Ylitornio

Tourist information:

1 Ylitornio Tourist Information, Alkkulanraitti 55, FI-95600 Ylitornio, info@aavasaksa.fi.

History:

There has been permanent settlements in this area for at least a thousand years. The mighty river Tornio (Finnish: Tornionjoki, Swedish: Torne älv) or Väylä, "The Lane", as locals call it, has brought people together for centuries. The river has acted as a source of food – the wild salmon population is plentiful even today – and as a fairway from village to village. The first road was built no earlier than in the 1830s! Before the Hamina treaty (1809) separated Finland from Sweden, modern day Ylitornio, Pello and Övertorneå formed a single parish. Many families have relatives across the border and Finnish has traditionally been the language also in those villages that now belong to Sweden.

During the Lapland War the villages on the Tornio river bank from Pekanpää to Vuopionranta survived the scorced earth policy of the German troops. Now they form one of the nationally significant built cultural environments.

The 242 meters high and very prominent 2 Aavasaksa hill has got an interesting position in the history of science. French mathematician and astronomer Pierre de Maupertuis made an expedition to Lapland 1736–1737 to determine the exact shape of the Earth. He used Aavasaksa as one of the measure points. Italian naturalist and explorer Giuseppe Acerbi traveled to Lapland 1798–1799 and climbed to the top of Aavasaksa as well. Finally, German-Russian astronomer Friedrich von Struve initiated measurements for the Struve Geodetic Arc in 1831. Aavasaksa was one of the measurement points during this massive project. Today, the remaining Stuve Arc points, including Aavasaksa, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Highway E8 (here national road 21) runs along the border to Sweden, through the administrative centre and through the Aavasaksa village. Distance to the city of Tornio in the south is 57 km (1 hour drive). Regional road 930 connects Aavasaksa village to Muurola in Rovaniemi (83 km, 1 hr). Regional road 932 connects Aavasaksa to the Sinettä village in Rovaniemi (106 km, 1½ hr). Road 932 passes by the large lakes in the northeast.

The 1 Aavasaksa border crossing connects Matarenki (the main village of Övertorneå in Swedish Norrbotten) with the Aavasaksa village some 5 km north from the Ylitornio administrative centre. Since 2016 the Finnish Customs have operated on site only by patrol. Possible customs declarations should be done online.

By bus:

There are several daily coach connections to Ylitornio from Tornio in the south, a few from Rovaniemi in the east (via road 932), and one from Oulu via Kemi and back from Kolari. The trip takes 1 hr from Tornio, 1½ hr from Kemi and 2 hr from Rovaniemi. A single ticket costs €14, €20 or €24, respectively. See Matkahuolto for details.

If coming from Sweden, there are buses to Övertorneå, where you probably have to cross the border on foot or by taxi.

By train:

The overnight train from Helsinki to Kolari via Tampere and Oulu stops at 2 Ylitornio railway platform. The trains arrive in Ylitornio four times a week at 09:00 (as of 2022). There is no station building but a simple platform. A single ticket for two in a sleeper cabin from Helsinki costs about €160, one for three €180 (the three-person cabins are in old carriages). Off season you may have to get off in Kemi and continue by coach.