25/07/2026
Everyone seems to think that Finland is mostly lakes and forests. After driving through the country from north to south, I can confirm that they are basically right.
Scenic roads in the Norwegian style are hard to find here, but I did discover a few. One of them is Pulkkilanharju, Route 314 crossing Lake Päijänne near Lahti. It looks good from behind the wheel, but only from a drone can you see that the road runs across narrow glacial islands and causeways connected by bridges. It is definitely more scenic from above than from the driver’s seat.
Finland has a strong tradition of industrial design, but in the countryside design sometimes takes a different form. Near Suomussalmi, I came across the Silent People installation — around a thousand figures standing in a field beside the road. It makes a particularly strong impression when you have passed maybe three cars over several dozen kilometres, and then suddenly more than a thousand figures are “watching” you from the field.
I spent one night in the harbour in Kuopio, on the shore of Lake Kallavesi. On the map, it looks as though you could keep zooming out forever — the wider the view, the more bays, peninsulas and islands appear.
And so, through one forest, lake and road after another, after driving 1,300 kilometres across Finland, I reached Helsinki.
