One thing was certain when I booked our trip to Lapland: I wanted to stay far above the Arctic Circle. And even more remote, away from everything. Not just because it sounds fun, but also because I thought the chances of seeing the Northern Lights would be even greater. My search ended in Saariselkä at Fell Centre Kiilopää, more than 250 kilometers above the Arctic Circle.
Fell Centre Kiilopää in Saariselkä: 250 km above the Arctic Circle
Fell Centre Kiilopää (or Suomo Latu Kiilopää) is quite remote, located 17 kilometers from the center of Saariselkä. It’s right next to one of the entrances to Urho Kekkonen National Park. Walk through the gate and you’re immediately in the wilderness. Due to its remote location, Fell Centre Kiilopää can only be reached by rental car, taxi or the ski bus, which passes twice a day. Staying here without your own transport isn’t a problem if you make use of the meals offered at the restaurant. However, if you want to cook for yourself, it gets a bit trickier; the nearest supermarket is 17 kilometers away in Saariselkä.
Fell Centre Kiilopää accommodation options
Fell Centre Kiilopää offers a variety of accommodation options. You can choose from a hotel room, a bed in a hostel, an apartment or a cabin. While it may sound like there are many choices, it doesn’t feel overwhelming. The place has a friendly, small-scale atmosphere. I haven’t counted the cabins at Fell Centre Kiilopää, but there are probably around 30. The cabins are spaced out nicely, ensuring great privacy.
Fell Centre Kiilopää wilderness cabin
There are two types of cabins: the log cabin and the wilderness cabin. Both cabins feature a sauna. The wilderness cabin has one living space with a kitchen, dining table and 4 beds (2 bunk beds side by side). It is a standalone cabin, robustly built and truly a sight to behold.
Fell Centre Kiilopää log cabin
We chose the log cabin because it has a fireplace and is slightly more spacious. The log cabin at Fell Centre Kiilopää features a living area with a small kitchen, dining table and seating area. There is one bedroom, but the sofa in the seating area can be converted into a bed, which works well as long as children (up to about 12 years old) sleep there.
What stands out to me is how incredibly clean the cabin is. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in a place this spotless. I truly didn’t find a single speck of dust on the floor, no buildup in the shower and the windows are sparkling clean. That’s not always the case in accommodations! Furthermore, it’s very comfortable to stay in the log cabin. All the windows are double (not just double-glazed, but with actual double windows), providing excellent insulation. There’s no draft or cold spots anywhere. Every room is equipped with underfloor heating, which you can control individually. Even the floor by the toilet has underfloor heating.
Upon entering, there’s a spacious hallway with a drying cabinet. Perfect for drying off wet, cold winter clothes after a day outdoors. After the hallway, there’s a large area with a tiled floor, where you’ll find a wall with a bench, coat rack and shelves. It’s great to have so much space, especially with all the thermal suits, boots and gloves we’ve had access to all week.
In many Finnish accommodations, you don’t have a traditional bathroom, but instead a “wet room”: the sauna, a separate shower and a separate toilet. These separate sections are all within a small, fully tiled space, so it can get quite wet. It dries quickly, though, thanks to the sauna heat and the underfloor heating.
Main building of Fell Centre Kiilopää
In the main building of Fell Centre Kiilopää, you’ll find a small shop, the Kiilopää restaurant and the à la carte Kammi restaurant. The latter is located in a separate section of the building but was closed during our stay. It looks quite abandoned, so I’m not sure if it’s still in use. A nice feature near the entrance are the drying cabinets, perfect for drying wet and cold clothes while you enjoy your meal. Afterward, you can slip into warm jackets, thermal suits and gloves.
Downstairs in the building, you’ll find the rental shop. Here, you can rent cross-country skis, fat bikes, snowshoes and more. For rentals such as fat bikes and cross-country skis, it’s recommended to reserve in advance. For snowshoes, however, no reservation is needed, as they are available in abundance.
Restaurant Kiilopää: full board or half board?
