Services on the Blue Road

There are several services along the Blue Road in the region of North Karelia (Tohmajärvi-Outokumpu). Logically, the closer you are to the centre of the town, the more diverse is the supply of the services. But still there are services not only near the center but also along the whole road.

 

In Tohmajärvi you can see the effect of the East border. Near the border you can find Itähuolinta which offers different tourism services. There is also a café-restaurant and a popular fish shop. In these places Russian tourists are taken into account very well by giving services also in Russia. From the border to Tohmajärvi you can find at least two gas stations. The distance between them is only about 10 kilometres.

Along the road, about 6 kilometres from the border there is an ecofarm which gives also accommodation services.

 

The centre of the Tohmajärvi is along the Blue Road that gives a great opportunity to attract tourists to visit at the municipality. There are for example restaurants, museum and summer theatre. In summer times you can find nice summer cafés.

 

When you go from Tohmajärvi to Road 6 you can find a camping site in Kangaslampi. There is also a beach and on the other side of the road is a dance hall. These kinds of places attract tourists in summer times.

 

There are few gas stations from Tohmajärvi to Joensuu (Road 6). Their distance is about 20-30 kilometres from former gas stations. There is also a beach at Hammasjärvi. There is a stop-over site at both sides of the road. Near the centre of Joensuu is Kukkolan tila (Kukkola´s farm) where there is for example a home-museum, a wood-park, exhibitions, nature trails and a garden. Kukkola is a tourism target of the sustainable development.   

 

The centre of Joensuu city is very close to Road 6 and Road 9. There are many services for tourists, for example gas stations, shops, hotels, restaurants, camping site, beaches, a market square, museums and cafés, summer theatre and summer cafés, theatre of Joensuu city, botanical garden and swimming hall.

 

When you continue the trip from Joensuu to Outokumpu (Road 9) you find many gas stations along the road. Beyond the centre of Joensuu there are stations near Marjala, Ylämylly, Käsämä and Outokumpu. The distance between them is about 5-20 kilometres. There are also many beaches near the road, for example Aavaranta and Honkaniemi in the centre of Joensuu, and at Viinijärvi, Onttola, Ylämylly and Kuorinka. At Lake Kuorinka there is a very big and well equipped stop-over site. There are also few museums and a motel along the road. You can also find a tower built for bird watches. That tower is in Outokumpu near Lake Sysmäjärvi which is a precious lake for different water birds.

 

Compared to other big roads in North Karelia there is a very small amount of stop-over sites along the Blue Road. Maybe the reason is that there are many gas stations beside the road, and the municipalities are near the road. Overall there are about 10 gas stations on the Blue Road from Tohmajärvi to Outokumpu. It is quite a reasonable solution to locate towns and municipalities with their diverse services close to the big roads because then it is easy to reach tourists who are looking for a place to stop. Also there are many beaches near the road and some camping sites, too. There are many lakes near the Blue Road that enable a big amount of beaches. In summer times beaches and camping sites are places that attract tourists. And so are summer cafés and summer theatres which can be found in municipalities near the road. It is also clever to locate gas stations near some other tourist attractions. For example in Pyhäselkä there is a gas station on the other side of the Blue Road and a tradition yard opposite the gas station. 

 

It is important that services are near the big roads but almost as important is that there are good signs about these services. It isn´t possible that everything is located so near the road that people can see all the tourist resorts and are able to navigate there. So, bulletin signs have a very big role when you want to reach all the potential customers. On the blue road there are many different signs about important tourist resorts but not all of them. So, info boards and maps give even more information about services of specific region. You can find the board on The Blue Road for example in Tohmajärvi at the same place as Itähuolinta, and in Pyhäselkä at the yard of Gulf gas station. Travelling offices are located in Tohmajärvi, Pyhäselkä, centre of Joensuu city and Outokumpu. So, though services are the most important thing, the information about them (what, where?) cannot be forgotten. And information must be given in different languages so that they would help many as possible, not only local people.