Finland (all)

Cycling with my Lowrider Tricycle and my Bongo drum from Germany to Vietnam :o) stopping my bank career 1/2a ago to fulfil my dream and exploring alternative approaches to life; very interested in the current financial crisis and following future; doing interviews with citizens asking them for their approach to life, and opinions about the financial crisis.

Presenting results of my interviews, blogposts with GPS pics, video documentations,

Believing in One World, One Love, One Unity, Dread Marco

www.velopourvous.com est le site de l'association ``Vélo pour nous, vélo pour vous'', qui à pour but de promouvoir la pratique du vélo.

Entre autres, il raconte les voyages en vélo de ses adhèrents, et pas seulement...

Une grande partie est dédié au voyage de Claudia et Thomas autour d'Europe. Leur but est de faire un inventaire de la culture du vélo en Europe. Des jolis photos et un impressionant carnet de bord vous attend à les découvrir...

From June 16 to August 1 2008, I cycled from Alta to the North-Cape, there I started a 7-week trip through Finland Sweden Denmark Germany Netherlands Belgium and France back to Switzerland.

Vagabondages autour du monde d'un apprenti voyageur.

Un ou deux ans de voyage au programme pour découvrir l'Europe du Nord, l'Asie et l'Afrique du Nord différemment.

Prochaine étape : la traversée de la Russie en hiver

Vagrancy around the world by a apprentice traveller.

One or two years to discover in a different way north Europe, Asia and north Africa.

Next step : from St Petersburg to Vladivostok during winter time

Am 4ten August 2004 begann unsere Tour in den hohen Norden. Wir kämpften mit Hitze, Mücken, Einbruchsniederschlägen und uns selbst. Nach 19 Tagen erreichten wir dann unser Ziel den Polarkreis in Finnland.

I'm at one of those grave intellectual impasses that have been known to bring even greater minds than my own to a standstill. I have an orphan sock. Trivia, you say. Ha! I think not.

The cause of this problem is surely the work of that Slovakian KGB Agent, foolishly disguised as a laundress in Svolen. She stole it, I'm sure. Probably for a DNA sample to impress her superiors in Bratislava. They've been following my every move since the kustoms agent in Warsaw asked me the purpose of my visit to Poland. When I answered ``vacation'' the disbelief on his face gave him away. What, doesn't anyone go to Poland on vacation?

But back to the real problem, the orphan sock. The purists among cycle tourists would say, ``Throw it away, it's excess baggage. And while you're at it, cut three inches off that over-long toothbrush handle.'' But the Calvinist in me says, ``Save it. It's a good sock, nearly new.'' I've already reduced the weight of my baggage by losing its mate. Maybe I'll lose another and be back to even and lighter still.

Hi everybody, we are 8 students of Udine's University and we will across Europe with a bikecycle. We will start on 08 of August from Nordkapp and after 24 days we will arrive in Lignano Sabbiadoro. We will link the north pole with the Adriatic Sea. Our project is with the Sponsorship of our University. We will meet a lot of students about the University that we will find along our tour. So for more information you can ask at info [at] noborderbiking [dot] com and visit our website www.noborderbiking.com .
[Email address obscured to fool spam trawlers. Ed.]

In Februar/March 2006 we cyceld 2 weeks in northern Finland. It was an extremely cold (up to -35°C) and extremely impressive trip.

The original plan was to cover Scandinavia from Nordkapp to Copenhagen with a long stretch along Sweden's east coast. However, safety concerns resulted in a hastily arranged detour along Finland's west coast.

My memory will be mainly of glorious sunshine and, another pleasant surprise, the wind blowing North to South for a good few days when I needed it (as evidenced by the grim determination on the faces of the cyclists heading the other way.)

At moment Raoul (who has left on 12 May from Civitanova Marche, Italy) on his bicycle is along the road to Kaamanen (Finland) where he is going to stay overnight. In the next two days he will reach Nordkapp!!!!! ;-))

In 2001 vanuit Nederland vertrokken en nu okt 2005 meer dan 65.000 km en al meer dan 40 landen doorgefietst.

A story about a small cycling trip in a large country. Helsinki, Lahti, V?rtsil?, Olonec, Vitegra, Vologda, Tot'ma, Nikolsk, Kotelnic, Urzum, Kazan.

