RVing in Finland: Road Trip to the Arctic Circle and Beyond - Traveling Robert
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- We depart from Helsinki aboard our Sunlight T69L. We stop by the historic city of Porvoo, visit a viewer nearby. Then continue to Varkaus to visit our host Petteri, and his wife. We also get to chat with his friend and partner Tomi. From there is it all the way north into the Lapland, past the Arctic Circle, eventually into Norway. We get to visit Santa Claus Village near Rovaniemi, right at the Arctic Circle and the town on Inari.
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The reason it's hard to find non-carbonated water in the store is because tap water is drinkable basically everywhere in finland.
Next time I'll have to buy a container to refill with tap water
Actually the tap water is not just drinkable but it is better than bottle water and it contains less bacteria than those water bottles in store. Those bottles are stored usually in warm warehouses and in stores they are kept in warm shelters as well. But cold tap water is always about 4-6 c decrees. That is colder that your fridge, so not the best place for bacteria to live in and in Finland we have the best water purification system in the world and it covers entire country.
I knew this comment would already be here. Just had to check.
sakkijakki no ei kaupungeissa
Hannes väitätkö että ihmiset ei juo hanavettä kaupungeissa :D minä oon juonut koko ikäni helsingin, jyväskylän ja kuopion hanavettä eikä ikinä oo mitään ongelmaa ollu
The reason for you not finding water easily to buy, I believe, is because people in Finland and Sweden drink tap water in their homes. Scandinavia overall I think have perhaps the cleanest water in the world. Further more, often when the Scandinavians want to buy water, they want carbonated water, as regular water you already have as much as you want.
Yeah, I figured that was the reason, and that's what our Finnish friends told us as well. Still I didn't trust the water coming off our RV tank, so we got used to carbonated water rather quickly.
We usually have separate water containers with us that can be filled at the camping sites. You can buy them basically everywhere. And the bigger ones have taps at the bottom for easy use.
Also you can use empty carbonated water bottles for tap water. I wouldn't trust rented rv water tanks either.
Also usually from all bigger supermarkets you will find still water in bottles of all sizes and bigger containers. But not necessarily from small stores or gas stations. The problem is that it's often written in just Finnish so you would have to know what to look for.
Here in Norway we definitely have lots of bottled still water. Even though we all drink tap water more or less. People buy it when they're out and about I guess.
Holy smokes, that Vitalis home was...special.
6 months of the year - darkness - you need COLORS :)
Robert, the way you start each vlog with a beginning, middle and end of each story and providing the best capture of streets, places and things of interest is truly outstanding. Be Safe.
Thank you!
I second that!!
Robert we watched your video today and I want to say to you....thank you so much for that beautiful trip to the Arctic circle in Finland. We have never had the opportunity to get there, but we appreciate your talents, your videography, your narration and especially your editing skills and abilities. Finland people are so very lucky to live in such a beautiful nation. The lakes, the trees, the light, the roads, and especially the food, looks wonderful. The RV is not too shabby either. Thank you to your wife and family for supporting you Robert, because we would miss this opportunity of learning from you if they didn't. Grateful......Carolyn & Colin Hogarth
Thank you so much
the trucks have "flat noses" because tight spaces in loading areas, and some vehicle regulations concerning the overall lenght of the vehicle. there is a law that says truck cannot be longer than 25.25m without special permits.
yeah i would say its more america vs europe thing
Trucks in US are smaller than what we have here; 80000lb is just 36 metric tons vs 48 or 76 tons for full sized.
Interstate trucks are lighter but they are also much faster, in Texas the trucks can go 137 km/h legally. Many go much faster than that. And speaking of weights for example Michigan has as heavy trucks as Finland.
The tap water in finland is drinkable and pretty much as clean (if not cleaner) than bottled water. You can also refill your water at most stores for free. Due to this the market for non carbonated water is very small.
Knitople: Just curious...is there a health benefit in drinking carbonated water? The water in the U.S. is BAD...full of chemicals(like fluoride and chlorine).