At Restaurant Kiilopää, you can order simple à la carte dishes such as pizza, fries with chicken, hamburgers, reindeer stew, salads and more. You place your order at the counter, pay and then receive a number. Additionally, you can opt for the buffet. Don’t expect too much from it, it’s fairly limited. Every day, there’s raw vegetables and salad, soup with bread and some hot dishes. The selection isn’t extensive, so for a future stay without full board, I would simply order à la carte.
Since we booked our trip as a package we have full board, which means we can use the buffet three times a day. It’s fine, but as mentioned above, don’t expect too much. From time to time, we still like to order an à la carte meal, like a basket of chicken and fries!
Smoke sauna at Kiilopää
Kiilopää is known not only for its outdoor activities but also for its smoke sauna. A smoke sauna fills with both heat and smoke as it warms up. Once it reaches the desired temperature, a hatch is opened to release the smoke. Everything in a smoke sauna is blackened, so you’ll sit on a wooden plank or else you’ll end up with black marks on your bottom and/or thighs when you leave. After a sauna session at Kiilopää, you can dip into a hole in the ice in the Kiilopuro River for an invigorating experience.
Is it busy at Fell Centre Kiilopää?
Suomen Latu Kiilopää is one of the oldest nature activity centers in Lapland. It was founded in 1964 and is a well-known establishment in the far north. It is owned by Suomen Latu, an organization that encourages Finns to engage in more outdoor activities. And it seems to be working well! Every day, people come to Kiilopää, mostly to go cross-country skiing. The majority of people you’ll encounter arrive in the morning by bus for a day of skiing in Urho Kekkonen National Park and leave around 4:00 PM. Some are just passing through, following one of the cross-country ski trails that pass by Fell Centre Kiilopää. It’s lovely to see so many children on cross-country skis. Just as we grow up with bicycles, it seems they grow up with cross-country skiing here.
It’s not crowded at Kiilopää like you might expect from ski resorts; far from it. In fact, the ski bus isn’t even full when it arrives in the morning. It can get a bit busier at lunchtime in the restaurant, as people passing through often stop for a meal. Despite this, the atmosphere still feels small-scale, friendly and cozy.
Urho Kekkonen National Park
Right next to the main building of Fell Centre Kiilopää is one of the entrances to Urho Kekkonen National Park. Just a few minutes’ walk from your accommodation and you’ll be immersed in this beautiful park. Urho Kekkonen National Park is vast, covering an area of 2,538 km². Within the park lies the 79 km² Sompio Nature Reserve. The eastern side of the park borders Russia, where you’ll find higher mountains, steep rock faces and gorges. On the western side of the park, near Saariselkä and Kiilopää, the landscape is dominated by the bare, rolling fells (hills). Once you enter the national park, within just a few minutes, you’ll feel deep in the wilderness.
Most people come here to cross-country ski. In addition to many kilometers of ski trails, there are also five hiking routes marked in this part of Urho Kekkonen National Park, starting from Kiilopää. These routes take you through valleys and over fells, offering breathtaking views along the way.
Kiilopää Fell
The highest fell in this area is Kiilopää Fell. This hill is just under 550 meters tall and you can reach the top in about half an hour from your accommodation (2 kilometers). I find the place almost otherworldly, though I’m not quite sure how to describe it. From the pine forest, you walk up the hill and the concentration of trees gradually decreases. One time when we were walking, the fog rolled in completely and suddenly it felt like we had ended up at the North Pole. Very strange! The view is stunning. On clear days, you can see other fells with wooded valleys in between. We find the place so enchanting that we walk there several times during the week. It’s a spot where you can immerse yourself in the woods or stand atop the bare hills for breathtaking views.
What to do near Kiilopää?
Just spending time in Urho Kekkonen National Park could easily fill a week, but if you’re already here, you’ll want to explore the surrounding area as well. We’ve planned a few activities that take place closer to Saariselkä. These include snowmobile rides, husky safaris and a visit to a reindeer farm. We also take a day trip using the ski bus to Saariselkä. This bus stops at various points, allowing you to hop on and off. It’s like a hop-on-hop-off service! A ticket for the whole day costs 5 euros.
