I'm not saying I dislike Oulu etc but it's a surprising pick. Especially when Cook Islands, Abu Dhabi, Japan, Costa Rica etc also made the list!

by A_britiot_abroad

18 comments

  2. Definitely surprising pick. Back when I lived in Oulu, I actively discouraged my family to visit the me there due to lack of things to do there, and sticking to the usual tourist destinations instead.
    ^(Living in Oulu was really nice on the other hand !)

    I mean, it’s nice to go from nice spots to nice spots if you have a bicycle, but you need a) someone to know where they are and b) hoping that your hotel lends free bicycles (some do 😎) and c) not too bad weather.
    Also, it’s not like other places don’t have *nice spots* anyway.

    Strange pick.

  3. Nothing wrong with Oulu, but listing it among the world’s “top 20 destinations” is a bit of a stretch (even as #20).

  4. Couldn’t be related to it being the european capital of culture for 2026?

  5. You couldn’t pay me to go to Abu Dhabi lol I need trees and water to be happy

  6. Also Lufthansa flies straight to Oulu nowadays. Couldn’t hurt the airline to promote Oulu.

  7. Oulu is like only 3 hours away from me and that’s still way too far for what it offers, imagine coming from all over the world 💔😭

    As a part of a more comprehensive visit to Finland, sure.

  8. I have been through/stopped briefly in Oulu many times but never exactly visited as a tourist.

    Coincidentally I am actually visiting there at the weekend so let’s see if it is worth being in worlds top 20.

  9. I’ve lived my whole life in Oulu. I love it here.

    But in comparison to the other spots on the list? Nah.

  10. I have been living in Oulu for 15 years and while I very much enjoy living here, I wouldn’t include it in top 20 destinations in Finland.

  12. damn the missus will be so thrilled when I tell her we gonna spend our honeymoon in one of top 20 destination of the world by BBC.

  14. For those who didn’t know, although pretty obvious, but all those “top 10/20” lists are BS. It’s modern advertisment.

    Same as “city of culture of the year xxxx” these are pomotion titles to sell a city touristically.

    That this one come from BBC only means it was more expensive to get into the ranking. That’s about it.

    Nonetheless, good for Finnish tourism.

  15. When in Oulu, go eat some local *känkky* (*kaenkky*), which is overly splurgy pizza made by more than 50 pizzerias in the city.. all using ingredients sourced from the same food wholesaler distributor, so it tastes about the same in any of those places.

    Or go take a selfie at the *toripolliisi* (“market police” with an intentional doubled typoed *l*) statue.

    Or just pass through on your way to see the Santa Claus village and back, without stopping by.

    I got nothing more. Been living here for a long time.

    The photo in the Reddit post image is 10/10 what Oulu looks like.

  16. As a sort of? Oululainen I cannot imagine for the life of me why it would make this list, even with the European Capital of Culture thing. Someone is lobbying hard for this city and it’s not even in my list for top places to go in Finland.

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