The Gulf of Bothnia

A real life mousse. The only one we saw on our trip, but a real treat.

Continuing the Scandinavian theme, we thought it was worth looking a little bit more at the Gulf of Bothnia. Looking at the map of Sweden and Finland, this is the large bay shaped part right at the top of the Baltic Sea. It's quite an unusual area as it doesn't have any stand-out tourist attractions. However, it does have it's very own charm and if you are doing either a Scandinavian or Baltic Tour, you are going to pass round it anyway!

We passed around the gulf late August, early September and the first thing we noticed was just how quiet it is in this part of the country. The northern parts of Sweden and Finland are less densely populated than the south and it seems that a lot of Swedes and Fins will gravitate south anyway for their holidays, leaving this area ghostly quiet.

Wendy on the beach on the Gulf of Bothnia.

Weather-wise it's not going to be spectacular in terms of the heat as you are quite a long way north here. You are not that far from the Arctic Circle. However, we were comfortable in jeans and jumpers, which is not bad for the time of the year.

The main attraction here is the gulf and the bay itself. The area is characterised by flat countryside and forest, interspersed with small towns. Many of the houses are wooden and there are lots of beach-type houses too.
The bay itself is flat with sandy beaches giving way to silty and muddy areas as you get nearer the sea. When we were there the water was very calm and we can't imagine it ever getting bad given its position right at the top of the Baltic Sea. Walking and cycling are the main attractions here and being Scandinavia, it is very geared up towards both with clearly marked walking and cycle paths.

Beautifully kept service lay-bys. Great for free overnight stops.

The main city on the Swedish side is Lulea. It is a university city so quite lively and is best described as typically Swedish. It is laid out in a grid system with plenty of modern architecture in amongst the more traditional buildings. It felt very much like a frontier town as it is the only bit of real urban civilisation for quite some distance.

Round on the Finnish side the largest conurbation is the city of Oulu, which in fact is the fifith largest in the country. It has all the sight you would expect of a large city including cathedral, city hall and a rnage of museums. It has embraced hi-tech and many people work in the industry.

A typcal wooden church in Finland

In terms of staying there are loads of campsites all the way round the gulf, including sites near the main cities. We used the ACSI CD for many of our sites but mainly just took our chances. This involved some excellent local sites, which we just found by chance. Many had saunas, some of which were included as part of the price.

Language can be more of a problem as fewer people speak English up north. Having said that, if you turn up at a campsite in a motorhome, it is pretty easy for them to understand what you are after!

Sweden and Finland have also embraced the free camping notion, with the 'right to roam'. This means that you are OK in service lay-bys (which are nothing like the ones in the UK), car parks, aires, harbours or any quiet spot away from houses. Many of the hotels and motels also had full camping facilities or parking areas with access to the facilities for only a few pounds a night.

A close encounter with Rudolph on a forest walk.

The Gulf of Bothnia is probably not a place you might head for in its own right, but it is well worth slowing down a bit as you pass round on your Scandinavian or Baltic Tour.