Snowmobiles for kids
Along the way, we stop at Northern Lights Village, where the kids can ride mini snowmobiles. There is a small area in the forest that’s been set up for them to ride around and have fun. You can decide how long they get to enjoy the experience. They absolutely love it!
From Northern Lights Village, it’s an easy walk to the center of Saariselkä, where we take the bus to Kaunispää. This is the most dominant fell in Saariselkä, where you’ll also find the ski slopes.
Kaunispää lunch and tobogganing
The ski bus drops you all the way at the top of the mountain, right by the Kaunispään Huippu Oy restaurant. If you’re thinking about the hustle and bustle of ski resorts, you’ll definitely experience it here. It almost feels like being back in the Alps! But it’s a great spot for a quick lunch, which is exactly what we do before we take the toboggan ride down. Before that, we climb the Kaunispää Triangulation Tower, a lookout tower next to the restaurant. The tower is completely frozen, offering an amazing view of the surrounding area.
Saariselkä toboggan run
Pulkkamäki Toboggan Run in Saariselkä is the longest toboggan run in Finland, stretching 1.2 kilometers and it’s even the longest in Northern Europe. Sledges are available for free, but the tricky part is that they are all stored at the end of the run in a large bin. We borrow ours from our accommodation, but you can also rent them in the center of Saariselkä from activity providers. Alternatively, you can walk down to the bin of sledges and then hike back up! The toboggan slope starts at the bottom of Kaunispää fell, near the Saariselkä Ski & Sport Resort. The ski bus stops here and at the end of the day, it takes you back to Kiilopää. Perfectly organized!
Curious about what else you can do in Saariselkä and other places in Lapland? Check out this article: 25 things to do in winter Lapland.
Travel to Saariselkä in Lapland, package tour or booking yourself?
Do you want to head this way too? Then it’s a matter of deciding what you prefer: booking everything yourself or going through a travel agency. Due to COVID, I decided to book our trip through a travel agency this time. This way, I had more certainty and less hassle if the trip needed to be canceled for unforeseen reasons. Of course, you pay more for a fully organized trip. But how nice is it to travel without having to arrange everything yourself? Especially for an expensive destination, when traveling with children and during the COVID era.
Fell Centre Kiilopää, booking yourself
You can easily book a stay at Fell Centre Kiilopää online. However, availability is limited, likely because travel agencies book in advance. A bigger challenge, though, will be finding a flight. The best option is to fly to Ivalo, but you’ll need to make a stop in Helsinki. So, you’ll first book a flight to Helsinki and then catch a connecting flight to Ivalo. Another option is to take a train from Helsinki to Lapland.
By train or rental car from Helsinki to Lapland
If you have more time, you could also opt to rent a car in Helsinki and drive to Saariselkä. Renting a car is a great idea for flexibility and you can make stops in other places in Lapland along the way. The drive from Helsinki to Saariselkä is over 1000 kilometers, so it’s a long journey, but hey, many people take similar trips to the Alps for a week of skiing!
Winter holiday in Central Finland and Southern Finland
If the distance seems too much, a winter trip to Finland’s lake district is also fantastic. You can enjoy many activities that are available in Lapland as well. You could even drive a bit further north for a winter holiday in Central Finland. Alternatively, combining the south and middle of Finland offers a beautiful winter experience in the southern part of the country. The advantage is that it’s much quieter in southern Finland during the winter compared to Lapland.
Booking a trip to Lapland through a travel agency
If all this seems a bit overwhelming, the easiest option might be to book with a travel agency. Many agencies offer complete packages that include accommodation, direct flights, transfers from the airport to your accommodation, activities and often half board or full board. Booking through a travel agency might cost more than organizing everything yourself, but it brings added security, especially during these times and saves you a lot of planning. You’ll be able to focus on the excitement of your trip from the very start!