@@valeriegriner5644
As far as I know, the effects of carbonated water on your health compared to regular are basically nonexistent.
Valerie Griner there’s no health benefit in drinking carbonated water. It’s acid and acid is bad for your teeth. Carbonated water may cause gas too.
I really like watching videos like these. Finland for me is very mundane and boring because I live here, seeing it through the eyes of someone who isn't from here gives me a whole new perspective on things.
I spent the first 20 years of my life above the arctic circle and couldn't stand living there, but seeing tourists appreciate the place makes me wonder why I never really could.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence...
You see that bare rock in Southern Finland and around Stockholm. The Helsinki and Stockholm metro has the same feature, alongside the massive parking areas, coal storage's and open tunnels below Helsinki for infra (like water, data cables etc.).
Reason for it is the Fennoscandian Shield that is a solid granite bedrock right on the surface because of the ice age carving much of the material on top of it. Why it is relatively easy to carve these big areas as you don't need to build support as you go along.
Fascinating, and nicely narrated . . . And I see nothing wrong with an endless aisle devoted just to ice cream.
two weeks after your trip it was like 30c
It is all about the timing. I did enjoy the colder temperatures but not the rain
The speed-limits for bigger cars are more strict partly because Finland is so north that the ice-ages have shifted the land into a very "hilly" landscape. The road often has to go up and down and left and right at a moment's notice. This coupled with a lot of trees (low visibility) and the dreaded invisible "black ice" in the winter can make driving difficult. Finland's driving-test is one of the most demanding in the world for these reasons.
It was like a roller coaster....so steep and up and down! Do most vehicles in Finland have a manual stick shift(vs automatic transmission)? I'm ashamed to say that I can only drive an automatic(because that's what we were taught in Driver's Education). I think that manual transmissions get much better gas mileage.
@@valeriegriner5644 most of the cars are stick-shift.
Trucks with flat noses are called "cabovers" because the cab is over the engine.
I didn't know that. Thank you
They are quite common in Europe. I would say to 99%😊
Reason for the flatnoses are that we have length restrictions on our vehicles in Europe, with the engine in front of the cab would mean less cargo :)
Also cabovers are easier to drive in the smaller streets of Europe
The reason cabovers are prevalent in Europe is that in most european countries (if not all) the maximum allowed lenght of the truck is measured from the front bumper on back. Sure you could have some big Mack or Peterbilt but you would be limiting how long trailer you could haul.
Thank you for the RV tour of Finland. I was born there, but have lived in Canada since 76.
Mom enjoyed it as well, seeing the old country.
Time to go back, rent an RV and tour Finland and Sweden for a month.
Ohhhhh, we enjoyed that soooo much! Thank you so much for taking us along. LOVED every minute of it. :)
Thank you!
You just missed the best weather for this Summer. May and July were both exceptionally warm and fantastic.
Oh and there are actually some roads, which are "wide lane roads" or some such. They're wider than normal roads and you're supposed to drive on the right side so people can pass you.
Trucks are limited to 89 km/h. I believe it's an EU wide rule / law.
Sodankylä is the village of war in english.
And Varkaus is robbery.
And karkkila has the best candy.
Even though it has nothing to do with war ("sota"), but a last name "Sova" .
Varkaus on theft, robbery on ryöstö.
HerraTomaatti oothan sä itsekin tääl🤦🏼♀️
Your background music is awe inspiring...very beautiful...
11:24 - 11:30 That's a very trippy video effect, zooming-out while traveling into the landscape, Robert! Clever, creative videography with skillful execution! Brilliant!
Very cool video. The Google maps lady has to work on her pronunciation LOL... Happy travels, Robert! 😎👍
LOL, thanks
Next time try HERE maps app, UX perhaps not best but at least navigation is not based on pronunciation of street names.
Those trailers with plastic covers are normal trailers, the cover is just to cover the things inside and to improve fuel economy. some trailers doesn't come with those and some comes but you can buy those easily and install if you don't already have it.
Robert, great video as usual. We don’t RV, but we love watching you do it and seeing all the beautiful places. You are very lucky to be “free in your RV”, or someone else’s RV, for that matter. Big thumbs up!
