Helsinki Archipelago Camping Tour

Finding a True Finnish Friend Our party of four (including one in their 80's) spent 3 outstanding nights camping with Mikko. We camped in Nuukiso and along the coast. Mikko's equipment was top notch and the camping meals provided were excellent. Best however, was Mikko. Fabulous, understated sense of humor, true openness, and a wonderful knowledge of the flora and fauna. He's named his company correctly. You'll come away with a Finnish Friend. We loved our visit to Finland and camping with Mikko was the highlight of the trip.

Camping trip of a lifetime My husband and I, and another couple who we travel with regularly, had the camping trip of a lifetime with Mikko, our new Finnish Friend. We hiked some on each of 3 days and camped 2 nights in 2 different locations. Mikko was an amazing guide. He picked us up at our hotel in Helsinki in a van that fit all 5 of us plus our modest luggage. In the van, Mikko already had comfortable backpacks already filed with everything we needed except our personal clothing which we added once we arrived less than an hour later near Nuuksio National Park. We hiked about a mile into the park to a camping area next to a lake that had a filled woodshed, a campfire/sitting area where Mikko made us a delicious lunch, and an outhouse. We set up our tents, took a dip in the lake, watched beautiful swans, and even met some other Finnish people who were also taking advantage of the quiet beautiful park. Two paddleboard fishermen shared their stories before paddling on into the sunset. We set up our tents on a hill overlooking the lake where we were surrounded by low bush blueberries and lingonberries (which were added to our breakfast the next morning). After a leisurely breakfast and visit, we packed things up, hiked back out to the van, and traveled to a seaside park that was a bit more populated, but with the added amenities of a well with a pump, and some shelters in case of the need to get out of the rain (which we did encounter for a little while). We hiked to a perfect campsite among the trees, had a late lunch and late dinner, relaxed, chatted, and were treated to another spectacular sunset. On our last day we hiked along the beautiful rocky shoreline before packing out and being delivered back to our Helsinki hotel. We learned so much about Finnish culture and thoroughly enjoyed every tidbit of information Mikko shared with us. He is super friendly and easy to talk with. I can't emphasize enough what a great experience this was. The food he prepared for us was all fabulous, he was very environmentally conscious, knowledgeable about plants, trees, and wildlife, and was very flexible in giving us the experiences we were looking for. My husband and I had not backpacked before (I'm 71 and my husband is 81) but we had no problem carrying these well balanced comfortable backpacks. And, despite feeling like we were in the countryside, we had cell phone service throughout this trip. I highly recommend the Finnish Friend. Who knows, we may even go back for a winter experience.