Finland

Packraft Finland's Thousand Lakes

Paddle through Finland's Helvetinjärvi National Park, with short hikes along the way to take in the best views.

Itinerary

Day 1: Pickup from Tampere Airport

You'll be picked up from Tampere airport at 5:15pm and driven to Lake Haukkajärvi, for the first night's campsite on the beach. Here you can relax around the camp fire with the other guests, whilst we prepare dinner for you.

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Day 2: Lake Luomo to Lake Ruokejarvi

After breakfast, we'll start the morning by showing you how to feel stable in the packraft and paddle efficiently. Then you'll begin the journey with a relaxed paddle across Lake Luomo.

After a few hours, we'll stop on land for a lunch break and then put the boats back in on the other side in lake Ruokejärvi. This beautiful lake is surrounded by thick pine forest on all sides.

In the afternoon, you'll setup camp by the lake and have a chance to practice some wilderness skills, like creating an open campfire, if you like.

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Day 3: Helvetinkolu Gorge & Haukanhieta Dune Beach

In the morning you'll trek to Helvetinkolu gorge, with fantastic views over the national park along the way. Having taking in the views, you'll join the next lake and inflate the raft again for a short paddle.

After a stop for lunch, you'll continue on to Haukanhieta Dune Beach, where you'll set up camp for the evening.

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Day 4: Sauna and departure

After a good night’s sleep and a tasty breakfast by the open fire, you'll be transferred back to Tampere city centre. Here you'll get the chance to have a traditional Finish sauna, before lunch in the city centre. You'll then be transferred back to Tampere Airport for 3pm.

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Team Images
Team Images
Team Images

FAQs

You will be met by your guide at Tampere Airport (TMP) at 4.45 pm, on day 1 of your itinerary. 

Your trip will end at Tampere Airport at 3 pm on day 4 of the itinerary. 

A packraft is a small lightweight inflatable boat. Packrafting is a fun, easy and new way to move around the wilderness. A packraft is very easy to manage, and you'll be using a mixture of one and two-person packrafts on this trip.

Included

  • Guides
  • Food
  • Airport transfers
  • 3 nights of wild-camping
  • Lakeside sauna
  • All packrafting and camping equipment

Excluded

  • Flights to/from Tampere-Pirkkala Airport (TMP)
  • Travel insurance
  • Any visas

You do not need any packrafting or much hiking experience. You’ll just need reasonable levels of fitness to handle approx 30km of relaxed paddling over two days, some hiking and be up for camping out overnight. 

Yes, all participants should be able to swim. 

The minim age is 12, provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The group sizes are a maximum of 8 people.

Absolutely! We get lots of solo travellers, and it's a great way to meet like-minded people.

All packrafting, backpacks and camping equipment is provided, so you just need to bring the following:

  • Shoes that can get wet, like Crocs, neoprene socks or “barefoot shoes”. No flip-flops. 
  • Sturdy, supportive hiking shoes - preferably waterproof
  • Lightweight, breathable clothes for paddling and hiking
  • Waterproof jacket and trousers
  • Sun protection - sunglasses, hat and cream
  • Thermal top and bottom
  • Warm fleece or sweater
  • Head torch 
  • Swimsuit and towel
  • Water bottle
  • Packable camp pillow (optional)
  • Personal items 

Dishes commonly include fish or meat, lots of vegetables and potatoes. A typical meal would include stews, cabbage rolls, and fish prepared in lots of different ways.

The guides provide dehydrated meals that will be carried in the packraft.

The guides can cater for most dietary requirements - just let them know when completing your registration form.

The average daytime temperature in May/June is around 20 degrees Celcius. From June to September the temperatures can average at around 25 degrees Celcius during the day. From September, the temperatures can start to get much colder. 

In the summer, the nights can stay fairly light, as Finland doesn't get much dark at all. From August onwards, the nights get much darker. If you are very lucky, you may even see the Northern lights. 

Your head guide is Joose

All trips on Skyhook are run by small, hand-picked local guiding companies. For this trip your guides run Wild Hikes Finland, based in Tampere.

By booking through Skyhook you'll be joining a small-group trip. This can make it nice and sociable (you'll be added to a group chat after booking), and guarantees great value for money!

Joose