https://hitchwiki.org/en/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=213.186.242.46&feedformat=atomHitchwiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T23:48:25ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.32.3https://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Finland&diff=36711Finland2009-08-21T18:32:09Z<p>213.186.242.46: </p>
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<div>{{infobox Country<br />
|country = of Finland<br />
|language = Finnish, Swedish; recognised regional languages: Sami<br />
|capital = [[Helsinki]]<br />
|pop = 5,301,701<br />
|currency = Euro (€)<br />
|hitch = {{good}}<br />
|map = <map lat='64.8' lng='25.9' zoom='4' view='0' width='300' height='350' country='Finland'/><br />
}}<br />
'''Finland''' is a part of the Northern [[Europe]], one of the Nordic countries. It is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. Its neighbouring countries are [[Sweden]], [[Norway]] and [[Russia]], but possibly the most probable transit country on your way hitchhiking there is [[Estonia]]. Most people use this way which is called "[[Via Baltica]]" - it is a road [[E67]] between [[Helsinki]], Finland and [[Prague]], [[Czech Republic]] through Baltic States and [[Poland]].<br />
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Hitchhiking seems pretty easy in the Northern part of Finland. It could be a good idea to avoid motorways and opt for smaller local roads once you get closer to Helsinki - sure, there will be less traffic, however, you will get more space for the cars to stop, and avoid a chance of getting stuck on some unlit motorway ramp in the middle of nowhere (consider the early darkness when hitchhiking in autumn/winter!)<br />
<br />
Since Finland mostly lacks a motorway network, most of the hitchhiking happens in the "classical manner", standing thumb up on roadside. While doing this, be aware that the Finnish drivers are a lot more careful in traffic than drivers elsewhere in Europe. They will only stop if the place is super-safe. This means a bus stop or similar. Even if there is a bus-stop-sized widening in the road, it does not help if it is unpaved.. Travellers not taking this into account has caused Finland to be known among foreigners as a difficult country to hitchhike, although it isn't actually worse than other western countries if you get around the culture of requiring crazy amounts of safety.<br />
__TOC__<br />
[[File:Erga-camping-in-finland.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Camping]] is legal almost anywhere in Finland, just stay slightly out of sight and you can even camp next to [[motorways]].]]<br />
<br />
=== Cities ===<br />
* [[Espoo]]<br />
* [[Hämeenlinna]]<br />
* [[Helsinki]]<br />
* [[Joensuu]]<br />
* [[Jyväskylä]]<br />
* [[Kuopio]]<br />
* [[Lahti]]<br />
* [[Oulu]]<br />
* [[Pori]]<br />
* [[Seinäjoki]]<br />
* [[Tampere]]<br />
* [[Turku]]<br />
<br />
=== Other areas ===<br />
* [[Lapland]]<br />
<br />
== Crossing the borders ==<br />
Apart from the Russian border, Finnish borders exist only on the map, not in reality. Since the dawn of time there has been very a liberal co-operation between the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian. However, despite the fact that Finland signed the [[Schengen Agreement]] there is a random identity and luggage check when you take a ferry from [[Ahvenanmaa]] to [[Stockholm]] (Sweden).<br />
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[[File:Washing car window in the North of Finland.JPG|thumb|240px|Hitchhiker [[User:guaka|guaka]] washing away mosquito corpses]]<br />
=== From/to Sweden ===<br />
Ferries to Stockholm go from [[Helsinki]] and [[Turku]]. The latter is considerably cheaper. Both ferries also stop in [[Maarianhamina]] ([[Ahvenanmaa]]), or [[Mariehamn]] ([[Åland]]), as its Swedish-speaking population calls it. The two companies which run ferries between Finland and Sweden are [http://www.vikingline.fi ''Viking Line''] and [http://www.silja.com ''Silja Line'']. Both of the companies are focused on bringing the customers a cruise-experience, and are bound to be tacky. ''Viking Line'' sells cheaper tickets without a cabin, too, which would be rather useless on the daytime trips between [[Turku]] and [[Stockholm]] anyway. As of 2008, a ferry from Stockholm to Turku costs about 25 euros, and Stockholm-Helsinki - 55 euros (both without a cabin). <br />
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''Silja Line'' is the posher of the two, and thus more expensive. It's still tacky, though.<br />
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The ''Viking Line'' cruise ships have free tourist maps of Turku at their information desks on board. Be aware, though, that if you take a daytime cruise (which is about half the price), you will arrive in Turku at night. During the autumn, winter and early spring that means no daylight which is no help for hitchhiking. In winter nights, extremely cold temperatures might occur as well.<br />
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When on-board, during warmer time of the year you might go up outside to enjoy the scenery of the archipelagos of Stockholm or Turku. <br />
