Oulu Walking Tours, Activities, Attractions, Sightseeing, Visit Oulu – Tour Guide, Half-Day Trip
Welcome to Oulu!
Oulu City Walking Tours 2022 for tourists
All The Year Round
See all the sights and attractions
in Oulu City Centre on a guided tour, Finland
When you visit Oulu in Northern Finland, you can enjoy a delightful city walking tour in the city centre. The walking tour covers all the main attractions and sights in Oulu.
Oulu is located in Northern Ostrobothnia in Northern Finland. Oulu is known for its tar production in the past. In the modern times Oulu is known as a home for Nokia Mobile Phones.
The walking tour takes approximately two hours. The sights that you will see are for example (no entry to museums):
- Toripolliisi Statue at Torinranta market place
- Old Granaries at Torinranta market place
- Theatre and Library
- Old market hall (Vanha kauppahalli)
- Oulu Art Museum
- Tietomaa Science Center
- Ambient Art Work for Finland's 100 years jubilee
- Ainola Park, The Ostrobothnian Museum and Hupisaaret Islands
- Old Observatory Cafe (Tähtitornin kahvila) and ruins of Oulu Castle (Oulunlinna)
- City Hall (kaupungintalo)
- Rotuaari Pedestrian Street & The Marble Ball (pallo)
- Valkea Mall and Tiernapojat Statue
- Pikisaari Island (separate tour)
- Mannerheim Park (Mannerheiminpuisto)
- Merikoski Dam and Fish Steps (yes, Fish Steps!)
- Oulu Cathedral (Oulun tuomiokirkko)
In Oulu city there are a lot of sights and attractions. The city hall is a very decorative house from 1886. Valkea Mall is a modern commercial center and it was opened in 2016.
In 2017 Finland celebrated 100th year of independence. It was a big jubilee during the whole year. A piece of art, Ambient, was unveiled in the middle of Hallituskatu street. This sight is covered on the walking tour.
Hupisaaret is a famous area with a small ”serpentine” river beside Ainola Park (Ainolanpuisto). Hupisaaret means ”Fun Islands”. It has been a popular place for amusement in the end of 19th century and it has a strong feeling from that time.
Tähtitornin kahvila is an Observatory cafe made in an old wooden observatory tower. It’s a famous landmark beside a main street from the city centre to Tuira district. The street is famous because of Merikoski Bridges. Tähtitornin kahvila is covered on the walking tour.
Other sights and attractions in the city centre are for example The Oulu Cathedral and Mannerheim Park (Mannerheiminpuisto). Mannerheim is the biggest war hero in Finland. He was also the Finnish President during 1944-46.
Oulu Airport is the second largest airport in Finland. It’s located in Oulunsalo, 15 km from Oulu city centre. By bus it takes about 30 minutes, by taxi about 15 minutes. If you have a short visit in Oulu airport it’s worth going to the city centre if you have hours to spend.
Rotuaari is a famous attraction. It’s Finland’s best known modern pedestrian street since it was opened already in 1987. The stone ball at the Rotuaari Square is a famous landmark. Rotuaari is covered on the walking tour.
Old Market Hall is located at Torinranta market place. The building is from 1901. It’s still used for selling grocery. At the moment it will be renovated (2018).
Oulu Theatre and Library are located next to each other near Torinranta market place.
Valkea Linna is a huge block-wide building which represents functionalism from 1941.
Functionalism is characteristic for Oulu.
The main attractions in Oulu are Nallikari beach, Eden Spa, Tietomaa Science Park, Toripolliisi Statue, Rotuaari Pedestrian Street, Old Market Hall, Torinranta market place, Vauhtipuisto Amusement Park for small children, Oulu Cathedral, North Ostrobothia Museum, Oulu Art Museum, Ainola Park & Hupisaaret Islands, Merikoski Bridges, Merikoski Dam and Valkea Mall.
Martti Ahtisaari, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2008, is from Oulu. In Oulu there is Martti Ahtisaari Institute in Oulu Business School.
Enjoy your visit in Oulu and have a nice walking tour around the city. It’s an interesting and entertaining tour. It’s worth to come to Oulu and explore Oulu’s treasures: Oulu has much to offer.
Besides, you don’t need to ”skip the line”!
Ask for the next walking tour in Oulu
The minimun for a group is 4 persons for organising a tour. Please try to gather a group of at least 4 persons.
The duration of the tour is approximately 2 h. The language on the tour is English or Swedish (or Finnish for Finnish people). Även på svenska. Bekanta dig med Uleåborg.
Please be prepared to pay the tour ticket with cash (euro). Combined tour with a car is 30 €/person (max 4 persons).
Ask also for other half-day or day trips, excursions or activities around Oulu region.
