What is "rantaraitti"

The rantaraitti ( Finnish) or strandpromenaden ( Swedish) is an urban hiking and cycling route along the coastline of Espoo, Finland, bordering the Gulf of Finland. The approximate total length of the route is 27 km.

Most of the route goes very near the coastline. At some places, it has to divert inland to public roads, because the coast is inaccessible or private property. The rantaraitti route starts at Laajalahti, near the border to Helsinki and then continues through the districts of Laajalahti, Otaniemi, Tapiola, Westend, Haukilahti, Matinkylä, Nuottaniemi, Kaitaa, Soukka and Espoonlahti to Saunalahti, near the border to Kirkkonummi.

From 1 May to 30 September 2008, the city of Espoo organised an event called rantaraittipatikointi ("rantaraitti hike") to celebrate the city's 550th anniversary. The event included people to hike through all or part of the rantaraitti route. There are twelve coastside cafés along the route that serve as marking points. In each of them, a participant could punch a stamp through the bottom edge of a specific leaflet called the "rantaraittipassi". A completed leaflet could then be sent to the city of Espoo to receive prizes.