Ja, hebben jullie het al gezien, we zijn meer dan 4 jaar onderweg. Wat een tijd en toch.... we genieten er nog elke dag van. Nu zijn we in Jujuy, noord Argentinië. Via Chili gaan we binnenkort naar Bolivia, waar we een tijdlang niet zullen kunnen internetten. We zullen op grote hoogte gaan fietsen, hoogtes waar we nog niet eerder waren. Of dat prettig is.. jullie zullen het later lezen.

A five-week tour of Scandinavia, starting in Oslo and ending in Stockholm. Excellent practical information (the summary data table, which includes graphical weather information, is just great). Gorgeous photos (including the canonical midnight sun, but plenty of other spectacular views), and a very good story make this report an instant classic.

26 days from 26-6 to 21-7-1998 - Distance 4830 km. - Average speed 21,3 km.t.

After an official visit to Dubna, about 120 km north of Moscow, I had the pleasure to spend two days with friends on a dacha in a little village about 150 km east. [...] I set out for the unknown east. At that stage my plans were as follows: take the main road to Nishny Novgorod and then muddle yourself through in a big semi circle via Vologda and Petrozavodsk to Finland; fly out then from Helsinki. This would have been a distance of about 3000 km, ambitious enough for 18 days of cycling in the West. What I had not taken into account were the typical Russian difficulties.

A five-week tour of Scandinavia, starting in Oslo and ending in Stockholm. Excellent practical information (the summary data table, which includes graphical weather information, is just great). Gorgeous photos (including the canonical midnight sun, but plenty of other spectacular views), and a very good story make this report an instant classic.

Mit dem Fahrrad von Bern ans Nordkap und über Finnland bis in die Baltischen Staaten. Mit vollbepacktem Drahtesel vier Monate unterwegs. Dabei ergeben sich interessante Begegnungen und eindrückliche Naturerlebnisse. Regentage, Fahrradpannen und andere Tiefpunkte sind schnell wieder vergessen. Einige Eindrücke (nicht nur) aus dem hohen Norden.

I cycled around the Baltic Sea from mid-June to mid-July 1996, starting in Stockholm and going clockwise, finishing in Stockholm a month later. It was a great trip!

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

Saturday, August 13, was a nice day, none too cold. The summer of Central Finland was gradually coming to an end but one could still wear shorts and other summer stuff for cycling.

I cycled around the Baltic Sea from mid-June to mid-July 1996, starting in Stockholm and going clockwise, finishing in Stockholm a month later. It was a great trip!

The report of a 37 days (from July 21, 1994 to August 26, 1994), 4240km tour of the Baltic See along the route: Hamburg - Schleswig/Holstein - Denmark (Border-Frederikshavn) - Norway (Moss-Ostby) - Sweden (Sorsjoern-Grisslehamn) - Aland-Island (Eckeroe-Mariehamn) - Finland (Naantali-Helsinki) - Estonia (Tallinn-Valga) - Latvia (Valka-Bauska) - Lithuania (Salociai-Lazdijai) - Poland (Sejny-Kostrzyn) - Brandenburg - Berlin - Magdeburg - Hannover - Paderborn

The report of a 37 days (from July 21, 1994 to August 26, 1994), 4240km tour of the Baltic See along the route: Hamburg - Schleswig/Holstein - Denmark (Border-Frederikshavn) - Norway (Moss-Ostby) - Sweden (Sorsjoern-Grisslehamn) - Aland-Island (Eckeroe-Mariehamn) - Finland (Naantali-Helsinki) - Estonia (Tallinn-Valga) - Latvia (Valka-Bauska) - Lithuania (Salociai-Lazdijai) - Poland (Sejny-Kostrzyn) - Brandenburg - Berlin - Magdeburg - Hannover - Paderborn.

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

It was Thursday, June 7, and I found myself in Lappeenranta, a town of some 60,000 inhabitants in southeastern Finland, only about 20 km from the Russian border. [...] So, on a most beautiful hot summer day, I set out on my own, panniers fully loaded, to the northwest and Jyvaeskylae, where I live.

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

The rain is relentless in beating against me. There is no way of enjoying the scenery but my memory tells me it is rather nice. [...] At times the rain falls down ever harder, the drops hurt my face and my bell keeps ringing faintly. I see no other cyclists. Sissies.

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

The dark forest envelops me and welcomes me home. Telephone poles have large heaps of squirrel-processed cones at the bottom. Large boulders speck the forest floor, remnants of the ice age. [...] At home I feel happy at my first ``century'' after nine months of ankylosing spondylitis.

