Ylitornio

Ylitornio is a municipality and a town of the same name by the Tornio river in western Finnish Lapland. About one third of the municipality is north of the Arctic Circle. The main attractions are salmon fishing, nature, and the famous Aavasaksa hill.

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 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.

Aavasaksa is one of the oldest real tourist destinations in Finland. Even the Emperor Alexander II of Russia intended to visit Aavasaksa in 1876, but those were agitated times and finally the trip had to be cancelled. Today the carefully decorated hunting cabin, Keisarinmaja, acts as a café. The view from Aavasaksa over the surrounding river valley is one of the official national landscapes of Finland.

People


Ylitornio has about 4,000 permanent residents. Most people reside by the river Tornio. Another major settlement is a group of villages by the large lakes in northeast. This area is commonly referred as Järvikylät, "the Lake Villages". The population trend has been declining for decades but so far the municipality has successfully retained town level services.

Ylitornio is unilingually Finnish and English is widely understood. As elsewhere in the Tornio river valley the local Finnish dialect is highly distinctive. These terrains are in the heart of the river valley and have a notably strong local identity culture.

By car
Highway E8 (here national road 21) runs 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 is located between Matarenki, the main village of Övertorneå in Swedish Norrbotten, and Aavasaksa village some 5 km north from the Ylitornio administrative center. 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. 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.

By train
The overnight train from Helsinki to Kolari via Tampere and Oulu stops at. 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. Off season you may have to get off in Kemi and continue by coach.

Get around
There is no local public transportation in Ylitornio. The long distance coaches stop in villages on their route but the services are scarce.


 * Taxi Ylitornio:
 * Taxi Aavasaksa:

See


By far the main sight here is the Aavasaksa hill. It became a target of "mass tourism" already in the 19th century.



Do


Many visit Ylitornio for fishing as river Tornio has retained original Baltic Sea salmon population. For fishing you need to by a permit; ask your accommodation if they have ones. In addition to the local attractions there is a golf course and a major skiing resort nearby, on the Swedish side of the border.



Connect
As of Nov 2023, Ylitornio and its approach highways have 4G from Elisa and in parts from DNA, but only a patchy signal from Telia. 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

 * Pullinki — a point on the Struve Geodetic Arc and a ski resort, in Övertorneå across the border