Kajaani, Finland

KAJAANI, 178km southeast of Oulu by bus, could hardly be more of a contrast to the communities of the Bothnian coast. Though small and pastoral, the town is by far the biggest settlement that Kainuu province, a very rural part of Finland, has to offer; trains and buses are rare here and the pleasures of nature take precedence over everything else. Obviously there's little bustle or nightlife, but Kajaani offers some insight into Finnish life in one of the country's less prosperous regions. Fittingly, it was here that Elias Lönnrot completed his version of the Kalevala, the nineteenth-century collection of Finnish folk tales that extolled the virtues of traditional peasant life. During the first week of July Kajaani also hosts Finland's biggest annual poetry festival (Web: www.runoviikko.fi ), during which the main street, Kauppakatu, turns into a bustling market; in late May, meanwhile, the Kainuun Jazzkevät (Web: www.jazzkevat.fi ) sees performances from a number of big-name jazz groups.