You MUST buy a few pounds of the cold-smoked salmon to bring home wherever home is; it is among the last "pure" salmon regions above the Arctic Circle - it is also cold smoked in Lapland (no salt, no "green tea", NO sugar, no "effects", just salmon and barely the scent of smoke - if none at all - Wegman's should connect ...; there is a great grocery store/liquor store (Alkol) at the corner of the northern road and the road to Russia that sells it.) There is also a very good souvenir shop on the right side of the street as you head north; they have sweaters from Norway that are up to 1/3 the cost of the "current market price" if bought in the US/Canada...all made in Norway, all 100% wool. They are not Dale, but they are Norway, beautiful, and of strong wool. This same souvenir shop also has original Saami crafts. The original Saami work is not "cheap" - authentic crafts are never... I walked everywhere in Ivalo - small town, people are cool... was there in February - not at all frigid - like Vermont or Connecticut in February - but LOTS of beautiful, deep snow...My stay was too short - 2.5 days - with the snow and the cloud-cover, it was timeless, as in a kind of time-suspension. Would like to spend a few weeks there for painting.... (art) Brain cleaning.....Go there to rediscover your quiet humanity and sense of peaceful natural order, especially in winter....especially with a Finnish, Estonian or Russian vodka balanced with some orange juice and ice...Don't forget, "Aklol" is right next to the smoked salmon!

The service is excellence with the perfect location. We enjoy every minute there. The food is also amazing! They have private sauna and outdoor jacuzzi that we really love. We will definitely come back here!!

It is a great place to observe the northern lights and you can find cheap hotels to stay many days to increase the chances of seeing them. I would suggest rent a car or even better travel with your own. Aurora hunters are waste of money if you are able to search for cloud monitoring and move with your own vehicle. Try the huskies and ride the sleigh as well as the ice fishing.

Well, although northern lights activity was moderate or high all week, too cloudy to see them. Bummer. LOVED sled dog trip. Somehow through woman who ran place I stayed at got hooked up with place that had sled dogs just off of racing season. I went out for about 5 hours with one girl guide where we each had our own sled dog team. Dogs were fast. Very exciting! We anchored the dogs and she made me a fish stew over a fire inside a little hut on a hilltop. I later stayed overnight in an amazing ice hotel. Beautiful sculptures, great dinner. Bucket list item!

Ivalo is not a town is a village. Only two flights daily from/to Helsinki (Finnair). High season may add a couple other flights (Norwegian). Small, quiet, very touristy. Rent a car ahead of time if you want to do your own exploring. Roads are great and easy to navigate. Plenty of both, great family owned and also resort-like accommodations.

4 days Husky ride and Northern lights If u r looking for lot of people action and activity u we b disappointed ! But if u r looking for a special, quiet, serene and beautiful place and love dogs...Guesthouse husky is amazing