Hei!,
I have been planning a winter wild camping trip to northern Finland. I know I need winter tyres , but I have seen some people talk of a new law this winter requiring a certain nordic type. I cant find much solid information regarding this online. Studded tyres are illegal in the uk and some of Europe so that is a no go.
Also, any tips for driving safely in the Finnish winter would be appreciated – especially if you're familiar with the local road conditions!
Apologies if this has already been asked…
Thanks in advance!

by Striking_Variation20

38 comments

  1. If you are unsure about your tires, if you post a picture of your tire surely you’d get the answer.

  2. I drove from middle of Sweden to Southern part of France. You can make it

  4. It is legal to drive with winter friction tyres. It’s not recommended up north, but it’s legal.

  8. You are crazy. Just fly to Sweden or Finland and rent a car.

  9. Legal winter tires have to have what is basically a mountain logo which is attached to some sort of directive. I’ll link something a bit later.

    There are all-season tires that fulfill this directive without studs. Currently it’s very snowy and slippery throughout most of Finland, especially up north. The key is to drive according to the conditions and often this means slower than is the legal limit, and also anticipating ABS activation when braking to intersections.

    Wheel spinning under acceleration is most likely to happen when setting off from a stop and also on highway ramps.

  10. You could do with a good set of friction tyres. I or someone else can recommend some. The height of the golf should be fine, as long as it’s not lowered. Just be smart where you go with it and I would recommend a shovel and somesort of a friction mat to put under the tires if you happen to get stuck. They are pretty cheap and you should be fine without them. Also you should stick to major roads as much as possible, as they are the ones best taken care of.

  13. Your tyres need to have 3PMSF symbol (3 peak mountain snowflake), just M+S (Mud+Snow) is not enough. High quality all weather tyres are almost as good as studded tyres.

  14. Unless you’re going to get studded winter tires and then carry them in the car and change all 4 in Sweden, trying to do this would not be very smart. A golf is not gonna cut it that far up north with friction tires, especially ones not from a Nordic country.

  15. The car is fine. Winter driving on public roads is not about risk of getting stuck, it’s about dealing with slippery surfaces, and sometimes snow being blown around to a degree it reduces visibility.

    Once on the road: keep in mind that even with those “three peak” winter tires, 1) you can expect braking distances to be 2 to 4 times as long as during summer, 2) you can’t trust you’ll be able to accelerate aggressively when joining another road, and 3) you can’t turn as sharply.

    Sometimes the road looks slippery but isn’t, sometimes it doesn’t look slippery but is. Some of the slipperiest conditions I’ve experienced, have been when the road looks almost clean.

    Be careful, keep extra long distances to the one driving in front of you, and you’re 99% there.

    Oh, every year some tourists forget that ditches, kerbs and other obstacles can be completely covered by snow. On parking lots and small intersections, follow other’s tire tracks, don’t make shortcuts.

  16. Not sure if 3pmsf tyres are available in UK. If they are not then just drive to southern Sweden with you current ones and buy those proper tires from there. Might even be cheaper that way

  19. Also, remember that it might be very, very dark. If it snows, the visibility can be really bad, and there might be reindeer on the road (some of them are white!).

  20. Your tires just need to have a snowflake on them (easiest way to determine). M+s dont count as winter tires anymore. They can still be m+s but need the snowflake.

  21. Apart from the tyres …. make sure your insurance covers things like getting your car out of a ditches, towing, repairs, starting the car with a flat battery etc.

    Pretty much every car here has inside heater, Webasto and/or block heaters – starting a cold engine at -20 puts a LOT of strain on the battery – pack a spare and a battery charger.

    Windscreen fluid – we use lots of it, and often neat.

    Brushes, ice scrapers.

    Pack warm clothes, even a good sleeping bag, just in case.