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Be aware as well of a constant attempt to lure people to buy as much tax-free alcohol and some other things on the ferries. It really isn't much more cheaper, though, than buying them on land. So, do bring a book. Usually there are free Playstation or XBox games at the kids-section to spend the time, plus very often other backpackers wander around (you might as well have a chat with them). You can also try to spot small islands severely damaged by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Cormorant Great cormorants] a few hours off Stockholm.<br />
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There are Swedish [http://www.birka.se ''Birka Cruises''] boats cruising the sea, too.<br />
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More info about boats in the region: [http://www.makupalat.fi/Categories.aspx?classID=aef30d12-31ab-407f-89d6-526dd5d637f5 here] (Sweden, Estonia, Germany + lake tourism)<br />
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=== From/to Norway ===<br />
<br />
Its possible to hitch from lapland. Aim for Kilpisjärvi down the E8. You do not go into Sweden. If going South down the E8 its possible to go on to Oulu. There is much less traffic up there so longer rides are more common. Just after Oulu there is a service station that is quite busy. There is no customs stopping, unless there is a new car that has not travelled that way before. Then you may get lifts at the border. There is a lot of tourism there and wilderness huts for free staying are possible to find. <br />
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=== From/to Estonia ===<br />
[[File:Erga-and-a-friendly-finnish-man.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Hitchhiker Erga and a friendly Finnish driver]]<br />
There is no land connection between Finland and [[Estonia]]. There are several daily boats from Helsinki to [[Tallinn]]. It takes usually 1-3 hours, costs about 20 euros (the cheapest one, without a cabin).<br />
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Links:<br />
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* [http://www.tallinksilja.com/fi/trips/routeTrips/ ''Tallink & Silja Line''], ferries to Estonia (only in Finnish/Swedish)<br />
* [http://www.vikingline.fi/index.asp?lang=en ''Viking Line''] <br />
* [http://www.eckeroline.fi/en/default.aspx ''Eckerö Line'']<br />
* [http://www.lindaliini.ee/ ''Linda Line'']<br />
<br />
=== From/to [[Russia]] ===<br />
'''Note that as of 2006:'''<br />
* No walking is permitted on any of existing Finnish-Russian border checkpoints.<br />
* ''Vaalimaa–Torfianovka'' border checkpoint is permitted to cross by cycling.<br />
* Russian visa can not be issued at the border checkpoint.<br />
<br />
The most important border checkpoints to Russia ([[St. Petersburg]]'s district) are ''Vaalimaa–Torfianovka'' on the road [[E18]]/7 Helsinki-St.Petersburg, and ''Nuijamaa–Brusnichnoe'' near [[Lappeenranta]].<br />
<br />
==== Vaalimaa–Torfianovka ====<br />
It is always open. Traffic is high there, and you might find there both long-distance trucks (however, see info below about trucks ) as well as lots of locals, from both sides of the border, with Russians coming to buy goods they don't have in Russia, and Finns going to the other side to buy alcohol, cigarettes and fuel. On a Finnish side, you can find most of them at the first [[petrol station]], just before the customs zone. You can also ask drivers on the parking, and those queuing to the terminal. A ride to [[Torfianovka]] is enough – there's lots of transport going to [[Vyborg]] and [[St. Petersburg]] from there. <br />
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As of 2006, it was a complete waste of time to hitch a truck over the border to Russia – freight terminal is separate for trucks and the queue there is extremely slow: sometimes you wait for hours, sometimes for days. Same terminal from Russia to Finland, though, seems to be faster. <br />
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To get back from [[Russia]] to Finland, simply ask drivers at the parking lot by one of the supermarkets around there on the Russian side.<br />
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==== Other checkpoints ====<br />
There is a checkpoint on the road '''13''' going south from [[Lappeenranta]] and bypassing the village of Niirala on the north. There is less traffic here but the route is more scenic, going along the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saimaa_canal Saimaa canal] (Russian: ''Сайменский канал''; Finnish: ''Saimaan kanava'').<br />
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Next border checkpoint to the north from there is ''Niirala-Värtsilä'', on the road 70 south of [[Joensuu]]. The trafic is low, a road goes to [[Sortavala]] and then further to [[St. Petersburg]] via the south shore of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ladoga lake Ladoga] (with a portion of an unpaved road), or via the north shore to [[Petrozavodsk]].<br />
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There are a few more border checkpoints: from [[Imatra]] to [[Svetogorsk]], from [[Kuhmo]] to [[Kostamuksha]], from [[Salla]] towards [[Kandalaksha]], and from [[Inari]] towards [[Murmansk]]. These days most of these checkpoints work 24/7. Good way to hitch a ride from Russia to Finland is to hang around some stores near borders and look for Finnish license plates. A smart trick you can do to lift up your chances to get a ride is by offering a driver you speak to to bring an extra load of cigarettes and alcohol - most of the Finnish drivers won't resist that!<br />