Private guide
You can also book a private guide (with a car) in Oulu. If you need a personal guide in Oulu with a car, you can contact us with above web form, email or telephone. We offer guided tours in Oulu and nearby places, like Turkansaari open air museum, Hailuoto island, Kemi, Raahe and Kalajoki Sand Dunes. In Kemi there are famous Lumilinna Snowcastle and Sampo Icebreaker.
Trip to Hailuoto
Hailuoto is a nice and popular island in front of Oulu. Ask for a trip to Hailuoto (an example price: 100 €/4 h). (Tickets of museums or other attractions are not included in the price).
Trip to Old Raahe's Wooden town
Raahe is 75 km from Oulu. It’s a nice city with a unique old town which is a set of wooden blocks (an example price: 120 €/4 h). There is a well-preserved wooden old town in Raahe city centre. It’s a unique wooden town like Unesco world heritage Old-Porvoo near Helsinki. (Tickets of museums or other attractions are not included in the price).
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More about Oulu!
These activities or attractions are not included in the walking tour,
a guide service or a trip to Hailuoto or Raahe
Oulu Mini Info
• Oulu Taxi Telephone Number +358 600 30081 Otaxi Site.
Taxi markets are liberalised 1st July 2018 from strict regulations in Finland and you can find also more taxi services and you can compare the prices. Search for example ”taxi in Oulu” on the internet or app stores *.
• Oulu Public Transport (Oulun joukkoliikenne) Site
• Oulu Tourist Office Address: ”Oulu10”, Torikatu 10 A, 90100 OULU
• Oulu City Official Site English »
There is also a Hop-on Hop-off bus during summertime in Oulu.
Nallikari in Oulu is a famous beach which is well-known in whole Finland. There is a modern ”light house” where you can view the sea.
Oulun kärpät is Oulu’s ice hockey team. Their home arena is Oulu Ice Hall (Oulun jäähalli) which is also called Oulun Energia Areena.
Oulu is an old tar producer town. Tar was produced in the old times in a tar kiln which was demonstrated in Turkansaari in Oulu. The idea is to cover the wood by peat and burn them without oxygen under the peat. The heat will soften the resin inside the wood and squeeze it out as tar.
We offer trips to Turkansaari Open Air Museum. It’s 10 km from Oulu.
Oulu Sinfonia concerts are held in Madetojan sali (Oulun Musiikkikeskus). During your visit in Oulu you can enjoy a concert, visit Oulu Sinfonia.
Kekri is celebrated in the end of autumn as a harvest and it icludes burning a straw goat. This straw goat was burned at Maikkulan kartano in Oulu.
Oulu can be reached by train, bus and plane, and in some cases also by ferry. You can also drive there from various popular directions: from Helsinki, Lapland, Vaasa, Kajaani, Kuusamo. Oulu train station is in the heart of the city centre. If you need to cross the border to Sweden it’s done in Tornio. It’s a so-called ”twin-city” Tornio-Haparanda where Haparanda is the Swedish counterpart. There is an IKEA in Haparanda. It’s called IKEA Haparanda-Tornio. Read more about how to get to Oulu »
This page is about having a vacation in Oulu, Finland. The Oulu city walking tour covers all the main attractions and sights. Oulu is an old ”tar” town. Nowadays it’s more known as a technology city. This is also a tourist service site. Oulu walking tours gives you a nice picture of the city in a friendly way. We also offer trips to Turkansaari Open Air Museum, Hailuoto, Raahe, Kemi, Kalajoki. From Oulu it’s 600 km to Helsinki, capital of Finland, where Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet 16th July 2018. Come and visit Oulu. See you in Oulu!
* (Oulu Mini Info continues) Taxi services are liberalised 1st July 2018 in Finland which means that you can find cheaper taxis. There will be more vendors since it’s easier to get a taxi licence in Finland. Almost any company can begin as a taxi company. When you come to Oulu you can try to find a cheaper taxi service for your transportation need. Before it was stated in the taxi law that the a taxi must have a taximeter. But not anymore. When you take a taxi for example in Oulu you can make ”a deal” with a driver: you can set the maximum amount you will pay, otherwise you can say you will negotiate with another taxi. So, remember to discuss the price before you take the taxi. If you don’t ask for the price and the driver estimates that the journey is going to cost over 100 €, the driver must inform the customer about this before the journey, and get the customer’s approval. Use internet or app stores (Google Play, Apple App Store) for searching different taxi services in Oulu (”Taksi Oulu”, ”Taxi Oulu”) and Finland. Taxi is taksi in Finnish, taxi service is taksipalvelu. Read more about taxi market liberalisation. You can try to find via internet or app store a cheap taxi (halpa taksi) in Oulu or even a cheapest taxi (halvin taksi) in Oulu.