Travellers' bible lauds this "complex and idiosyncratic" country

Lonely Planet puts Finland into its Bluelist - Best of 2007 guide

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By Pekka Mykkänen in Washington DC
     
      Finland, "country of bizarre festivals", is one of the hot travel tips for 2007. More and more travellers have begun to appreciate this "complex and idiosyncratic country", sandwiched for years between the USSR (which provided "a powerful incentive for invisibility") and "blonder, more confident Sweden".
      Now Finland has emerged as an IT powerhouse, and "anyone half-interested in design or music trends has an eye on Helsinki these days".
      These are some of the observations on our little pine and lakes paradise in the new Bluelist. The Best in Travel 2007 volume from the world-renowned Lonely Planet travel guides series.
     
The new work, which collects the hottest travel tips of the year, praises the unspoilt natural backdrop and Finland's host of summer festivals from the Wife Carrying World Championships to the annual air-guitar event in Oulu, and also debunks the myth of the 20-dollar Finnish beer.
      The book describes the Finnish summer as "a golden, sunny season when Finland bursts into life with an explosion of festivals, good cheer and optimism".
      For the nature enthusiast, the place offers "life-changing experiences" from hiking, canoeing or riding a snowmobile through the forests.
     
The Bluelist heaps praise on Finland with some considerable gusto, but ultimately the country is only accorded one two-page spread in the 260-page opus. There is also a mention of the Snowhotel in Kemi and of Lordi's Eurovision Song Contest victory.
      Finland did not figure in the hottest group of eleven countries, which contained the traditional usual suspects such as Australia, the United States, Italy, Greece, and China.
      Where Finland does appear, however, is on the "Go List" of 30 emerging destinations to put at the top of your travel agenda, in the company of Antarctica, Central Bulgaria, Cornwall, Gabon, Somaliland, and Northern Patagonia, to name but a few.
      The first edition of the Bluelist came out last year, spotlighting 618 places and things worth visiting and doing. In that book, Finland and its saunas only enjoyed a passing reference, among "the best places to get naked".
     
Andy Symington wrote the Finland piece for the 2007 edition. Symington has previously been responsible for the 5th edition of the country guide on Finland (released in April 2006), and for the 2005 Great Britain guide. According to the Lonely Planet website, Symington is described as an Australian vagabond traveller who currently lives in Spain.
      He has studied psychology and archeology, and his favourite haunts are Northern Spain, Finland, Scotland, and Colombia.
      Lonely Planet is the world's largest publisher of travel guides. The company has produced hundreds of guides in English on a vast array of subjects and destinations - including such exotic titles as Cycling in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - with a combined annual print run in excess of six million copies.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.1.2007

More on this subject:
 Backpackers spread the word
 FACTFILE: Random Suomi Facts

Links:
  Lonely Planet Bluelist - the Best in Travel 2007
  Andy Symington

PEKKA MYKKÄNEN / Helsingin Sanomat
pekka.mykkanen@hs.fi