Övertorneå

Övertorneå is in Norrbotten County, in Tornedalen (the Torneå River Valley).

Understand

The town and municipality is at the Swedish side of Torneå river. Like Ylitornio, the town on the Finnish side, its name translates to "Upper Torneå".

Get in

By car

Car is a good option for getting in. There are two main roads, Highway 99 going along the border between Karesuando and Haparanda, and the road from Finland across the river.

By bus

Länstrafik Norrbotten operates a few buses a day from Haparanda and Pajala. If coming from Finland, there are buses to Ylitornio, Aavasaksa and Pello, from where you probably have to cross the border on foot or by taxi.

See

• 1 Pullinki - One of the points on the world heritage listed Struve Geodetic Arc on Pullinki hill which also hosts the Svanstein ski resort (see Do below). There's a ski lift to the summit (likely just operating during the ski season) in addition to a path going from the main building of the ski resort to the summit. As this is a ski resort, the forest has been cut down and there are good views towards the Torne River valley and Finland, including to Aavasaksa. Pullinki and some of Struve's points further south in the river valley were used for similar measurements already in the 1730s by the French scientist Pierre Louis Maupertuis who proved that the Earth isn't a perfect sphere.

Do

• Svanstein ski resort (about 30 km north of Övertorneå town). Ski resort on Pullinki Hill. (updated Apr 2021)
• Tureholms golfklubb (by the lake Särkijärvi). Nine-hole golf course.