Blue Highway (tourist route)
Blue Highway | |
---|---|
Route information | |
Length | 1,800 km (1,100 mi) |
Major junctions | |
Northwest end | Mo i Rana |
East end | Pudozh |
Location | |
Countries | Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia |
Major cities | Mo i Rana, Storuman, Lycksele, Umeå, Vaasa, Lapua, Viitasaari, Kuopio, Joensuu, Tohmajärvi, Pryazha, Petrozavodsk |
Highway system | |
|
Blue Highway (Norwegian: Blå vegen, Swedish: Blå vägen, Finnish: Sininen tie, Russian: Голубая дорога) is an international tourist route from Norway via Sweden and Finland to Russia.[1][2]
Sights
The Blue Highway follows the ancient waterways from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Onega. There are numerous lakes and rivers by the road. Vast areas of taiga forest dominate the landscape,[3] and a section of the Scandinavian Mountains in Norway and western Sweden.
There are rural villages as well as cities and towns by the Blue Highway.
Country | Region | Sight |
---|---|---|
Norway |
Nordland |
Atlantic Ocean Mo i Rana, a town near the Arctic Circle Svartisen, the second largest glacier on the Norwegian mainland |
Sweden |
Västerbotten County |
Storuman, with ski resorts (Hemavan, Tärnaby), the Alpine Botanical Garden (in Hemavan), Vindelfjällen Nature Centre (in Hemavan), Stensele Church (the largest wooden church in Sweden)[4] The Museum of Forestry, in Lycksele[5][6] Lycksele Zoo, the northernmost zoological garden in Sweden Umeå, capital of Västerbotten County on the Ume River |
Finland |
Ostrobothnia |
, the longest bridge of Finland |
Finland |
Southern Ostrobothnia
|
Alajärvi, architect Alvar Aalto's first and last public buildings[8] |
Finland |
Central Finland |
Huopanankoski, one of the oldest fishing rapids in Finland with cultural heritage landscape, located in Viitasaari |
Finland |
Northern Savonia
|
skijumping hill, tower
Tahkovuori, tourist centre by the Lake Syväri Ohtaansalmi, Treaty of Teusina boundary mark by the Rikkavesi Lake[11] |
Finland |
North Karelia |
Pyhäselkä Lake, the northernmost part of the Saimaa lake system
|
Russia |
Republic of Karelia |
Soviet political repressions, White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal ("the Stalin Canal") (rock engravings)
Pudozh, Vodlozersky National Park and Onega petroglyphs |
The Development of the Blue Highway
- The idea of a road across Northern Europe was born in the 1950s
- The Blue Highway Association was formed in Sweden in 1963
- Year-round ferry service between Umeå and Vaasa in 1972
- The Blue Highway became a European Highway in 1973
- A cross-border public bus route between Mo i Rana and Umeå was established in 1989 (service withdrawn in 2014 between Mo i Rana and Hemavan[14])
- Border crossing (Niirala/Vyartsilya) with Russia was opened in 1990
- The Blue Road Highway extended to Pudozh, Russia, in 2000[3]
Gallery
-
Kizhi, Russia
See also
References
- ^ "Blue Highway". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ^ "Finnish Travel Routes" (PDF). Autoliitto (Automobile and Touring Club of Finland). Retrieved January 3, 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b [1] Archived 2015-01-09 at the Wayback Machine Sights in Västerbotten/Sweden, The Blue Highway, pdf, 2008, Västerbotten Local Folklore Society and The Museum of Västerbotten, January 9, 2015
- ^ "Storuman - Tourist Information". Archived from the original on 2015-01-18. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
- ^ Municipality of Lycksele: Forestry Museum Archived January 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Skogsmuseet (The Museum of Forestry)
- ^ World Heritage List: High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago
- ^ "Alajärvi; Architect Alvar Aalto". Archived from the original on 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
- ^ Lepikon torppa (in Finnish)
- ^ Municipality of Tervo Archived 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Municipality of Tuusniemi: Boundary marks of the Peace Treaty of Teusina Archived 2015-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Aarrekaupunki Outokumpu: Outokummun kaivosmuseo (Outokumpu Mine Museum) Archived January 17, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ World Heritage List: Kizhi Pogost
- ^ "Busslinjen till Mo i Rana läggs ned" SVT.se 12 December 2013 (in Swedish)
External links
Blue Highway travel guide from Wikivoyage