If you’re here on
a package trip, you might not have much time for exploring and finding out what
you can do in and around the village. There are loads of options!
I hope you will
find the notes here useful in making the most of your time here. I would have included pictures, but I’m sure
you’ll be busy taking your own!
Any comments,
suggestions, feedback, questions etc. very welcome!
* Adventures
* Skiing
* Eating Out
* Souvenirs
* Fire and Light
Adventures
If you want to
look beyond the options offered by your tour reps, or prefer to explore in a
smaller group, relax, it’s easy!
There are local safari companies that will be delighted to help.
On the way up Sivulante, the road that heads
off to the right as you walk up the hill from the Supermarket, you will see
Destination Lapland on your left with the giant lit-up kick sledge outside.
There are several safari
companies further up the same road on the left.
These are staffed by lovely people who all speak good English and will happily
organise tours for you.
Husky drawn sled tours (something everyone should do once),
exploring in groups on snowmobiles or even hiring snowmobiles to go off exploring on your
own with clear maps and instructions.
You might have
heard of the Lainio
Snow Village. It’s absolutely
worth a visit to see all the snow and ice sculptures. The best way to get there is to hire
snowmobiles for a few hours and follow the map at your own speed, but it’s an
easy taxi trip too.
Skiing
You’re probably
aware that there is a ski slope here.
Even if you didn’t plan on skiing, or indeed you’ve never been on skis
before, if you head up the Scenic Road (Maisematie) to Y1 on one of the Ski Buses that run regularly from all the hotels, you can hire all the equipment
you’ll need.
The instructors are fantastic with all levels from absolute beginners upwards, and even a
one-hour lesson will get a non-skier you to a surprisingly reasonable and
confident level. It’s also a great
family activity.
Less well-known to
many UK travellers is that Äkäslompolo is one of the best places for cross-country
skiing. You might have seen
some of the tracks (two parallel lines a few inches apart that head off into
the countryside often starting under wooden arches).
There are more than 300km of ski tracks in
this area, with quite a few lit until 10pm for the more enthusiastic skier.
Cross-country
skiing is really quite easy to get started with, and skiing off into the woods
in the twilight is lovely experience.
The Äkäslompolo Sport
Shop and Sportia both hire all the equipment you’ll
need to get started and organise lessons too.
If you have the time, this really is a great way to spend a few
hours. This was what kept us coming back
here originally.
You might see ski
maps for sale in the shops and supermarket. These pay for the upkeep of the ski
trails for everyone, and keep them free for use. As well as being nice souvenirs, you can
really help the area by purchasing one of these.
If you find
yourself getting quite confident and want to venture a bit further away, you’ll
see lots of rustic wooden signs pointing to wilderness cafés out on the ski
trails. Never did hot chocolate and
doughnuts taste better than after an hour of skiing!
Eating Out
With many package
trips, all food and accommodation is included.
Even so, it’s worth exploring the local cuisine further at one of the
local restaurants, especially if you like trying local food like reindeer and
arctic char. (Tip - pretty much everyone
that isn’t vegetarian likes reindeer)
Poro Restaurant is up past the Yllaskaltio hotel. Take the right fork in the road and it’s
about 250m down the road on the right.
It’s a lovely setting and fantastic Finnish food. There’s also a nice gift shop there.
To get to Restaurant Rouhe,
the newest restaurant in Äkäslompolo, you need to go down the main road past the
supermarket to the T-junction, there you can’t miss it on your left at the far side
of the junction. As well as a range of
local foods, they also do fantastic pizza!
Eväskori is a nice pub
which sometimes does karaoke, and serves great pizza.
Ylläksen Kaivohuone (The Sport Bar) has a good range of sport
channels and also serves food. (Can’t
say much more as not been there yet.)
Julli’s has long been a favourite here with
tourists. It’s more of a pub/restaurant,
but also does lovely burgers, where you can even chose one with antlers! (a delicious
smoked- reindeer topping ).
The Selva pub
(Selvä Pyy) is just in front of the supermarket
on the main road and also serves great local burgers.
Tower Restaurant and
Nightclub is another very
new restaurant in town, also just in front of the supermarket. It’s excellent quality and, if you have any
energy left after a day in the snow, and the pubs close too early for you, has
a nightclub that’s open from 10pm to 4am.
Souvenirs
On the main road
there are several shops selling lots of Lappish products, many made by local
craftspeople. If you can’t find some
good souvenirs in those, you’re really not trying!
Jounin Kauppa is the fantastically large supermarket here. Pretty much anything you need you’ll find
there, as well as lots of gift options.
There is also a well-stocked chemist, a café and a post box there.
Navettagalleria is a lovely little arts and culture wilderness
café open from 10am to 3pm Mon to Friday.
Here you can be sure to meet the magical gnomes of the forest. Easiest to ski or drive/taxi to.
Fire and Light
As you move around
the village, you'll probably see lots of candles and torches burning outside shops
and cabins.
On special occasions, (3pm
on Christmas Eve and 8pm on New Year’s Eve) the villagers place candles along
the sides of the main streets and switch off the street lighting. There can’t be many better times to see the
village.
At around 11pm on
New Year’s Eve, down near the supermarket car park, there will be a Fire
lantern event, where you can buy and launch your own lanterns to celebrate New
Year.
On “normal” days,
the village street lights are switched off at 10pm to make it easier to see the
Northern lights (Aurora Borealis) when they make one of their unpredictable,
but spellbinding, appearances.
Have a wonderful time in Äkäslompolo!
