Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 040-806-5075;
www.kokkola.fi
;kauppatori 3; 8am-5pm Mon-Tue & Thu-Fri, to 8pm Wed,
9am-1pm Sat Jun-Aug, 8am-4pm Mon-Fri Sep-May)
In the main square.
Getting There & Around
Kokkola-Pietarsaari airport is 20km southeast of Kokkola and served by a regional bus
service (€10.60, 15 minutes). Flybe has several flights daily to/from Helsinki.
Regular buses run to/from all coastal towns, especially Vaasa (€28.80, 2½ hours) and
Jakobstad (€8.20, 45 minutes). The bus station is one block northwest of the train station.
Kokkola's train station is a main western-line stop to/from Helsinki (€69.60, four to five
hours, up to nine daily).
Kalajoki & Hiekkasärkät
08 / Pop 12,600
Families flock here for summer holidays in reddish-brown timber cottages snuggled in the
white sand dunes and gleaming beachside resorts. Swimming, golf and Nordic walking,
which was invented here, keep visitors active in summer, while winter offers great cross-
country skiing.
Kalajoki village is just off the highway, with most of the facilities (bus station, banks et
al); the resort area, with the beach, airfield and most accommodation, is 6km south of the
village along Hwy 8 in Hiekkasärkät.
Activities
Nordic walking was born here in the 1930s when world-championship skier Jussi
Kurikkala decided to keep up his form in summer by working out on the dunes. A 44km
network of walking routes was marked out around Hiekkasärkät in his honour in 2011.
Fontana Hotelli Rantakalla
( 08-466-642;
www.rantakalla.fi
;Matkailutie 150;s/d/f hotel
€95/130/160, annexe €85/110/135; )
rents Nordic walking sticks (per day €15).
Lohilaakso restaurant has salmon fishing.