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== Language ==<br />
The language most people in Finland speak is Finnish which isn't a Scandinavian language. The country is officially bilingual as there is a large Swedish-speaking minority on the west coast of Finland. Anyhow, most of the people speak good English, too, so most of the foreign hitchhikers won't have big language problems in Finland.<br />
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Some older people, however, might have no English language knowledge at all, so you might as well learn some basic Finnish phrases. Note, that with a knowledge of Swedish, however, you can come pretty far (it is useful all over Scandinavia).<br />
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Useful Finnish expressions for hitchhikers:<br />
<br />
* Hello = '''Terve'''<br />
* Hi = '''Moi''' ''or'' '''Hei'''<br />
* Hitchhiking = '''Liftaaminen'''<br />
* To hitchhike = '''Liftata''' <br />
* A ride = '''Kyyti'''<br />
* Thank you = '''Kiitos'''<br />
* Where are you driving to? = '''Minne ajat?'''<br />
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== Safety ==<br />
Hitchhiking is quite safe in Finland. As always, common sense is your friend.<br />
<br />
== Legal matters for hitchhikers ==<br />
Hitchhiking is legal in Finland. Anyhow, there are some places where it is illegal for the cars to stop, and some places where it is illegal for pedestrians to stand. Both of these make hitchhiking illegal de facto in these places.<br />
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[[File:Finland european roads.png|thumb|250px|Finnish motorways (blue) with their European numbers and national roads (red and yellow)]]<br />
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== Motorways ==<br />
[[File:Finnish_motorway_sign_561.png|left|60px]]<br />
It is illegal to hitchhike on the motorways (called “moottoritie”) and some motorways (“moottoriliikennetie”) in Finland. You can recognize these from the green signs.<br />
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The cars can not stop in crossing areas, and some cars not obeying this rule and taking hitchhikers on board are known to be fined.<br />
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Hitching on the motorways and two lane expressways is prohibited. On any other motorway you can legally hitch. You can also hitchhike at the motorway on-ramps, and at the motorway [[petrol station]]s' areas. Basically, same rules as in countries in Western Europe and in most states of the [[USA]].<br />
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== Culture ==<br />
Hitchhiking used to be popular in the 70's and 80's, and many drivers will tell the hitchhiker(s) they've hitched themselves back in their days. Nowadays this practice is rather rare among Finns, but there are always some, especially in summer time, when local hitchers get inspired by European backpackers heading to [[Lapland]].<br />
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== Links ==<br />
* [[:fi:Etusivu|Finnish Hitchwiki]]<br />
* [http://www.liftari.org/ Finnish hitchhiker's club] − the site is mostly in Finnish but there is an English section in the [http://www.liftari.org/forum forum].<br />
* IRC Channel [[Liftari @ IRCnet]]<br />
* [http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/kjokisal/liftaus/ Hitchhiker's guide to Europe] − a hitchhiking site by a Finn<br />
* [http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/ssmoland/peukalo/ Liftausvinkkejä] − hitchhiking tips in Finnish<br />
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZY_XZW9AtYgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=finland Lonely Planet − Finland eBook (2003) ''preview'']<br />
[[trash:Finland]]<br />
[[wikipedia:Finland]]<br />
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{{IsIn|Scandinavia}}<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}}<br />
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[[Category:Finland| ]]<br />
[[Category:Northern Europe]]<br />
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[[de:Finnland]]<br />
[[fi:Suomi]]</div>213.186.242.46https://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Norway&diff=36710Norway2009-08-21T18:20:21Z<p>213.186.242.46: </p>
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<div>{{Infobox Country<br />
|country = of Norway<br />
|currency = Norwegian Krone (NOK)<br />
|hitch = {{average}} to {{good}}<br />
|language = Norwegian, Sami, Finnish<br />
|capital = [[Oslo]]<br />
|pop = 4,770,000<br />
|map = <map lat='65.33017791526852' lng='15.556640625' zoom='4' view='0' float='right' width='270' height='375' country='Norway'/><br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Norway''' is a good country to hitch in, of course depending on location! It is a member state of the [[Schengen Agreement]], but is not part of the [[European Union]]. Its neighbouring countries are [[Sweden]], [[Finland]] and [[Russia]].<br />
<br />