    Make yourself familiar with local traffic laws, eg: in Finland, we have a priority from right at some junctions, and also busses pulling out of bus stops have priority when the road speed is 60kmh or lower (indicators sometimes are optional it seems)

    Take advantage of any heated car parks, a lot of supermakets have underground parking – a few hours there will really help with icing inside the car, clearing snow etc.

    How long do you plan driving…. 40 hours of driving would be optimistic TBH?

  22. Everybody talking about tyres here, but remember to change widscreen wash too! Has to be down to -20 degrees or it’ll bust the container and possibly tubes too.

  23. Prepare for getting stuck. So winter clothing, food, drinks, a snow shovel, means to make fire. If you are unsure of your tires grab som spiked ones when you enter sweden as they are legal here except for some city centers. Also snow chains might be a good investment

  24. If you do this trip with bad tires you will fuck yourself up and at worst fuck someone else up too in traffic, so take proper winter tires seriously. If you try with summer tires and no experience with nordic winter conditions you will get fucked up. Condition on major roads ranges from mostly clear to snowy depending on how the weather has been lately and if they’ve had time to plow em. Smaller roads will be snowy and some might even be pretty inaccesible if it has snowed heavily. In deep winter most smaller roads will force you to drive in ‘channels’ for your wheels formed of ice and snow, and trying to deviate from that channel can be challenging if you’re not used to driving here. Intersections and turns will mostly be slippery so you will have to watch your speeds or risk going over. Elk and reindeers are a road hazard that you’ll need to watch out for. Lapland will also have longer distances between services, so plan your refuels and be prepared for multiple hours of wait time in case you need aid. Overall if you’re not used to driving in the nordic winter, it’s not really going to be a fun experience.

  25. I read the other comments, I would also add that make sure your 12V battery is good. You really don’t want to get stranded in lapland with a dead battery.

  26. Well without stubbed tires / winter tires its literally suicidal to go drive that. And its also illegal to do it without them in Finland, as you know.

    As for tips, do not underestimate the weather, mind your speed and safety distance from the car in front of you, your car might not stop as fast as you´re used to if you need to break. Also visibility might not be too good. Do not assume you know what slippery road looks like. It might look perfectly fine and then you loose control.

    The norther you get, there´s also bound to be reindeer on the road, so always keep an eye at the side of the roads, the reindeers are not afraid of cars and will block the road.

    Car is perfectly fine.

  27. I would take ferry to helsinki from germany and then put my car to train from Helsinki (pasila) to Kolari or Rovaniemi. Much less driving, but you do you.

  28. Always leave a safe distance to the car in front of you, use high beams correctly in the dark, and remember that there can always be reindeer on the road in the North and you should be ok.

  29. I just want to answer the title by saying my Golf has survived okay here so far (model year 04). To give you some tips, take it slow. Your car has a good enough traction control to survive any normal winter conditions, but no amount of TC will help with stopping.

    You shall not have a need to overtake anyone as your steering wheel is on the wrong side, taking away a lot of visibility and are not experienced in winter driving.

    Try not to stop on any steep hills. If you can keep the car rolling, you’ll have a much easier time continuing when possible. No matter if you stop or manage to keep it rolling (not always possible) start gently. You don’t want to have any unnecessary wheel spin when starting to drive. You’ll always have some, but the less the better.

    If you completely lose control of the car, so much so that even your abs is not working anymore (I’ve had this happen before) clutch is better than brakes. Slam in the clutch (or put it on neutral if automatic) and pump the brakes whilst counter steering towards the slide. As you’re driving a forward wheel drive, gas can help too if you absolutely have to turn while you have no real control.

