Around the Baltic Sea with a tent. Finland

In contrast to Denmark and Sweden, in Finland you can easily place your tent in a picturesque place, and even near the hearth and a full log of firewood even in the metropolitan region. That's why I decided to devote a separate post to this country, where I will not only talk about the Finnish stage of our last year's Baltic trip, but also give a brief guide of finding a comfortable place to relax.

In Finland, there is the so-called "right of every person to nature", allowing (in the daytime) to walk almost on any part of the forest, field or beach, provided that you do not cause trouble to the owners of land and do not cause material damage.
As for staying at night, here the possibilities are also very wide. In any of the national parks of the country, a full list of which is given on the site luontoon.fi, there are places where it is allowed to camp and build a fire. And to many such places it is possible (both technically and legally) to drive up even on a road bike. As a rule, next to these places will be the supply of firewood, which you can use for cooking, if you do not have a burner. If you do not have a tent, then you can spend the night in the so-called laavu (elevated verandas with a canopy). It's also absolutely free. Sometimes laavu are found outside of national parks, so for their search there are special maps, such as laavu.org or retkikartta.fi. Another couple of useful Finnish words for searching for free camping facilities on the web: Ilmainen (free) + leirintäalue (place for tent), tulipaikka (place for fire), Nuotiopaikka (well equipped place for fire) + region name. For example, pääkaupunkiseudulla - in the metropolitan region (it means, within an hour's drive from Helsinki). Try to use the Finnish version of the search engine, because, for example, Google gives different results for .ru, .fi and .de domains.
But it's not the end. In some parks and reserves you can spend absolutely free night in a small hut (tupa or kammi). Here it is important to distinguish several special types of such houses: päivätupa - a house where you can only stay in the daytime (although I do not think if someone will beat you if you stay for one night), autiotupa is a hard-to-reach hut whose access to motorized transport or impossible, or prohibited, varaustupa (varauskammi) - a hut with a lockable door, which must be previously booked in order to get the keys. If on the map just tupa or kammi is marked, it means that the door is not locked, and whoever came first - he took the place.
If you are inclined towards the Åland Islands, then remember that this is a relatively sovereign territory, and the right of "every person to nature" is more limited there than in mainland Finland. However, you have a full right to spend the night in an unlocked waiting room at any of the ferry crossings. Sometimes these halls are very nice wooden houses. For example, a small hut in Vårdö or a warm comfortable hut for 10 persons in Långnäs.
What concerns food savings, in addition to the obvious recommendation to buy food in a cheaper country before entering a more expensive one, I note that all national parks and reserves are allowed to collect mushrooms and berries. Fishing is allowed only in certain places after the purchase of the license, and hunting and independent cutting of firewood is prohibited. Despite the fact that in a small northern country there are temples of dozens of denominations, the only religion in which the indigenous Finns believe is nature, "insulting the feelings of believers" in Finland is punished with large fines, which will be enough to buy a new motorcycle or at least a decent electric bike.
And now I'll continue the story, in fact, about our trip, with some photos.
Last time I stopped on the fact that we went from Sweden to Finland on the ferry "Stockholm-Turku". The night passed calmly, and in the morning we went to the port. The road from Turku, where our ferry docked, to Savonlinna, where my friends live, is quite long, so we decided to make a stop at the museum of armored vehicles in Parole.

The camp met us with an excellent weather, flocks of mosquitoes and, of course, a place for frying sausages - the national summer Finnish meal

In the morning we drove to the friends' house, drove the motorcycles in their garage and drove to the pier to participate in the boat regatta
In the event called "Norppasoutu" (Rowing of Seals) I have been participating for several years already, so the brand-name T-shirt with the dates and the route, is very useful

In addition to my companion and me, there were also three Germans in the boat, so we were allowed to raise the German flag

In general, for three years the organization has not changed much. The same Finnish traditional dishes for breakfast and during breaks ...

The same cafes and saunas along the coast ...

And this house - you will never guess! -

Summer library. People here bring books for an exchange or just in good hands

The bridges that meet along the way open, as if by magic (though we do not need it

Together we piled on the oars and appeared in Savonlinna for dinner.

The dinner we had was not somewhere, but in the dining room of Olavinlinna - the castle on the previous photo. I recommend to visit!

Views from the tower of Olavinlinna

In Ennonkoski, we saw an exhibition of sand skulpets dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Finland's independence. National symbols were again introduced here, beginning with the composer Sibelius to the tricky Marshall Mannerheim

Last night in Finland we spent in the monastery New Valaam - to touch the "pseudo-Russian" spirit. On the territory you can move on a motorcycle without any "blessing" if you behave quietly and do not scare monks and parishioners. In the cells you can drink bought in the shop (there is such a Finnish word - laffka) wine.