Blue Highway (tourist route)

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]

Blue Highway
Route information
Length1,800 km (1,100 mi)
Major junctions
Northwest endMo i Rana
East endPudozh
Location
CountriesNorway, Sweden, Finland, Russia
Major citiesMo i Rana, Storuman, Lycksele, Umeå, Vaasa, Lapua, Viitasaari, Kuopio, Joensuu, Tohmajärvi, Pryazha, Petrozavodsk
Highway system
Transport in Europe

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		 Vaasa, capital of Ostrobothnia
Kvarken, Unesco World Heritage Site[7]
Replot Bridge, 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		 Lakeland, networks of thousands of lakes separated by hilly forested countryside
Lepikon torppa in Pielavesi, a birthplace of Urho Kekkonen, a former President of Finland[9]
Kolu Channel in Tervo, the longest inland water channel in Finland[10]
Korkeakoski, the longest waterfall in Finland, located in Maaninka
Kuopio, the capital of Northern Savonia by the Kallavesi Lake
Puijo, recreation area, skijumping hill, tower
Tahkovuori, tourist centre by the Lake Syväri
Ohtaansalmi, Treaty of Teusina boundary mark by the Rikkavesi Lake[11]

Finland
North Karelia		 Lakeland, networks of thousands of lakes separated by hilly forested countryside
Outokumpu, mine museum with tunnel, train and tower[12]
Joensuu, capital of North Karelia on the Pielisjoki River
Pyhäselkä Lake, the northernmost part of the Saimaa lake system

Russia
Republic of Karelia		 Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe
Valaam, monastery in Valaam archipelago
Petrozavodsk, capital of Republic of Karelia
Kizhi, Unesco World Heritage Site[13]
Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe
Kondopoga, Martsialnye vody (Marcial Spa) - the oldest Russian spa, Kivach Nature Reserve
Medvezhyegorsk, i.a. military history tourist attractions, Sandarmokh - the site of mass shootings and burials of victims of Soviet political repressions, White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal ("the Stalin Canal")
Pudozh, Vodlozersky National Park and Onega petroglyphs (rock engravings)

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]

See also

References
  1. "Blue Highway". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  2. "Finnish Travel Routes" (PDF). Autoliitto (Automobile and Touring Club of Finland). Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  3. 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
  4. "Storuman - Tourist Information". Archived from the original on 2015-01-18. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  5. Municipality of Lycksele: Forestry Museum Archived January 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Skogsmuseet (The Museum of Forestry)
  7. World Heritage List: High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago
  8. "Alajärvi; Architect Alvar Aalto". Archived from the original on 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  9. Lepikon torppa (in Finnish)
  10. Municipality of Tervo Archived 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Municipality of Tuusniemi: Boundary marks of the Peace Treaty of Teusina Archived 2015-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Aarrekaupunki Outokumpu: Outokummun kaivosmuseo (Outokumpu Mine Museum) Archived January 17, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  13. World Heritage List: Kizhi Pogost
  14. "Busslinjen till Mo i Rana läggs ned" SVT.se 12 December 2013 (in Swedish)

Blue Highway travel guide from Wikivoyage

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