Greetings, I'm from Serbia, we are considering cycling and camping in Finland. As far as obligations and work are concerned, August would suit us best. They would stay for a minimum of 15 days. They would fly to Helsinki.
What's the weather like then?
Do you have any suggestions for a route of some 800 km? Should we take a train from Helsinki and make a return route or a circular route? We prefer to drive through nature, so they don't have to be asphalt roads, more gravel.
We like to see the surroundings 🙂 so about 50-70 km per day would be max.
Is camping allowed? We don't make a fire (cook with gas) and we don't leave anything behind. What should we pay attention to when camping?
Are there any wildlife we ​​should look out for? (we have wolves, in 15 years of camping, I haven't met a single one, deer, jackal, owls…)
Any advice is welcome.
Sorry for my English, it's not my native language.

by Equivalent_Cow_1023

6 comments

  1. Sounds great!

    Weather can vary a lot, but lately Augusts have been nice and warm, with daytime temps between 25 and 30. August sometimes comes with some heavy rainshowers, but continuous rain is not that common.

    Starting from Helsinki, I’d aim towards Mäntyharju, and ride towards a place called Sulkava, then Liperi and Nurmes etc. You could make it a circular route, or carry on towards the north/northwest. Kajaani has a train station, for instance, where you can chuck your bikes in and take a train back to Helsinki.

    The general area allows you to choose between paved big roads, paved small roads, and the occasional gravel.

    Wild camping is legal, but camping grounds are a popular choice as well, as they allow you to have a warm shower and sauna, tidy bathrooms, many have washing machines etc. If you find bed and breakfast places along the way, why not try them as well – I’ve had great experience of them.

    The only harmful wildlife you’re likely to come across are mosquitos and ticks. There is one species of venomous snake, but they will also try to run away. Wolves and bears exist, but seeing them is extremely unlikely, and in general animals don’t show interest in campsites.

  2. I would say, check out archipelago ring road in Turku archipelago, there is a shorter option 120 km and a longer 250 km one if you would like to incorporate that into your tour. There are ferries along the route. Other than that, I would go to lakeland Finland unless you want to visit Lapland.

  3. Temporary camping is allowed everywhere. Obviously not on people’s backyards but forests, lakeshores etc. You’ve got a lot of time and can see a lot in that time. So it depends what kind of scenery you want. If you’re into Lapland you could do something like Rovaniemi-Ylläs-Inari-Rovaniemi, but the latter part of it would be just a highway for the most part. But there are also doable routes elsewhere in Lapland with smaller roads.

    Other possibilities include the archipelago & nearby areas. Or the Lakeland (Lappeenranta, Savonlinna, Puumala, Punkaharju etc.) with shitloads of lakes and shores to camp on (some places have restrictions because of the Saimaa ringed seal). Or eastern Finland with lots and lots of small roads and quiet forests with no people.

    Wildlife won’t be a problem, bears and wolves are scared of people. Very unlikely to see them. In Lapland the water tends to be a lot clearer and colder and in some places suitable to drink straight out of the stream, but not in the south. But water is everywhere so it won’t be a problem with proper procedures.

  6. the only wildlife you have to worry about is the mosquitoes and plethora of other bloodthirsty insects. they won’t bother you while biking but make sure your tents are bug-proof.

    tap water in finland is as clean (or cleaner) than bottled water everywhere so just fill up for free in gas stations or even some supermarkets have a water tap for summer visitors.

    august is warm (by finnish standards) but do not expect an european summer weather anymore. be prepared for all kinds of weather. never trust finnish summer weather.

    forests are full of blueberries and mushrooms too in august. feel free to pick as much as you like, wherever you like, as long as you won’t go to anybody’s yard. completely legal.

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