Thank you!
Robert, is there a video after this one that's a continuation in the Arctic Circle? Can't wait to see that one.
I'm editing it right now
I would like to say that Vitaly's house does not represent well the normal finnish household decorations :D :D
I agree and would add that clothing was very wierd for finland aswell... felt much more like american fanboyism to me.
Zarniwooper: It was quite festive, you must admit! I thought it was a flower shop...so many flowers!
Thanks, I thought it was a finnish thing
i as a finn i cringed when i saw him in that silly hat, wtf was he thinking... argh perkele!
i think , judging from the interiour design - he found the nutcase family of finland :)
rp582 Lol. The interior of typical Finnish homes is quite minimalistic with Scandinavian clean lines and colored by white and earth tones. Anyway, it’s good some people experiment and have their own thing.
Oh nice. I like their way of dumping the gray water. Very convenient.
Been watching your videos for some time now and really enjoyed all of your travels here in in the US. But, going RVing in another country so far away brings the really cool aspect to this! Thanks, not many people do this on their channels.
Thank you! It was an unforgettable trip
HI Robert all those purple flowers are called lupines they are very frequently seen all along the roads and highways here in Canada , nova scotia if you didn't say you were in Finland it looks like you are here looking at the landscape ....crazy all that daylight ...great video
Varkaus means Theft in english, also pretty close where i live
I didn't know that. I would have mentioned it
I also live in Varkaus, very close to Hotel Kuntoranta.
I pass through Varkaus quite a bit; it looks nice enough, but unfortunately there's a smell.... "Raha haisee," the locals would say.
"Varkauden kaupunki -- on saanut nimensä vetotaipaleesta, jonka kautta kulkemalla on pystytty kiertämään koski ja näin lyhentämään eli varastamaan matkaa."
You have the best travel videos! 💜
Hi Robert, I just saw this upload and had to watch it. The trees that grow in that area are so majestically standing. What type of trees are they? The sky light too is majestic and bright. What a lovely trip you must of had.
Thank you Finland is beautiful
Sure is. I was pleasantly surprised.
I love your videos Finland and Norway ones more thanks
Very amazing videos . Keep uploading . Will watch all and cherish too !cheers from , New Delhi , India .
Thank you!
i watched this video during a sleepless night. I enjoyed it a lot, well made, interesting and entertaining....hopefully many more to come !
Did you notice most of the other RV's you met always said hello to you? I drove a Ducato globebus 3800km this summer for the first time from the middle of finland to northern norway and I found it really fun when everyone else in RV's said hi during the long drives I did :)
In finland people dont really have any big trailers like in the USA, so the small trailers with the plastic covers are a cheap and efficient way to haul around stuff such as bicycles.
What a great roadmovie. One day i Will do that to🤠👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank so much Robert por sus videos.
You're welcome
37:46 That Rovaniemi's Prisma has been under construction for this summer. It feels messy for us too here in Rovaniemi.
Nice trip Mr
This is a very nicely made video with great footage, awesome job.
Robert - so glad I found your channel 6 months ago! I've binge watched everything! Can't wait to see the rest of your Finnish trip! Next year I'm retiring & buying a new Leisure Travel Van Island Bed model ...and it does NOT have a yucky cassette toilet like the Hymer Vans! They are totally gross!! Thanks so much for sharing your adventures...stay safe my friend!
Glad you liked it. That LTV island bed is very nice. One of my favorites.
I admire the way you pronounce Finnish words. Because it takes some practice.
Thanks!
Greetings from one Finnish person. Lapland is a dear place to me because I have summer house in Inari. :)
That's nice to have a summer house in Inari. Greetings.
I can't believe you made it to Oulu in one day and taking the longest possible route too!
Wow! The chandeliers in the cathedral are so beautiful and ornate! Very different. Lunch at your You Tube subscriber's home was beautiful. So many lights and flowers! Lovely.
Thank you!
Great point about the trucks Robert!
Thought about that myself.
