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 9,671 (30 June 2015) 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
Hamina – the old town

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?

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. Be sure to get an "ABC" ticket on the first bus, so that you don't have to buy that separately.

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 newest type of sleeper train carriages have a shower and a toilet in each 2-person cabin. As when going to Rovaniemi, you can also take your car with you on the overnight train. 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 core, where you can change to line 23 to Ii. You could also walk a kilometre to the bus stop "Toripakka 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 Toripakka is the safer option if you are unsure) . For Ii you need the "ABC" ticket, 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 €100. The less comfortable Onnibus costs about €30+1 per trip from Helsinki if ordered in advance (prices usually rising close to departure). If you buy an Onnibus ticket on the bus it always costs a bit more, and the service is sometimes sold out.

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 21:15 on weekdays, at 22:15 on Fridays and Saturdays and at 18:00 on Sundays. The schedules change twice every year, check as needed (current update until 2 June 2019).

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.

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.

See
  • 🌍 Iijoen uitolle -statue. 
  • 🌍 Old Hamina, Takakatu. Old Hamina with beautiful wooden houses along two streets, Etukatu and Takakatu 
  • 🌍 Church of Ii. 
  • 🌍 Enviromental Art Park. 
  • 🌍 KulttuuriKauppila. Open when the doors are widely open.. 
  • 🌍 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. 
  • 🌍 Wanha Hamina museum area. 3 museums and one museum café open till 6/7pm every summer 

Do
  • 🌍 Ruustinna Route (Ruustinnan Reitti). Ruustinna route goes through Old Hamina, Enviromental Art Park and finishes to KulttuuriKauppila. There are lots of artworks along the route. 
  • 🌍 Cross country skiing in Illinsaari. you can rent skis from Oulu (e.g. from Nallikari camping) 
  • 🌍 Old Hamina summer theatre. (updated Nov 2015)

Buy

ATM's
  • 🌍 Otto Ii. (updated Feb 2018)
  • 🌍 Otto Iin Autokeidas. (updated Feb 2018)

Eat
  • 🌍 Nelosgrilli, Ouluntie 370, ☎ +358 50-439-4444. 10-23. 
  • 🌍 Autokeidas, Hesburger, Kotipizza. Autokeidas 06:00–23:00, Hesburger 10:00–23:00, Kotipizza 11:00–21:00. 
  • 🌍 Orient Kebab. 
  • 🌍 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. (updated Feb 2018)

Drink

Sleep

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 if it is safe or not)

Go next
Routes through Ii

Tornio ← Kemi ←  W  E  → Oulu → Turku
Rovaniemi ← Kemi ←  N  S  → Oulu → Helsinki


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