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

Spring was on its way, finally. With the arrival of April, I had discarded studded tires and other winter equipment. Riding had been chilly and dirty, the scenery bleak but then the snow really started melting and the ice fishers were driven off the lakes (or drowned). Monday, April 25 was a pretty day for my traditional 100 km spring test run.

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

Sunday March 13 appears uninspiring. The sky is grey. The snow is dirty. There is slush, it is +1 C. The breakfast newspaper is dull, the oatmeal bland. Finland is depressing. What can save the day? A bike ride!

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

Sunday February 27 was another glorious winter day here, Jyvaeskylae, Finland, above the 62th parallel: clear blue sky, sparkling snow and the sun low above the horizon. Time for a bike ride. [...] The temperature is very pleasant, -9 C, the wind unpleasant, in my face.

Markku Tuomi has written up beautiful reports of severals rides he did in Central Finland in 1994, one per month, partly on-road, partly off-road.

[...] four months of illness and recovery (and no cycling) at the end of 1993 evaporated whatever fitness I used to have. I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (a rheumatoid disease of the spine) and for a while it looked like I might not be cycling again. [...] It is overcast and not so cold (- 8 C) on January 23.

A family goes cyclo-camping and brings back valuable experience, great stories and beautiful pictures:

• Poland and Lithuania 1994
• Lithuania and Latvia 1995
• Finland and Estonia 1996

Wer es nicht erlebt hat, der kann es kaum beschreiben: Ein Ziel so vage, so unkalkulierber, so weit. Und dann befindet man sich auf den letzten Metern.Wer jemals im Norden Europas Urlaub gemacht hat, der weiß, dass im Sommer die Sonne endlos zu scheinen scheint. Aber das täuscht. In der Höhe der Lofoten muss man schon sehr nahe am längsten Tag eintreffen, um von den Berggipfeln die Mitternachtssonne zu sehen. Im August ist es zwar immer noch legendär hell, aber die Sonne taucht bereits für einige Zeit unter den Horizont. Ich bezeichne dieses Schauspiel auch gerne als den Untergang der Mitternachtssonne.

Nordkapp - 4.8.84 - ich bin am Ziel. Das Nordkapp ist zwar schon recht rummelig, weil natürlich Bus um Bus hier hin gekarrt wird, aber es ist nicht wirklich überlaufen. Und Wegezoll gibt es auch noch nicht. Es ist doch eine ganze Reihe von Personen, die auf die sportliche Art und Weise diesen Weg meistern - und da gibt es natürlich viel zu erzählen, auch wenn in dieser Nacht der Untergang der Mitternachtssonne hinter den Wolken stattfindet. Ich schwinge das nun leicht beladene Rad auf den Steinsockel, der die Weltkugel trägt, und mache mit Stativ ein Bild.

One year after intermediate examinations I manage to take two months off my studies to have a dream come true, cycling to the North Cape (norwegian: Nordkapp). Sure, travelling more than 3600 miles to the north of Norway is not everybodies delight. Temparatures are expected to be low and the weather to be unsteady. However, at the end of this journey I may declare the Scandinavian weather beeing not as bad as its reputation.

On the 4th of july I am ready for take off. That time my bike is one of the oldest, heaviest and less reliable bikes that have ever been seen on their way north. 20 kg of additional weight has to be carried: A tent, sleeping bag, camera, 11 color films (300 slides) and other equipement. On this trip, that does not cost more than DM 1800.- in the end, I ruin a shirt, a jeans, a cycle chain, a tyre cover and not less than 9 spokes. Though the bike never has a puncture.

Cycle touring is an excellent way to see the world. It's fast enough to cover great distances, yet slow enough to take everything in. This years ride aims to raise money for UK registered charity Motivation.

A family goes cyclo-camping and brings back valuable experience, great stories and beautiful pictures.

A family goes cyclo-camping and brings back valuable experience, great stories and beautiful pictures.

[The author travels around the world and reviews hostels, and has built up a large hostel directory.]

What are hostels?

The quickest answer I can give to you is that hostels are budget accommodations where you share a room with other travelers. To be more specific though and to give you a better idea of what to expect I will say that a hostel room is like a hotel room but instead of being just one bed there are a couple (or a few) bunk beds. There are also (gasp!) other people. People you do not know! These other people are travelers who are most likely very much like you in the sense that they are exploring and traveling and doing it as absolutely cheaply as possible. Hostels have been around a long long time. There are over 20,000 of them around the world. Hostels are very much a part of the culture of Europe, and are starting to be known in the USA as well. Hostels are a cheaper way of staying in a city where you do not live.