Welcome to this article about visiting Treriksröset. Are you traveling in the far north of Scandinavia? Then don’t forget to pay a visit to Treriksröset, the official Three-Country Point of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Although it’s quite touristic, I really found it well worth a visit. Good to know is that you can’t just go there; you have to make some effort.
In this article, you will read not only my personal experiences but also the best tips and what to expect from your visit to Treriksröset in Norway, Sweden en Finland. Enjoy reading!
About Treriksröset
The tri-border point of Norway, Sweden, and Finland is marked by a large, yellow monument, called a riksröse. Here you can walk through three countries and two different time zones in just about three seconds. The first marker was placed at this location as early as 1897, at the time by Russia (now Finland) and Norway. Sweden only came into the picture later, as they disagreed with the exact location at the time. The current monument was placed in 1926 and is accessible via a wooden boardwalk over the lake. At high tide, you can expect to get wet feet here.
Treriksröset is the northernmost point of Sweden and the westernmost point of Finland. Treriksröset is also the northernmost tri-border point in the world. Experts still regularly take measurements regarding the exact location of the tri-border point, so it may be moved again in the future. Some old markers show the borders of two countries further out in the landscape.
What is a riksröse?
Before we continue, I would like to tell you a little more about the riksröse, which can be literally translated as “kingdom stone pile.” The riksrösen are located on the borders of Norway and Sweden, and Finland and Sweden. On the Norway-Sweden border, there are a total of 642 riksrösen, spread out over the more than 1.600 kilometer long border. This means you can find riksrösen along the entire border, and not just in the north of Scandinavia. The photo below was taken on the border of Värmland and Norway (Trysil).
If you translate the word treriksröset literally it actually means three kingdom stone pile.
How to get to Treriksröset?
As I wrote in the introduction, you cannot ‘just’ drive to the Three-Country Point of Finland, Norway and Sweden. Even with the shortest option, which I also did myself, will take you half a day. This ‘fast’ way is by boat from Kilpisjärvi in Finland, beautifully situated on the E8 at the foot of the sacred mountain Saana. From the road you will see signs where you can park. The longer option is to hike there and back from Kilpisjärvi or across the Nordkalottleden.
Taking the boat to Treriksröset
From Kilpisjärvi the M/S Malla sails twice a day from Kilpisjärvi to Koltaluokta in summer and September. From here it’s about a three kilometer walk through Swedish nature over the Nordkalottleden to get to the monument. After about 2.5 kilometers you pass the border of Sweden and Finland and another 500 meters later you have arrived at the Three-Country Point.
You walk back along the same route to the boat, or walk about 11 kilometers through the Malla Nature Reserve back to Kilpisjärvi. The boat cannot be reserved in advance and has space for 30 people. In total, this tour takes about three hours. Please note: all times mentioned on the boat’s website and on-board communications are Finnish times, which is one hour time difference with Swedish and Norwegian time.
The costs for this boat are €45 per person for a one way ticket and €65 per person for a return trip and it is best to pay in cash. You can also pay with a credit card, but we were told that there is sometimes no mobile connection and we did not want to take the risk that we could not come. Cash is therefore the safest option.
More information about the boat crossing, times and prices can be found here.
From where can you visit Treriksröset?
The nearest villages, apart from Kilpisjärvi itself, are Enontekiö in Finland (approx. 2 hours’ drive) and Skibotn in Norway (approx. 1 hour’s drive). The route along the E8 is truly beautiful, so be sure to allow plenty of time to take this road trip at your leisure.
What we thought about Treriksröset
Together with my friend Sandra, I visited Treriksröset in the late summer of 2022 during our road trip to the North Cape and Northern Norway. It seemed like a nice add on to our trip. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and found the 50 euros we paid at the time quite a lot. Nevertheless, I thought it was worth it.
Why? The landscape is beautiful. You hike a short stretch of the Nordkalottleden in Finnish and Swedish Lapland. The path is manageable but quite stony and sometimes wet. Once we arrived at the monument, we had to wait half an hour for everyone to take their selfies before we could take a photo without people in it. After that, we had to walk fairly quickly to catch the boat back.
Expect mostly Finns on this excursion; I believe we were practically the only foreign tourists. The language spoken on board the boat is Finnish, but for us, everything was briefly repeated in English after the extensive story had been told in Finnish.
Book your trip to Norway
You can easily book your trip to Norway yourself using the links below.
Sweden for beginners
Are you planning to go on a trip to Sweden for the first time? I’m quite sure there’s a big chance that you will enjoy this amazing country as much as I do.
In my e-book Sweden for beginners you will find everything you want to know about your first trip to and in Sweden. I was once a beginner myself, in 2015 to be precise. Since then I have travelled in Sweden every summer and even moved to the north of Sweden in 2023.
This book will provide you will all the things I would have liked to know before I traveled to Sweden for the first time in 2015 plus much more!
Conclusion and further reading
Hopefully, I have provided you with a good dose of travel inspiration for your visit to Treriksröset in Lapland. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a comment. Prefer to read on? Then check out my Norway homepage or my Sweden homepage or one of the following articles:
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