If you want to add as many countries to your “been there, done that” list as possible, we have a very special place for you to visit that will allow you to experience three countries at once.
Just outside Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost city, visitors can head to the small village of Kilpisjarvi. From there, they can hike Treriksroset, the exact junction between Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
Visitors can walk down a small wooden walkway to a pile of cement initially built by the Russians and Norwegians in 1897 to mark the border. (At the time, this part of Finland belonged to Russia.) It was replaced by the present concrete cairn in 1926. Once you get there, you can walk the path around the cairns in seconds and brag about it to all your friends forever.
Getting to that point, however, will be challenging. As Kiruna’s tourism website explains, once visitors arrive in Kilpisjarvi, they can hike 11 kilometers (about 6.8 miles) to reach the boulder pile. If they had chosen this slightly harder path, they would have at least crossed the Mara, Finland’s oldest national park.
Kiruna’s website notes that visitors can take the easier route by taking M/S Malla. This 45-minute sightseeing boat takes them to Cortalukta from mid-summer until the end of September. From there, visitors only need to hike the remaining 3 kilometers (about 1.8 miles) to the final stop.
As for the return journey, the boat will stop and wait for about two hours, so you need to hurry to the cairns and return in time for your return journey. (ThoKiruna’s website suggests “going there by boat and walking back.” Missed your chance this year? The place is only accessible by snowmobile or snowboard, and you can take a guided tour.
Of course, there are other places where the three countries intersect at a single point, known as the trigonometric point. In fact, according to data from the Earth Observatory, the United Nations lists some 176 triangulation points around the world, of which China has the most 16. (Note: This figure is estimated due to territorial disputes.)
Some more famous triangular points are also relatively easy to reach, including the intersection of Germany, France, and Switzerland, and even a “four-point” place – the junction of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Now that you know all this, maybe “Collect Triangle Points” can be the new “Collect Passport Stamps” challenge.