Even though ''haike'' is not too common in Norway, Norwegians are very likely to pick you up and can be very friendly and helpful. People have a tendency to always be in a rush on weekdays. The main thing to be aware of is the rapidly shifting weather, so be prepared for anything, as they say in '''Norway''': ''There is nothing called bad weather, only bad clothing''. Most people speak [[England|English]] well enough for reasonable communication. One thing that makes hitching easy in '''Norway''' is that almost all of the population lives near the [[E6]] road, which extends from the [[Sweden|Swedish]] border in the south to almost all the way north, so it's pretty hard to get lost, as long as you are headed the right way. Hitching is ''much'' easier in the beautiful north (at least in the summer), where many locals hitch regularly to commute. Be aware that traffic may be very light at times.<br />
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It is illegal to hitch on the expressway in '''Norway''', but not illegal from [[rest stop]]s or at [[on-ramp]]s. It is legal to camp out almost anywhere if it is a good distance from a private house, but not permanently. <br />
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Norwegians will often offer to take you so many Norwegian miles. One Norwegian mile is 10km. Recently there have been some Roma / Romanian people faking broken down cars and then robbing people who stop to help, police confirm this as so, so try not waiting near cars. Also asking people directly at service stations is more likely to get a result than just thumbing as result of this.<br />
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=== Cities ===<br />
[[File:2002 hitch hiking in Norway.jpg|thumb|280px|right|[[User:Sigurdas|Sigurdas]] hitch-hiking somewhere in the middle of Norway. January 2002.]]<br />
* [[Skien]]<br />
* [[Horten]]<br />
* [[Narvik]]<br />
* [[Oslo]]<br />
* [[Tromsø]]<br />
* [[Trondheim]]<br />
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=== Regions of Norway ===<br />
* [[Lofoten]]<br />
* [[Nordkapp]]<br />
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== Language ==<br />
* north - nord<br />
* south - sør<br />
* West - vest<br />
* East - øst<br />
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Vowels: Vowels are pronounced very differently in Norwegian as opposed to English<br />
* A pronounsed "ah" as in bar<br />
* E pronounsed "eh" as in heck<br />
* I pronounsed "e" as in here or "i" as in hill<br />
* O pronounsed "w" as in willy and in other times, "o" as in hockey<br />
* U pronounsed "oo" as in poop<br />
* Y pronounsed "y" as in young<br />
* Æ pronounsed "a" as in hack<br />
* Ø pronounsed "uh" as in hull<br />
* Å pronounsed "o" as in hockey<br />
<br />
Additionally, the consonant J and the combination GJ is pronounced the same way you would pronounce Y (young). For instance, "jobb" (work) would be pronounced "yobb".<br />
<br />
== User Experiences ==<br />
<br />
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: ''[[User:markus|markus]] is a dude and hitched from Stavangar to Mandal (1 day), Mandal to Oslo (1 day) Oslo to Trondheim (1 day) Trondheim to Mor e Rana (1 day) and Mor e Rana to Karlsøya (1 day) sequentially. Long rides and easy hitching, some big waits outside Oslo. English speaking was seen as a good thing and several drivers told me they dropped silent, drunk or drugged people quickly. He also hitched back from Karlsøya to Tampere in 1 day and night non-stop, but thinks it shoudl take 2 days for any normal hitcher.<br />
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: ''[[User:ReZz|ReZz]] is a dude, and he has found that [[Trondheim]] one of the worst places to hitch from. Still, he has done it, even in the winter, all the way to [[Oslo]] in the South and [[Hammerfest]]/[[North Cape]] in the extreme North. Sadly, I must say that one steadfast rule of hitchhiking has to be amended. Although I am a polyglot and love language, I must say that if you are not white, speak English to people. Norwegians are extremely wary of foreigners and any non-white who speaks English is assumed to be a refugee. Still, a lot of white women tell me that truckers are very friendly and that the hitching is great if you go out to the shipping areas around Dyre Halsels Gate and north of Stradveien. This has not worked for me. They love foreign tourists, though, as long as you keep telling them that you love Norway.''<br />
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: ''[[User:abstorz|abstorz]] is a dude, and hitched from Trondheim to Oslo and back in March/April. Both trips took one day. From Oslo he was able to hitch a ride onto the motorway behind the tunnel in the area of Etterstad, from Trondheim he took the bus to Heimdal and walked another couple of miles to a bus stop. Once on the motorway everything went fine. He took the route over Oppdal/Dombås. Check [[Liftershalte]] for exact locations, or find better ones!<br />
{{hitchbase_country|147}}<br />
__NOTOC__<br />
{{IsIn|Scandinavia}}<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}}<br />
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[[Category:Norway| ]]<br />
[[Category:Northern Europe]]<br />
[[Category:East Route from North Cape to Cape of Good Hope]]<br />
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[[de:Norwegen]]<br />
[[es:Noruega]]</div>213.186.242.46