Kuksa mugs, and consuming grilled juustoa, which is aptly often called “Finnish squeaky cheese,” served with cloudberry jam. We pack out each single factor we pack in—there aren’t any waste bins at these refuges, and nobody would assume to depart behind any rubbish.
©Elizabeth Heath
©Elizabeth Heath
©Visit Finland
Back on the water, we conclude our paddle just some kilometres shy of the Russian border—an idea that’s each horrifying and interesting. Finns have all the time lived with this proximity, and whereas relations may by no means have been described as heat, there’s definitely a newfound sense of ominousness given the current geopolitical panorama.
We really feel it once more at Isokenkäisten Klubi, a gloriously rustic, distant wilderness lodge the place indicators warn errant hikers and canine walkers to not wander into the border zone—the three km buffer between the 2 nations. We’ve obtained little motive to stray although, given the hearty wild meals dinner that awaits us—extra reindeer on the menu!—inside the comfortable lodge, which is run by sisters Katja and Sirpa Kämäräinen.
The unique saunas, cottages and primary lodge are mighty log-cabin affairs constructed by the Kämäräinen’s father, Aimo. They have been as soon as frequented by heads of state who meted out diplomacy within the Finnish custom of bare sauna periods —apparently an important equalizer of males, no matter stature.
Saunas and Northern Lights
We didn’t get to strive the saunas at Isokenkäisten Klubi, however we didn’t must look far to seek out our löyly—the recent steam that rises when water is ladled over the recent rocks of a Finnish sauna. Marjo Määttä, one of many “sauna elves” at Pyhäpiilo Sauna World, guides us via the normal smoke sauna rituals, which embody gently batting one another with bundles of birch and juniper, in addition to asking permission to pour extra water to stoke the löyly. Tip to sauna newbies: If you may’t stand the löyly, it’s time to take a break from the sauna.
Sauna Images ©Visit Finland
From the roughly 80°C sauna, we dip into the bracing water of the close by lake, then to the ready sizzling tub, then again to the sauna. It’s an invigorating ritual that I might get used to, and one we’ll repeat at a number of stops alongside the best way.
On two events, our late nights of saunas, swims and sizzling tub dips have been rewarded with essentially the most lucky of treats—early-season appearances of the Northern Lights. For me and others in our group, our first time seeing the Aurora Borealis was each bit as magical as we would have hoped.
Even with the “minor” reveals we noticed, it’s simple to grasp the mythology surrounding the lights, which the Indigenous Sami individuals regard because the souls of the useless or the spirits of animals. As the lights undulated in inexperienced, purple and magenta, they appeared each bit alive—highly effective, mysterious, and concurrently comforting and disconcerting.
Image Gallery ©Visit Oulu
As we journey southwest to town of Oulu, on Finland’s Bothnian Bay, the panorama modifications from primordial woods to farmland, managed forests and shortly, the principally trendy structure of Finland’s fifth largest metropolis.
The settlement dates to no less than the 1300s, although few historic wood buildings survive, resulting from a collection of fires over the centuries. Today, Oulu—a European Capital of Culture in 2026 and the house of the Air Guitar World Championships—is a centre for top tech and innovation, a college metropolis that feels clear, younger, brainy, and environment friendly.
Our final sauna is one for the bucket listing, and tops among the many only-in-Finland experiences of a busy week. The Koivurannan is a sauna boat, a floating cottage of kinds that chugs alongside Oulu’s broad Oulujoki River, the winding physique of water that defines town. On a twilight cruise, we ladle on the löyly, pour just a few drinks, and bounce into the chilly river, its water clear sufficient to drink but darkish sufficient to vanish into.
©Vyara Semkova
Sauna, river, sauna. Hot, chilly, sizzling. Comfort, discomfort, consolation. Were we leaping into an abyss, or into nature’s loving arms? When you’re taking the leap in Finland, the reply, it appears, is sure.
The author’s journey was organized by Adventure Apes, a woman-owned journey tour operator that gives genuine out of doors and cultural journey experiences throughout Finland.
Elizabeth is a broadly printed journey author residing in Umbria, Italy, the place she additionally runs Villaggio Tours, a small-group tour firm providing genuine native experiences from the bottom of a medieval hilltop village.