They need standardized lengths for ferrys.
Your voice is like butter melting
Robert, we love you. But want to see your wife also. Both of you are such a great dynamic.
Love from Los Angeles.
The feeling when I've driven the Same route from helsinki to rovaniemi
Excellent video, you made. Especially the drone events. Greetings from Rovaniemi.
Thank you!
29:37 wide lanes means youre supposed to drive near right lane so peoples can easily overtake you without getting other side of the lane :) ( Sorry for bad english)
Amazing Robert! Thanks...
Thank you!
Finland? Wow you have been everywhere
Serendipitous ? My goodness I haven’t heard that word used for more years that I care to think about! 😁👍 Great video!
Very cool thanks
gorgeous video.
Thank you
Great video! Thanks I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you!
At the 1:39 you had a change to get big ticket. If there is car stopped front of the crosswalk then next lane has to make stop there.
The road where people were overtaking between lanes is called a "wide lane road" and is actually built to make passing safer but is cheaper than a multi lane road. There is a sign telling "Wide lane road starting - Drive at the right to make overtaking easier" at the beginning of it.
Yes, I missed that sign at the beginning. Now I know for next time.
Im from finland
Wow cool upload, Robert!
Precioso todo, Suomi on kaunis 😊😊🤗
I would have fished everywhere I could!
Hi Robert! I saw Your videos now for the first time and you were driving past the places I live :) Great stuff!
@30:00 About trucks, Semi´s and longer trailers going so slow (limited I guess to 85km/h) may be safety (its very slippery at winter), just the "we are used to that" -habit, or perhaps the weight...
If I´m correct, in US the maximum gross weight of "Your Average Joe´s regular truck" is about 80,000lbs. At the 30:04 time stamp, theres a truck with trailer, indeed very common setup and they usually have the _payload_ capacity at around 88,000lbs (gross 150,000lbs), some are a bit bigger. Also in US there are very heavy trucks at that range but I believe the normal average trucks are quite a bit heavier here. Please comment and correct if these claims are false :)
That is called gwoppo like sleet :)
Oh, no... Glad you guys had a blast exploring Finland, BUT - It was russians who dropped the bomb trough the roof of the Porvoo church. It was 1941 - WWII... "Porgoensis anno domini 1971"... All the best for the future journeys!
Robert dude I really made at you .lol I never had a desire to go to Finland now it's on my bucket list great video as usual can't wait to post the next vid
:-)
You went past my home village, Tupos, when you saw the rv dealer😂😂
Cool, near Oulu?
Traveling Robert yes, from Tupos it's like 20 km to Oulu
Tupos is much lestas here they say mättö and Rutto all days i am vittuuntut at it saatana
@@hondamonkey4465 joo miten sää löysit tän
25:00 I drive past those repairs every weekday to work and back. Feels bad man.
The trailer place by Oulu. Why does it feel bad?
You should have visited Turku.
(I haven't watched it yet so idk if he did, but i assume he didn't)
I did visit on the way back south. We visited Rauma, Turku and Naantali. Lovely city Turku. That is sill about two weeks away in TH-cam time
Robert: Beautiful trip, and we thank you so much for sharing it with us!!! It must be really scary to drive those roads where you can't read the signs!! Did you ever find out more info about the little trailers you saw so frequently? Wonder if they are some kind of camper? Continued safe travels to you!!
Thank you. Some people have commented that they are used for storage, whatever doesn't fit in the car.
Semis are flatnosed to maximize the gargospace length due to overall length restriction.
that arctic circle 24 hours daylight/ or 24 hours of night, be hard to get used too.
The Prisma at Rovaniemi was under renovation; they are still constantly shuffling products around as I'm writing this. The new, refurbished supermarket will be ready sometime in September.
That was very confusing :-)
Thats a nice looking Ducato RV Robert..you can tell you're not in America bc you don't see that many billboards along the roads.
so awesome trip.
Yes it was
As Fin it's realy hard tu understand finnish in english accent.
No it is not.
No it's not. Especially in this case. Robert here pronounces Finnish words remarkably well in my opinion. And not even in pure English.
