Wish Oulu were here

one of the many natural wonders that make this a place worth your consideration when you're drawing up your holiday wish list for 2026.

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Oulu is a city 60 miles inside the Arctic Circle, home to 200,000 people, and next year it's been given the prestige of being the European Capital of Culture.

It's a city that could likely be summed up in a single cheesy slogan: “You don't have to be mad to come here, but it helps!”

This place is quirky, a bit weird, and definitely memorable. Where else in the world could you hear a symphony created out of space noise generated billions of years ago, or watch would-be entrepreneurs shivering in icy water trying to persuade rich onlookers to invest in them?

Interested in watching actual grownups pretend to play nonexistent guitars in front of an excitable crowd of rock lovers? Oulu has your back.

Where else could you enjoy an opera in the traditional Sami language confronting the abhorrent forced assimilation that happened to youngsters of the native culture, and also enjoy a flamenco performance against the backdrop of Oulu's Screaming Men's Choir, whose performances are as you'd imagine.

Visitors also come in their droves to venture out on an icebreaker ship into the frozen Baltic Sea in winter for the chance to stick on sumo suits and float about among mini icebergs.