Sodankylä
A Lapland village of reindeer country, the oldest wooden church in the north and a famous midsummer film festival
Browse Sodankylä
Sodankylä is a village of a few thousand people in the middle of Finnish Lapland, and a municipality the size of a small country. It holds the oldest surviving church in Lapland, finished in 1689, and each June the Midnight Sun Film Festival fills the place with screenings that run through a night that never gets dark. The rest of the year this is reindeer herding country, with the Luosto fells, the Tankavaara gold fields and some of the clearest aurora skies in Finland. Our local picks run from the village lunch canteen to the amethyst mine – filter by category and budget below.
Sodankylä at a glance
- Ideal stay: 2 to 3 days, more if you are chasing aurora
- Best time to visit: September to March for the northern lights, June for the midnight sun
- Highlights: the 1689 old church, the Luosto amethyst mine and the Tankavaara gold museum
- Where to stay: the village for services, Luosto for the fells
- Local picks: a growing set of hand-chosen tips
- Getting around: a car is close to essential; distances here are long
Where to stay in Sodankylä
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Is Sodankylä a good place to see the northern lights?
Yes. It sits under the auroral oval with very little light pollution, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute has run a geophysical observatory here since 1913 precisely because the conditions are so good.
What is the Midnight Sun Film Festival?
A film festival held in the village each June, screening around the clock through the weeks when the sun does not set. It is by far the busiest week of the Sodankylä year, so book accommodation months ahead.
How do you get to Sodankylä?
Most people fly to Rovaniemi and drive or take the bus about 130 km north. There is no railway to the village, and having a car makes the fells, the gold fields and the aurora spots far easier to reach.
What is there to do besides the aurora?
Browse the local picks above. The 1689 wooden church, the amethyst mine on Lampivaara fell, the Tankavaara gold museum and Pyhä-Luosto National Park all sit within the municipality.
When is everything actually open?
Seasonality matters more here than almost anywhere. The old church and the homestead museum open in summer only, most husky and snowmobile tours run in winter only, and Luosto's bars keep shorter hours out of season.