Ii
Ii (pronounced "ee"; Swedish: Ijo) is a municipality in northern Finland, by the Bothnian Bay, at the mouth of river Iijoki. It belongs to the Northern Ostrobothnia region.
The municipality has a population of 9,889 (31 January 2019) and covers an area of 2,809.23 square kilometres (1,084.65 sq mi) of which 1,256.69 km² (485.21 sq mi) is water. The population density is 6.23 inhabitants per square kilometre (16.1/sq mi).
Understand
Ii is the shortest place name of Finland and one of the shortest ones in the world. Why not take a photo of one the city signs?
Ii has gained international attention from its goals to be the first zero-waste town in the world as well as other climate actions by the town. The town also won a climate prize by the European Commission.
Get in
Ii is 35 km (22 mi) north from Oulu, which has rail and aeroplane connections. You can easily visit Ii while visiting Oulu, public transportation takes you to Ii in about an hour.
By plane
There are around 10 flights per day each way from Helsinki Airport to Oulu. A fully flexible return economy ticket might cost more than €200 but a non-changeable one-way ticket can go as low as €39 when bought months in advance. There are also some services from Stockholm.
You can take bus line 8 or 9 to the centre (every 15 min) and transfer to line 23 to Ii. The tickets include free transfer, so be sure to get an "ABC" ticket on the first bus, so that you don't have to buy that separately. The ABC ticket is valid for 80 min.
By train
Trains don't stop at Ii, the nearest station is in Oulu.
Oulu is on the railway main line between Helsinki and Rovaniemi. The day trains complete the journey from Helsinki to Oulu in about 6 hours, while direct sleepers take around 9 hours. The standard price is about €60 (€100 with a berth), if you book early there are offers for about half the price. The new type of sleeper train carriages have a shower and a toilet in half of the 2-person cabins, there is a shower in the corridor for the rest. As when going to Rovaniemi, you can also take your car with you on the overnight train (but check, not all trains take cars to all destinations). Train tickets are at their cheapest exactly 60 days in advance, as the advance tickets (ennakkolippu) become available at that time.
Citybuses A, B and C take you to the city centre, where you can change to line 23 to Ii. You could also walk a kilometre to the bus stop "Pekuri P" and take bus 23 without transfer (during the day on weekdays you can also walk to the nearby bus stop "Linja-autoasema E", but Pekuri is the safer option if you are unsure) . For Ii you need the "ABC" ticket (valid for 80 min), which includes the citybus.
By bus
Coaches coordinated by Matkahuolto connect Ii to Helsinki, Kemi, Tornio, Rovaniemi and any other town, but they can be expensive.
From Helsinki the coach costs about €35. You can try to search for a bargain from the website of Onnibus, a cheaper bus company, though nowadays it has raised prices and is listed under Matkahuolto as well.
Coming from Oulu, you can also use bus line 23 of the Oulu public transportation. You need the "ABC" ticket (say that or just Iihin, "to Ii"), which is valid 80 min and costs €8.30/4.20 (children: 7–16 years). The bus goes via Oulu University. It runs hourly in weekdays, every second hour on weekends. The last bus from Oulu leaves at 21:25 on weekdays, at 22:25 on Fridays and Saturdays and at 18:23 on Sundays. The schedules change twice every year, check as needed (current update until the end of May 2020).
By car
You can arrive by a car to Ii along the E8/E75 road either from Oulu in the south or from Kemi in the north. Ii is situated on the main route to Lapland so you can easily visit Ii quickly when going to Lapland by car.
Parking spaces are plentiful and don't need a ticket or a disc.
Get around
By foot
The centre of Ii is really small and lots of places are easily reachable by foot.
By bike
Biking is the best way to get around in Ii. The Ruustinna route is an about 2.5km long culture route, fun to go with bike. You can rent bikes from Oulu and take them on the bus, although it costs 2€/bike.
By bus
The public transport in Ii is operated by Oulu PTA. It mainly focuses on getting customers in and out from municipality, but it can also be used for traveling inside Ii.
By taxi
- Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi
- Otaxi offers taxi service in Ii
See
- 1 Iijoen uitolle -statue.
- 2 Old Hamina, Takakatu. Old Hamina with beautiful wooden houses along two streets, Etukatu and Takakatu
- 3 Church of Ii.
- 4 Environmental Art Park.
- 5 KulttuuriKauppila. Open when the doors are widely open..
- 6 Iijoki River. 4th longest river of Finland, Iijoki (lit. Ii river) is also one of Finland's most beautiful ones. It is also culturally important, since the famous finnish author Kalle Päätalo wrote a series named after the river.
- 7 Wanha Hamina museum area. 3 museums and one museum café open till 6/7pm every summer
Do
- 1 Ruustinna Route (Ruustinnan Reitti). Ruustinna route goes through Old Hamina, the Enviromental Art Park and finishes in KulttuuriKauppila. There are lots of artworks along the route.
- 2 Cross country skiing in Illinsaari. you can rent skis from Oulu (e.g. from Nallikari camping)
- 3 Old Hamina summer theatre.
Buy
- 1 Autokeidas and Kärkkäinen, Sorosentie 2 (Just by the main road).
- 2 S-Market, K market.
- 3 Iin kukkakauppa. florist
ATM's
Eat
- 1 Nelosgrilli, Ouluntie 370, ☏ +358 50-439-4444. 10-23. Grill.
- 2 Autokeidas, Hesburger, Kotipizza and Makujen Kiina. Autokeidas 06:00–23:00, Hesburger 10:00–23:00, Kotipizza 11:00–21:00, Makujen Kiina 10:30-19:00. Autokeidas is a general gas station restaurant with okay food. Hesburger is the Finnish hamburger chain with good burgers. Kotipizza is a Finnish pizza chain, rather bland. The most original restaurant out of these is Makujen Kiina, a great Chinese restaurant with buffet (including sushi on weekends!)
- 3 Orient Kebab.
- 4 Iin Pizza & Kebab, Haminantie 6 (Turn right immediately after R-Kioski), ☏ +358 41 3650661. Mon-Sat 10:30-21, Sun 12-21. A small, good pizzeria with friendly staff.
Drink
- 1 Joku Paikallinen Pubi Ii, ☏ +35840 0322645. 16-00/16-03/14-03/14-00.
- 2 [dead link] Ravintola Iisakki & Metro Nightclub (Iisakki), Laksontie 2, ☏ +35840 0622775.
Sleep
- 1 Iin Sillat Motel and Camping (Iin Sillat Motelli ja Camping), Haminantie 32, 91100 Ii (by Vanha Hamina and Pappila), ☏ +358 8 817-3300. Check-in: 15:00–22:00, check-out: -12:00. A cheap place to stay in the Oulu area, especially in the summer. The cheapest cottages are €39/night, while the biggest and the most expensive apartment is €130/night. Camping with electricity €20/night +€2/person. A scenic spot by the river 500 metres from stores and other services. In the wintertime, only the motel is available with cheaper prices.
Stay safe
Ii is a really safe place, even safer than Oulu, although one should watch out for reckless drivers and teens with mopeds.
In the winter, beware of slippery and invisible "black ice" (i.e. moisture frozen on the asphalt). Don't go to the ice of the river if you don't have company (preferably a local who knows when and where it is safe)
Go next
| Routes through Ii |
| Kemi ← Simo ← | N  S |
→ Oulu |