Walking holiday in Finland
| country: | Finland |
| location: | Finland summer holidays, Oulanka National Park |
| trip type: | Strenuous walking holidays |
| departures: | Departures can be tailormade between mid May and September for minimum of 4 people |
| price: | From €410 - €450 (8 days) per adult and from €350 per child (6-15 years) when travelling with two adults, excluding flights. Price includes: half board accmommodation, programs as itinerary, airport transfer, all equipment. Min age: 6 yrs |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
This wilderness walking trip is located in Oulanka National Park. When you step out of your room you step into the heart of the wilderness, home to bears and wolves- a unique chance to experience true wilderness and simply enjoy nature at it’s best! Our guides are there for you every day. You will learn the basic techniques in our educational sessions and then you implement these skills while you are observing the national park.
We take you deep into mother nature and you will be guided to the best spots in the national park to take photos and shoot videos. We recommend you take your camera with you, these memories will follow you for a long time! It is also possible to use a helmet video camera and record your experience.
This trip will take you through Oulanka National Park and it's finest national landscape by the famous hiking trail Karhunkierros (bear's trail). The trail is 75 km long in total, and done normally in 4-5 days, staying overnight in wilderness huts or tents. You will be experiencing the whole trail in three shorter pieces with only a light daypack, sleeping every night between sheets and having breakfast and dinner in the restaurant. Pack lunch is provided and transfers will take you to a new start point every day and pick you up from the end. Two sections end at basecamp.
Every day there is time for optional activities or time for your own paddling or walking. Have a swim and just relax on the sand beach of lake Ala-Juuma and in the sauna and jacuzzi.
All the guided programs, equipment, meals and optional activities are provided and included.
Accommodation: Accommodation is in our wilderness hotel. No TV sets, radios or newspapers, only nature and it's sounds. Comfortable accommodation in double, twin or single rooms. Single accommodation is available for a supplement of €105. Rooms with en-suite bathrooms are in two separate buildings. The third building is a cosy restaurant and and bar with a log fire, sauna and jacuzzi.
Equipment: All equipment is provided, including: shell outfit, fleece layers, socks, hats, gloves, rucksacks, and nature conservation fee. Please take your own hiking shoes for maximum comfort.
We take you deep into mother nature and you will be guided to the best spots in the national park to take photos and shoot videos. We recommend you take your camera with you, these memories will follow you for a long time! It is also possible to use a helmet video camera and record your experience.
This trip will take you through Oulanka National Park and it's finest national landscape by the famous hiking trail Karhunkierros (bear's trail). The trail is 75 km long in total, and done normally in 4-5 days, staying overnight in wilderness huts or tents. You will be experiencing the whole trail in three shorter pieces with only a light daypack, sleeping every night between sheets and having breakfast and dinner in the restaurant. Pack lunch is provided and transfers will take you to a new start point every day and pick you up from the end. Two sections end at basecamp.
Every day there is time for optional activities or time for your own paddling or walking. Have a swim and just relax on the sand beach of lake Ala-Juuma and in the sauna and jacuzzi.
All the guided programs, equipment, meals and optional activities are provided and included.
Accommodation: Accommodation is in our wilderness hotel. No TV sets, radios or newspapers, only nature and it's sounds. Comfortable accommodation in double, twin or single rooms. Single accommodation is available for a supplement of €105. Rooms with en-suite bathrooms are in two separate buildings. The third building is a cosy restaurant and and bar with a log fire, sauna and jacuzzi.
Equipment: All equipment is provided, including: shell outfit, fleece layers, socks, hats, gloves, rucksacks, and nature conservation fee. Please take your own hiking shoes for maximum comfort.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival to the international airport; airport Transfer. Check-in to wilderness hotel by the river and breathe some fresh National Park air. Free time, dinner and briefing after check in. |
| Day 2: | Equipment for your use for the whole week. Wilderness skills session. Including skills how to survive in the wilderness: first aid, making open fires, orienteering, Nordic walking introduction; learn proper NW techniques for your upcoming walks. |
| Day 3: | Walking. After early breakfast, transfer to Ruka, southern startpoint of Karhunkierros. Walk Ruka – basecamp 25 km. Long and hard day for the start. Dinner and sauna will wait for you in basecamp. |
| Day 4: | Walking. After breakfast transfer to Ristikallio. The middle startpoint of Karhunkierros. Walking over Taivalköngäs rapids - suspension bridges over the river Oulanka - along the river all the way to Oulanka visiting centre, 25 km, where transfer will take you back to Basecamp. |
| Day 5: | Walking. Thursday is for Walking the “little Karhunkierros” 10 km circle trail starting from Basecamp. Also possible to do rafting or just relax for one day. |
| Day 6: | Day for rest or possibility for one of these above mentioned legs. Also possible to do rafting.. |
| Day 7: | River day. 25 min Transfer to Oulanka, walking via Kiutaköngäs rapids to Basecamp along Oulankajoki and Kitkajoki rivers, 25 km. Amazing views into the river canyons. When walking on the shores of Kitkajoki, you can fill you water bottle straight from the river . |
| Day 8: | Check-Out. Transfer to Kuusamo International airport. Return Flight. |
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
In our activties we implement responsible ecological practices to avoid pollution – although this might be very expensive. One of these you will test during this week: using the electric outboard motor for rafting. This is so unique you do not find this practice elsewhere. This outboard puts out no pollution compared to 2-stroke outboard with a fuel consumption of 6 litres – you can imagine the difference in noise pollution! We do not provide activities that disturb nature or create pollution. At our camp there is no light or noise pollution. In marketing we do not use brochures or printed materials. Accommodation with us is ecologically responsible. Our buildings are made from logs, which come from the forest only 50 km away from basecamp, and concrete. Buildings are small and built in the traditional Finnish way. The heating system gets its energy from local forests: we use waste wood in the form of briquettes. This is the best heating system that it is possible to have- and we even heat up our sauna from this central heating system. We do not change your sheets and towels every morning – you keep and use with them for several days: like at your home. And water consumption is limited by our own well: the maximum to get out of that is 2 m3 per hour. You get more information about this in the briefing. When you are with us, you will learn many things that you can do differently at your home: shopping, recycling, as well as changing perceptions of relationships between populations and local natural environments. Community All guides live in the local area. They know fantastic local stories, will make your experience a fascinating and enjoyable one, as well as explaining the traditions of Oulanka national Park. You will be eating only local food prepared in our own kitchen- you will find that our chef is excellent! The menu will consist of Elk, reindeer, salmon, white fish and vendace – and of course we eat a lot of potatoes in Finland, as well as blueberries and cloud berries. You will be using tableware that is designed and handmade in Finland just for us – a beautiful piece of art. Rural areas benefit more when jobs we create are located in rural areas, not in the ski resort. We operate very closely with Oulanka National Park. We raise funds to ONP every year totalling several thousand euros. Our customers raise funds to PAN Parks, again to the sum of several thousand euros every year. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |