Sotkamo Voyage Tips and guide

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Sotkamo is in Kainuu. The municipality is best known for the Vuokatti ski resort, 7 km from the town proper.

Vuokatti is a diverse ski and sports resort by a couple of lakes in the municipality of Sotkamo. There are many hotels, resorts and cottages to stay in and enjoy the nature and doings.

Kajaani is the nearest major city, served by planes, buses and trains. From there you can travel to Sotkamo by bus. As otherwise in rural Finland, car is your other option for getting in. In the wintertime, the free Vuokatti SkiBus operates between Sotkamo and Vuokatti.

Map of Sotkamo

See also: Finland#By motorised scooter

Finnish Move on East^{[dead link]} rents electric kick scooters for use in the centre.

If you arrived by car in Sotkamo, using the car is good for traveling longer distances (which are present in there).

See also: Kainuu and Eastern Oulu region#By taxi

• Menevä Sotkamo, ☏ +358 50-471-0470 (head of office), toll-free: 0800-02120 (booking), [email protected]. Flag fall M–Sa 06:00–18:00: €4, other times and holidays: €7; 1–4 persons €0.90/km + €0.90/min, 5–8 persons minimum €20, €1.60/km + €0.90/min (December 2021). 
• Smartphone apps: Valopilkku, 02 Taksi

• 64.1294828.409031 Sotkamo museum, Sopalantie 1, 88600 Sotkamo, ☏ +358 40-848-5543. Two old granaries are the museum of local history and culture in Sotkamo  
• 64.2037928.733432 Tervajärvi house museum, Tervajärventie 16, 88600 Sotkamo, ☏ +358 400-755-599. Tervajärvi is a classic Kainuu farmhouse. The museum contais main building, built in the 19th century and three storage houses.  
• 64.13211128.3925283 Huovishuone, Niemeläntie 1, 88600 Sotkamo. Veikko Huovinen´s memorabilia room  

• 64.13228.2711 Vuokatti (7 km east of Sotkamo centre). Ski resort. (updated Mar 2018)
• 64.187328.22542 Naapurinvaaran Huvikeskus, Naapurinvaarantie 20 B (by Naapurivaara, 6 km north from Vuokatti), ☏ +358 40-761-8165, +358 45-131-0932, [email protected]. Most weeks May–Nov, usually Sa, Midsummer F, 19:30–00:30. Social dancing to live music (run by the local youth association). Restaurant with nice view towards Nuoasjärvi and Vuokatti. Bus transport for the dances from Sotkamo and Vuokatti, sometimes from Kajaani (☏ +358 40-541-8696). €22–25/15+cloakroom €2–3 (reduced price in 2025 for youth < 25 years, older students get a €1 discount), ticket+bus from Sotkamo/Vuokatti and back €27 (perhaps cash only). 

Cottages at campsites; hotels, apartments and cottages at Vuokatti.

• 64.14128.2951 Break Sokos Hotel Vuokatti, Kidekuja 2 (1.5 km from Vuokatti towards Sotkamo), ☏ +358 10-783-1000 (pvm/mvm), [email protected]. 

There are a few shelters by the trails, behind Vuokatti and to the north, one above the steep western slope of Naapurivaara. Camping by tent by the shelters is probably possible. The shelters probably have an outhouse and a campfire place, no other services.

Proper campsites:

• 64.170128.20932 Naapurivaaran Lomakeskus Ky, Pohjavaarantie 66, ☏ +358 40-504-7694, [email protected]. Cottages all year, camping summer season only. Camping and cottages. Beach. Most cottages have their own sauna, others can book and pay one separately. Campers have access to communal showers and kitchen. Tent €12/person; caravan, two persons and electricity €37+€5/2.50 per additional person.  

Wild camping is possible according to the right to access, but you should keep off developed areas, which in practice means finding a suitable place 2–3 km from the centres of Sotkamo and Vuokatti. Nature reserves, such as the one behind the Vuokatti downhill slopes, are off limits. Also don't stray into the Pisterinniemi golf course.

• 63.901928.99771 Hiidenportti National Park – national park offering silence, old-growth forest and the Hiidenportti gorge. 30 km from the centre, mostly by small roads, signposted from road 76 towards Kuhmo.
• Kuhmo
• Valtimo
• Kajaani