Että mä rakastan kun mulle tulaan kertomaan että oma mielipiteeni on väärä
I hope you visited Linnanmäki or Serena.
Interesting.
😀
Very nice!
Thank you
Lol. At 48:34 I pull a T.R. trick and yell "boat little boaty...boat!" ( fly little birdie fly ). Tee hee.
Greetings from South Jersey.... love the vids man great channel. You just topped my most depressing trip ever to Niagara Falls last summer haha keep up the good work. Would like to see a trip the northwest
Thanks! Northwest coming soon... like next year hopefully
The road where people drove like there was a third lane in the middle was a "leveäkaistainen tie" or "wide lane road". It has wider lanes than a normal road so its easier to overtake. However I think they are quite rare.
It was certainly different driving than what I'm used to.
It's not a bad idea per se, but unfortunately many people don't seem to grasp the idea of keeping to the right and maintaining proper distance to the car in front, which would allow faster traffic to overtake safely. That's why those type of roads are no longer being built and existing ones are being converted into alternating 2 + 1 lanes. In fact, work has just begun on that particular stretch we see on your video.
They called cab over back25 or more years ago we had a lot of them here I do not know why we don't anymore. Some one else may know why we stopped making them
38:15 if they sell water you can drink it xD cleaner than most countries tap water. even they would sell just water
its a waist of time visiting any cold country but i hope you had fun :)
I live 200 meters away from the Motonet you visited at 19:50!
Cool, nice store for auto accessories
Dear Robert
Great video(s)
Traveled to the Nordkap with a rental motorhome last year.
Had snow in June.
:o)
Great countries to visit !
Will travel to France and Spain this Year.
After travelling through New Zealand, great US, Poland and Scandinavia with rental motorhome,
Ordered an own travel trailer for 2019.
Hope to see you on the road someday
Greetings from North Germany
Greetings. Hope to see you on the road as well. Nordkapp was fantastic, even though the weather wasn't
This was from last year right? cause last summer was rly cold... but this summer was hottest one in 100years
This was in early June this year
allright :) great video all the way... shame that you guys could enjoy that great weather :/
It's so obvious so perhaps many people already have said this, but Varkaus translates to Theft. Fun fact.
You really got the worst possible summer weather, in July it can get +30C even in the arctic areas. 29:35 the road is extra wide for easier overtaking there, we don't have many roads like that. It's not recommended to do it like that but many people do it.
Yes, it was kind of unlucky weather, but we still enjoyed it quite a bit
Glad you liked it.
Very very interesting video. Objective comments.
Thank you!
You're welcome @@TravelingRobert. These are sincere words. It's clean, with clear explanations, no frills, no rudeness (too rare not to be underlined) and you don't miss puffer and humor. I like it. It's refreshing, serene. Thank you for all this. If I could, I would put two thumbs :)
#freeinmyrv #goals
1. The design of European trucks stems from the cold climate and the engine keeping the cabbing warmer after you stop driving. This was very important in the early days since the electrical systems could not run heaters for very long with out the engine running.
2. The shop bought water is almost always carbonated because tap water in Finland is safe for consumption with out filtration, how ever there are the 10 liter containers meant for camping etc that are non carbonated. For anyone who is puzzled like you were the Finnish work for carbonation is (Hiilihapotettu).
3. Please don't use the gas station (Vesi) water posts for drinking water they are meant for washing car windows and are not maintained to health and safety standards, you most likely will be fine but for your own safety don't.
Thank you for all the information
Nice entertaining video. Would have been nice if you could have included some pricing
I live in rovaniemi
Nice🚘
Nice video.
about that supermarket in rovaniemi its actually under a loooong overhaul constrcution no one knows where anything there is i live in rovaniemi really close to that supermarket and my father is one of the lead construction overseers there
I did see some construction inside. I'm glad it was not only me that found it confusing. Thanks!
Robert please when you going to do a video in Spain ? We waiting for this to happen.
One of these days. I would love to go to Spain. I used to live there
Your voice is unique