Ii

Ii (pronounced "ee"; Swedish: Ijo) is a municipality in northern Finland, by the Bothnian Bay, at the mouth of river Iijoki. It belongs to the Northern Ostrobothnia region.

The municipality has a population of 9,900 (2019) and covers an area of 2,809 km² (1,085 sq mi) of which 1,257 km² (485 sq mi) is water.

Understand


Ii is the shortest place name of Finland and one of the shortest ones in the world. Why not take a photo of one the city signs?

Ii has gained international attention from its goals to be the first zero-waste town in the world as well as other climate actions by the town. The town also won a climate prize by the European Commission.

Get in
Ii is 35 km (22 mi) north from Oulu, which has rail and aeroplane connections. You can easily visit Ii while visiting Oulu, public transportation takes you to Ii in about an hour.

By plane
There are around 10 flights per day each way from Helsinki Airport to Oulu. A fully flexible return economy ticket might cost more than €200 but a non-changeable one-way ticket can go as low as €39 when bought months in advance. There are also some services from Stockholm.

You can take bus line 8 or 9 to the centre (every 15 min) and transfer to line 23 to Ii. The tickets include free transfer, so be sure to get an "ABC" ticket on the first bus, so that you don't have to buy that separately. The ABC ticket is valid for 80 min.

By train


Trains don't stop at Ii, the nearest station is in Oulu.

Oulu is on the railway main line between Helsinki and Rovaniemi. The day trains complete the journey from Helsinki to Oulu in about 6 hours, while direct sleepers take around 9 hours. The standard price is about €60 (€100 with a berth), if you book early there are offers for about half the price. The new type of sleeper train carriages have a shower and a toilet in half of the 2-person cabins, there is a shower in the corridor for the rest. As when going to Rovaniemi, you can also take your car with you on the overnight train (but check, not all trains take cars to all destinations). Train tickets are at their cheapest exactly 60 days in advance, as the advance tickets (ennakkolippu) become available at that time.

Citybuses A, B and C take you to the city centre, where you can change to line 23 to Ii. You could also walk a kilometre to the bus stop "Pekuri P" and take bus 23 without transfer (during the day on weekdays you can also walk to the nearby bus stop "Linja-autoasema E", but Pekuri is the safer option if you are unsure). For Ii you need the "ABC" ticket (valid for 80 min), which includes the citybus.

By bus
Coaches coordinated by Matkahuolto connect Ii to Helsinki, Kemi, Tornio, Rovaniemi and any other town, but they can be expensive.

From Helsinki the coach costs about €35. You can try to search for a bargain from the website of Onnibus, a cheaper bus company, though nowadays it has raised prices and is listed under Matkahuolto as well.

Coming from Oulu, you can also use bus line 23 of the Oulu public transportation. You need the "ABC" ticket (say that or just Iihin, "to Ii"), which is valid 80 min and costs €8.30/4.20 (children: 7–16 years). The bus goes via Oulu University. It runs hourly in weekdays, every second hour on weekends. The last bus from Oulu leaves at 21:25 on weekdays, at 22:25 on Fridays, 22:45 on Saturdays and at 18:35 on Sundays. The schedules change twice every year, check as needed (current update until the end of May 2022).

By car
You can arrive by a car to Ii along the E8/E75 road either from Oulu in the south or from Kemi in the north. Ii is situated on the main route to Lapland so you can easily visit Ii quickly when going to Lapland by car.

Parking spaces are plentiful and don't need a ticket or a disc.

By foot
The centre of Ii is really small and lots of places are easily reachable by foot.

By bike
Biking is the best way to get around in Ii. The Ruustinna route is an about 2.5-km-long culture route, fun to go with bike. You can rent bikes from Oulu and take them on the bus, although it costs €2/bike. Taking a folding bike on the bus is free of charge, but you might need to explain it to the driver.

By bus
See Oulu#By bus

The public transport in Ii is operated by Oulu PTA. It mainly focuses on getting customers in and out from municipality, but it can also be used for travelling inside Ii, e.g. to Autokeidas or the health centre.

By taxi
See Western Oulu region
 * Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
 * Otaxi offers taxi service in Ii

Do




Eat




Stay safe
Ii is a really safe place, even safer than Oulu, although one should watch out for reckless drivers and teens with mopeds.

In the winter, beware of slippery and invisible "black ice" (i.e. moisture frozen on the asphalt). Don't go to the ice of the river if you don't have company (preferably a local who knows when and where it is safe)

Go next

 * Oulu
 * Kemi
 * Tornio
 * Rovaniemi