Lapland

城市概覽

Lapland is the Wild North of Finland. Outside cities wilderness – with half-wild reindeer – is everywhere. Even by the roads the distances between villages are long and villages on the map may be home only to a few families, some even uninhabited part of the year. Lapland has traditionally been home for the Sámi people, who for centuries have got their living from this barren region, mainly from fishing, hunting and reindeer husbandry. In the northernmost municipalities they are a sizeable minority, within some regions even majority. Most tourist enterprises – especially those not Sámi – from Rovaniemi onward draw on Sámi culture, offering you invented "genuine" rituals etc. Take it for what it is and just enjoy – or avoid such programmes. Genuine Sámi culture is better experienced in community centres, at cultural events and using services of Sámi tourist businesses (which often do not make any notion about their ethnicity). In southern Lapland the original Sámi population integrated with the Finnish and disappeared, but many from the North study or work in Rovaniemi or the southern cities. Rovaniemi, Oulu, and Helsinki have the largest Sámi population in Finland by the number! There is not too much history to see. At the end of the Second World War, the retreating German troops implemented a scorched Earth policy to punish their Finnish allies for agreeing to peace with the Soviet Union, razing everything in their path. This episode is known as the Lapland War (Finnish: Lapin sota, Sámi: Lappi soahti). The war lasted only from September 1944 to April 1945 but by the time they were done, some 100,000 people had fled, 675 bridges were blown up, all major roads were mined, and the capital Rovaniemi had only 13 houses left standing. However, it might be useful to understand that before this sad episode, locals and the German troops had a rather deep friendship from which the tourist can still find exciting relics. But then, people don't come to Lapland for the archite

如何抵達

By plane Flying is the fastest means of reaching much of Lapland, but for most destinations services are sparse and prices often steep. There are commercial airports in Hetta ("Enontekiö"), Ivalo, Kemi, Kittilä and Rovaniemi. Best options for airlines are Finnair and Norwegian. Air Baltic flies to Rovaniemi and Kittilä from Riga. The coaches mostly drive via the airports. In addition to the regular flights, mostly from Helsinki, there are seasonal flights and charter flights from abroad in season.

By train Most of Lapland is reachable only by bus or car, but even when there is no train service to your destination, using the train for the first leg often makes sense. For some destinations you can buy a combined train/coach-ticket, also otherwise the transfer is usually smooth. Trains will get you to the towns, most notably to the provincial capital Rovaniemi at the Arctic Circle, or to the northernmost railway station in Kolari. The overnight trains from the south have sleepers and some also take cars. There are two kinds of sleeper trains: the old "blue" pikajuna, mostly used as a complement in peak season, and the modern two-storey ones. The old ones have 3-person cabins and no showers, the new ones 2-person cabins, some of which can be combined for a family, and shared or en-suite showers. There is a cabin for a wheelchair user and an accompanying person in each modern sleeper, and one for those travelling with a pet. You always get the cabin for yourselves, so filling it up saves in price. The price for a journey from the south to Rovaniemi or Kemijärvi for two people in a sleeper cabin is about €150–300. If entering from Sweden, there is a gap in the passenger train network before the border at Haparanda/Tornio, but the connecting bus from Luleå is free with Inter Rail and Scanrail. There are again trains from Luleå to Haparanda (terminating some 3.5 km from the Finnish train station in Tornio). From Russia, you used to be able to take the train to Murmansk

當地交通

Distances in Finnish Lapland are great and train service extends only to Kemijärvi (80 km northeast Rovaniemi) and Kolari, so the independent traveler will thus have to rely on slightly cheaper but infrequent buses to get around. There is little competition in public transport in Lapland and indeed the voyage from Helsinki to Rovaniemi is easily cheaper than the voyage from Rovaniemi onwards!

By bus Long distance coaches or minibuses cover most of even the smallest places, often with sparse schedules (typically one or a few services a day along the main roads). They are the cheapest and slowest means of transportation. Although there are bus stops of course, they can also be stopped by hand sign when you happen to meet one as a hiker on a lonely countryside road. Express coaches usually turn into regular ones somewhere north of Rovaniemi. Matkahuolto has timetables for most of these. For some destinations you should look for school buses, postal carriers or shuttle taxis. The main companies for northern Lapland are Eskelisen Lapinlinjat and Koiviston auto. For smaller places, check also municipal pages (or the destinations guides). Onnibus offers cheaper bus service by a few intercity routes and has cooperation on some other legs ("Onniflex", meaning you find the services also through the Onnibus site, usually with the same price as through Matkahuolto). Generally coach prices are stable; low-cost offers are not something to expect. This also means that you don't have to buy tickets on the net – paying to the driver will usually be at the same price. However, a few connections need to be ordered in advance, as you might be the only passenger. If you are waiting for a coach at the bus stop, note that the vehicle on the scheduled route may not actually be a bus, but a smaller car like a taxi. A coach ticket will still apply.

By train The long-distance trains are usable on two routes: from Oulu to Kemi and farther north-east to Tervola, Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi, o

美食

Lapland is the place to sample reindeer (poro) dishes, which are not too common elsewhere in Finland. The traditional way to eat this is as sautéed reindeer aka reindeer hash (poronkäristys), usually eaten with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. Also smoked cold cuts and dried reindeer meat are definitely worth trying. In very rare occasions you could face some really interesting reindeer dishes like kampsut made of blood and flour, or koparakeitto, a traditional reindeer hoof soup. Other Lapland specialties worth looking for are willow ptarmigan and rock ptarmigan (riekko and kiiruna, respectively) and fish such as arctic char (rautu) or lavaret (siika). The delectable cloudberry (hilla or lakka) is one of the most expensive berries in the world. It grows on mires, unripe it is red, ripe it is light orange, containing a lot of vitamin C. In shops you find it most likely as jam (lakkahillo) or syrup. The Crowberry (kaarnikka or variksenmarja) is also a delicious specialty that is rar