    Last of all, don’t think that you know what you’re doing just because you read some tips online. While driving on snow and ice can be very similar to driving on wet conditions, it takes proper tyres and experience, both of which you might not have. So take it slow. If the locals aren’t doing something, you probably shouldn’t either

  30. Very doable and seems to be a fun trip. Ask yourself these questions:
    1. Can you drive left hand side?
    2. Do you have money for the trip?
    3. Is your car in good shape?
    4. Get some studless winter tires that are not all (no) season if studs are not an option

    Tips:
    1. More gas pedal will not get you out of a slip, less pedal will.
    2. Brake in advance before the icy corners, not in them. Also avoid unnecessary sharp steering adjustments unless you want to slide.
    3. Avoid unnecessary starts that won’t lead to driving distance to conserve your 12v battery in minus degrees.
    4. Practice losing tire grip on an empty icy parking lot or some other safe space if possible. It will help a lot to know how the car behaves on ice beforehand
    5. Have a shovel, warm clothes, gloves, hat, maybe even spare shoes and a flashlight on you while driving. A tow rope could also be good to have just in case.
    6. Have fun!

  32. Yes with
    – winter tires
    – if diesel, fill tank up with arctic quality at some point
    – check coolant freezing point
    – use -30 windshield fluid
    – decent battery with high capa
    – new cabin filter

  34. Get proper coolant in your car and top up fluids for -40C temps. Your car won’t necessarily be set up for those temperatures. Also try to fill up as soon as you are in the nordics to get the right additives in your fuel (especially if you’re in a diesel).

  35. Go for it! I did Bourgogne (France) – Copenhague DK, 1800 km wondering if I would survive with my 25 yo + car. It went perfectly. Try and find out.

  36. Last leg of your route seems to go via Sirkka-Pokka-Inari. I don’t recommend to take that route. It is a quite a small road through wilderness.

    You can instead take use road 80 from Kittilä to Sodankylä and from there road 4/E75 to Inari. If you keep on main roads there are always cell phone reception and other people driving as well which makes it safer.

    If the temperature goes below -30c I don’t recommend to drive at all. Keep day off from driving. And make sure you have proper winter clothing, horrible to see tourists going about with sneakers when temperature is -25c.

  37. Hi OP, I made this journey last week in a VW crafter. It’s a decent drive and road conditions in southern Sweden were not great as it seemed they hadn’t anticipated the snowfall (but will probably have been sorted now).

    Good tyres are essential and as I learned (see post history) 3PMSF tyres are not all made equal. You should be hunting for proper Nordic friction tyres, not “all season type” 3PMSF. I put on continental Vikingcontacts and performance was pretty ok (although I missed the studs on icy areas). Advise driving defensively and allow extra time for bad weather so you dont have to rush. 4wd would be nice but not essential.

    Register for the oresundgo bridge subscription if making 2 crossings (and then cancel after your return to save some € and hassle).

    If diesel, aim for a full tank refuel before Stockholm (or before if driving into a cold snap), as the winter additives will stop your diesel freezing.

    Make sure your battery is in good condition and washer fluid is rated down to -30.

    Carry a fuel canister for Lapland, and keep your tank reasonably full when possible – distances between stations can be quite large.

    Keep a winter “shit hits the fan” bag, get European recovery assistance and buy your health insurance. Also, there are lots of speed cameras 🙂

  38. Everybody talking about the car stuff so I just want to make sure are you really ready for wild camping in Lapland during winter? This morning in eastern lapland temperatures dipped to -40C. You really need to have excellent winter gear up there. I would say skis and a sled are bare minimum requirements along with very warm clothing and sleeping gear. Regular gas stoves will not work in those temperatures, so take that into account (gasoline multifuel stove is your best option). And dont forget the darkness. Depending on when you plan on going there might be zero daylight or just few hours. This combined with >50cm snows finding your way is much, much harder. Honestly if you have zero (nordic) winter experince I would advice against wild camping up there during winter. If you want to experience wintery condition camping you are better off staying either in lower half of Sweden or taking the ferry from Stockholm to Turku and staying in lower parts of Finland. Lots of national parks and other great camping destinations in both. Like Joutsijärvi in Finland. Its safe environment with little worry about getting lost too bad and it also has few wilderness huts to experience and cool sights like traditional smoke hut and a pacifist hiding place from WW2

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