Sights and museums in Rovaniemi

In October 1944 the retreating German army burned Rovaniemi, and about 90 per cent of the buildings in the town centre were destroyed. What you see today was built after the war, much of it to a plan from Alvar Aalto’s office. That makes the centre less a collection of old streets and more a place to look at post-war architecture, with two museums that explain the region. Everything below lies within walking distance of the centre, and most of it can be done on a dark winter afternoon when the outdoor tours are over.

Arktikum, the museum under the glass tube

The Arktikum is two institutions in one building. The Regional Museum of Lapland and the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland share the space, and the Arctic Centre is also an international research institute. The building opened on 6 December 1992, Finland’s 75th Independence Day, after a competition won by the Danish firm Birch-Bonderup & Thorup-Waade. Its glass tube is 172 metres long, made of about a thousand panes of special glass, and the 30-metre-wide Kittilä highway cuts through it. The exhibition rooms themselves lie entirely underground. Visit Rovaniemi describes the tube as the “frozen finger of the north”, pointing in that direction.

Inside you find two large permanent exhibitions. “Arctic Opposites”, renewed in December 2024, covers the Arctic in five themes, from the cryosphere to the eight seasons of the north, and lets you see and even paint northern lights in any weather. “Northern Ways” belongs to the regional museum and is divided into Rovaniemi, Southern Lapland and Upper Lapland, with reindeer herding, the Sámi and the Lapland War among its subjects. Scale models show Rovaniemi before and after 1944, which is the quickest way to understand the town. A 10-minute film, “Arctic Seasons”, runs non-stop in the Polarium theatre unless the hall is booked for a conference. Until 24 January 2027 there is also the temporary exhibition “The Wounded Wild” by Anssi Jokiranta and Anna Ruohonen.

Plan at least an hour. The Arktikum recorded 172,661 visitors in 2025, a record, and 65 per cent of them came from abroad. Behind the building, the free Arctic Garden runs down to the Ounasjoki and serves as a walking path in winter, and the museum calls the shore below “Arktikum Beach” a good place to watch for the aurora on dark evenings. Shop and café are open without a ticket. One house rule matters in winter: take off studded shoes before you go in.

Korundi and the depot that survived

Korundi House of Culture sits in a massive red-brick building from 1933 that was built as a post bus depot. It is one of the few buildings in Rovaniemi that came through the Second World War. The depot became Rovaniemi Art Museum in 1986 and was later remodelled into Korundi by the architect Juhani Pallasmaa. Today it is home to the art museum and to the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, led by John Storgårds, which plays in the 340-seat Korundi hall. The art museum celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026.

Most of the website is in Finnish, but the visit is easy: you may take photos and videos for your own use, and there is a free digital visitor guide. On Thursdays from 16:00 to 18:00 entry to the exhibitions is free, except on public holidays. Korundi is at Lapinkävijäntie 4, next to the Revontuli shopping centre and close to the bus and railway stations. If you plan to see both Korundi and the Arktikum, the Culture Pass covers both and stays valid for seven days.

The Aalto Centre and the reindeer antler plan

In 1945 Aalto’s reconstruction office drew the town plan known as the reindeer antler plan. Seen from above, the main roads out of town form the antlers, the centre between the Ounasjoki and Kemijoki rivers forms the head, and the sports field Keskuskenttä is the eye. The plan was never carried out in full, but Visit Rovaniemi says the figure can still be recognised.

The Aalto Centre on Hallituskatu is the civic heart of that plan and one of only two civic centres by Aalto that were completed in Finland. The library came first in 1965. Lappia Hall followed in 1975 and was the last building Aalto saw finished before his death. The City Hall was completed in 1986 under the direction of his wife, the architect Elissa Aalto. The roof arches of Lappia Hall echo the rounded fells of Lapland and can be lit in different colours in the evening. On the square stands Kain Tapper’s environmental work “Vuorten Synty” (The Birth of the Fells) from 1988. The city calls itself the northernmost Aalto city in the world.

In winter 2026/27 you can go inside the library, which is open Monday to Thursday 10:00–19:00 and Friday and Saturday 10:00–16:00. The City Hall is temporarily closed for renovation. Lappia Hall’s ticket office and theatre shop open Tuesday to Saturday 12:00–18:00 during the performance season.

Rovaniemi Church

The church on Yliopistonkatu was finished in 1950 to a design by Bertil Liljequist, as part of the rebuilding. Inside, a huge fresco behind the altar takes up most of the view. It is called “Source of Life” and was painted by Professor Lennart Segerstråle in 1951. The church seats 680 people and has an organ from the Christensen organ factory. It is open Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 14:00. Christmas opening hours had not been published in October 2026, so check the official site before you go.

The bridge, the riverbank and Lordi’s Square

Visit Rovaniemi calls the Jätkänkynttilä Bridge the landmark the town is best known for. The 320-metre bridge opened in 1989 and links the centre with Ounasvaara. Its name and the shape of its pylons come from the lumberjack’s candle, a torch that loggers carved from a piece of wood. A walk along the riverbank gives you the closest view.

In the pedestrian zone, the former Sampo Square was renamed Lordi’s Square after the Finnish band won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006, and an estimated 3,500 people came to the naming party that June. In recent winters the Arctic Lapland Rally has held its ceremonial start and finish here, and the Jätkänkynttilä Ski Marathon finishes on the square; in 2026 it took place on 21 March. The Santa Claus City Office on the square opens daily from November to March and has free admission.

A few minutes away, at Pohjolankatu 25, the LAURI historical log houses are old buildings that were moved into town from the Lappish countryside after the war. Inside is a craft workshop where you can watch items being made from reindeer antler, wood and leather. Opening hours are not published, so check before you go.

Ounasvaara above the river

Across the bridge rises Ounasvaara, a hill of over 200 metres with sports facilities and marked trails. At the start of each winter a 6-kilometre walking trail is groomed by snowmobile. Its nearest point is 1.6 kilometres east of the centre: cross the Jätkänkynttilä Bridge and Jäämerentie, then turn left from the cycle path and climb. Along the trail, on the pine-covered western slope at about 160 metres, there are two lean-to shelters and an observation tower that looks out over the centre and the Kemijoki. The skiing page covers the trails and the ski resort on the other side of the hill.

Opening hours in winter 2026/27

An afternoon plan for the centre

Start at the Arktikum when it opens at 10:00 and give the Lapland War models in “Northern Ways” some time, because they explain everything else you will see. Walk back through the centre to the Aalto Centre and the library, then on to Korundi. On a Thursday, time it so you reach Korundi after 16:00. Finish on the riverbank as the light goes, with the Jätkänkynttilä Bridge in front of you. If you would rather hear the history from a local, the guided walks below cover the same ground in under two hours.

If you find Pilke Science Centre on Ounasjoentie in an older guide: it closed for good on 2 October 2026. Santa Claus Village and SantaPark lie outside town near the airport and have their own pages: Santa Claus Village and SantaPark.