Finland’s unspoilt forests and thousands of islands and lakes offer plenty of
opportunities for visitors to enjoy beautiful natural surroundings. Hikers and
cross-country skiers can roam the endless forests and wide-open northern fells,
while the lakes and rivers of central and eastern Finland are ideal for
canoeists, and the labyrinthine archipelagos of the Baltic are a sailor’s
paradise.
In the wildest parts of northern Finland hikers can wander for hours -
or even days - without seeing another soul, but even near towns and cities
there are places where walkers or boaters can easily get close to nature for a
few hours.
Many extensive areas of forest and open fell are owned by the State
and managed by Metsähallitus, especially in Finnish Lapland.
In the south, more
forests are owned by local people and managed to produce timber, but they still
resemble natural forests. Finland’s liberal laws
of public access give everyone
the right to roam the forests and countryside freely, no matter who owns the
land.
