Travel: Northern Finland in November. Ideas?

[zam]

Usually ruska (autumn leaf colours) in the northernmost Lapland is already in full swing in early September. From there it starts coming towards south. It usually reaches southernmost Finland in the change of September/October. However, the colours are not as bright in the south as they are in the north.

If you want to ski/snowboard in October, the most snow certain place is Ruka . There the skiing season starts usually in mid-October when they usually have 1 - 2 slopes open. Ruka is some 250 km northeast of Oulu near the Russian border. In November also other skiresorts usually open their skiing season (but this wasn't the case last winter...).

What comes to your idea of renting a car: it's probably the only sensible option if you want to travel around Northern Finland in off-season. In October the car should already have winter tires if you will drive in Lapland, but otherwise driving there is no different from driving elsewhere in Finland (less traffic, though).

[Pursuivant]

well, except for the reindeer

[onkko]

There is Ruka, Pyhä and of course Kittilä. That if there is anything to see in november. And those are 200+km from oulu.

[sds-sds]

Okay, thanks all for your comments.

I'm going to cast the net wide here. I have moments where I'm interested in photography; I've been "off" it (call it a lack of inspiration) for the last couple of weeks so it didn't come to mind when I was asked what I wanted to do. So here's what I want to do: I want to take striking photographs. Or, more likely, I want to take photographs of striking things. (Whether my photos turn out striking is another matter )

What I love is night-time photography, or dusk. Sunsets and sunrises always offer a lot of scope for great pictures. Water, rocks, hills, mountains, astounding flatness, snow, etc, all offer a lot of scope. On the flipside, open city squares, bustling people, or a total lack of people in a cityscape; brightly coloured buildings, unusual formations, lights, also offer a lot of scope. Big wide net there. "Photos of interesting things". I guess the openness and relative flatness of northern Finland appeals to me in the sense that I expect I might be able to get some great pictures from up there.

But I'm going to continue on the assumption that November is a fairly poor time of year to visit northern Finland, which won't yield many interesting photos; where might I go instead? Starting from Helsinki, where's easy/cheap to get to? Are there northern locations in Sweden or Norway which I could consider? Or should I head south via Tallinn, through Estonia and down into Latvia?

My difficulty here is that I'm now to these parts, so it's difficult to get an initial bearing on where might be a good idea for a couple of weeks' trek. The idea of car hire appealed to me for the isolation (bit of a lone ranger, here, once I've got my direction set). Comments and suggestions, as always, are welcomed!

[onkko]

Okay, thanks all for your comments.

I'm going to cast the net wide here. I have moments where I'm interested in photography; I've been "off" it (call it a lack of inspiration) for the last couple of weeks so it didn't come to mind when I was asked what I wanted to do. So here's what I want to do: I want to take striking photographs. Or, more likely, I want to take photographs of striking things. (Whether my photos turn out striking is another matter )

What I love is night-time photography, or dusk. Sunsets and sunrises always offer a lot of scope for great pictures. Water, rocks, hills, mountains, astounding flatness, snow, etc, all offer a lot of scope. On the flipside, open city squares, bustling people, or a total lack of people in a cityscape; brightly coloured buildings, unusual formations, lights, also offer a lot of scope. Big wide net there. "Photos of interesting things". I guess the openness and relative flatness of northern Finland appeals to me in the sense that I expect I might be able to get some great pictures from up there.

But I'm going to continue on the assumption that November is a fairly poor time of year to visit northern Finland, which won't yield many interesting photos; where might I go instead? Starting from Helsinki, where's easy/cheap to get to? Are there northern locations in Sweden or Norway which I could consider? Or should I head south via Tallinn, through Estonia and down into Latvia?

My difficulty here is that I'm now to these parts, so it's difficult to get an initial bearing on where might be a good idea for a couple of weeks' trek. The idea of car hire appealed to me for the isolation (bit of a lone ranger, here, once I've got my direction set). Comments and suggestions, as always, are welcomed!

Dunno about anything but if you travel near from kemijärvi then look kotavaara, there is stand in there and views are good http://users.pelikaista.net/~onkko/vaarasta.jpg You will need to walk in woods for while for that but its worth of it.
Theres also ww2 russian "groupgrave" near with "memorial stone", ask more if you want instructions (walking needed for that too). You will also see house of my " brother of the father of grandfather" if you go there, its not much to see i think but your opinion may differ
Also near is lappish near, its about 5km.

[zam]

Water, rocks, hills, mountains, astounding flatness, snow, etc, all offer a lot of scope. On the flipside, open city squares, bustling people, or a total lack of people in a cityscape; brightly coloured buildings, unusual formations, lights, also offer a lot of scope.

Well, real mountains you can only find in Norway... Fells also in Finland and Sweden. But then again city squares you will not find in Northern Sweden, and in Northern Finland only in Rovaniemi and Oulu... Unless you consider an empty/full Ikea parking lot an interesting sight (in Haparanda).

But I'm going to continue on the assumption that November is a fairly poor time of year to visit northern Finland, which won't yield many interesting photos; where might I go instead? Starting from Helsinki, where's easy/cheap to get to? Are there northern locations in Sweden or Norway which I could consider? Or should I head south via Tallinn, through Estonia and down into Latvia?

Weather wise there aren't any big differences between Northern Finland, Sweden or Norway (other than in Norway it will most likely rain even more...). The latitudes are anyway the same, i.e. as much darkness/light in all of them. Of course you can find nice old towns in the Baltics, the old towns of Riga and Vilnius are beautiful, as is Tallinn's old town, too. Stockholm is also beautiful in autumn if it doesn't rain...

My difficulty here is that I'm now to these parts, so it's difficult to get an initial bearing on where might be a good idea for a couple of weeks' trek. The idea of car hire appealed to me for the isolation (bit of a lone ranger, here, once I've got my direction set). Comments and suggestions, as always, are welcomed!

You can of course rent a car for your journey in the Baltics as well (check the prices in Helsinki and Tallinn... Helsinki based car rentals will most likely ask for higher prices if you want to drive the car also in the Baltics, i.e. not only in Finland). However, in the towns you can't trek... If that's what you're after, then turn your eye on the Finnish hiking routes (they exist also elsewhere than only in the northernmost part of the country).