A Northern Lights Village Levi Review By Flashpacking Family
Looking at glass igloos in Lapland and are wondering about the Northern Lights Village Levi?
After our stay there, we were inundated with questions from people wanting to know all about the Northern Lights Village in Levi. Seemingly there are lots of people who have a stay in a glass igloo in Lapland on their bucket list!
We decided to put all of our thoughts on the Northern Lights Village glass igloos together. Hopefully this review will help you decide whether it is the right hotel for you.
I have included the good, the bad and the ugly – although you can never associate the Levi Northern Lights Village with the word ‘ugly’!
We stayed at the Northern Lights Village as part of our DIY Lapland trip. It wasn’t part of a package holiday and we booked and paid for it ourselves.
We also stayed at the Hotel Levi Panorama, a ski in / ski out hotel in Levi in case you want to go skiing in Levi with kids. See also our posts on child-friendly restaurants in Levi and things to do in Levi with kids.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one and book or buy something using one, we may earn a small commission but this is at no extra cost to you.
Where is the Northern Lights Village Levi?
The Levi Northern Lights Village is located around 15km north of the centre of Levi and 30 km from Kittila Airport.
You can ask the hotel to organise a taxi for you from the airport which costs EUR 80. A taxi from the centre of Levi should cost you around EUR 35.
If you are taking a taxi, all of the taxis will know where it is. The address is:
Muoniontie 1554
99130 Sirkka
Finland
You will really get the feeling of being out in the wilderness while staying at the Levi Northern Lights Village. There is very little light pollution here, which is why you can get great sightings of the Northern Lights.
The downside to the location is that you are not within easy access of Levi if you want to do activities there like skiing or eating in a particular restaurant.
This is why we recommend a twin centre holiday, choosing somewhere in Levi to stay, particularly if you are skiing. As mentioned above, we chose the Hotel Levi Panorama.
Not heading to Levi? Did you know that there is also a Northern Lights Village in Saariselka? It is essentially the same as the Levi one.
How much is the Northern Lights Village?
Let’s start off by saying that a glass igloo stay is usually a once in a lifetime experience. It is not a cheap experience by any means, but you only live once right?!
The price of an igloo at the Northern Lights Village is around EUR 600 for 2 people staying on a bed and breakfast basis booking direct with the hotel. There are different packages available that will include full board and activities and that will work out cheaper than booking the accommodation and activities separately.
It is best to check on the Northern Lights Village website for all of the packages available.
If you don’t want to book a package for one reason or another, you can book half board on Booking.com. This is what we did and it worked out slightly cheaper than booking direct with the hotel but it doesn’t always work out that way so just check.
We checked a few of the other glass igloos in Levi and The Northern Lights Village was the more reasonable. It could also accommodate kids which not all of them can and we loved that they had all of the activities we wanted to do on site.
Alternatives to the Northern Lights Village
Golden Crown Levin Glut – perfect for couples but can accommodate children. Some of the igloos have hot tubs. Onsite restaurant.
Levi Northern Lights Huts – perfect for couples but can accommodate children. Onsite restaurant.
Northern Lights Ranch – more of a cabin but with a glass roof. Perfect for couples. Onsite restaurant.
Is the Northern Lights Village suitable for families?
The question we get asked the most is whether the Northern Lights Village is family-friendly.
Well, of course, they run lots of child-friendly activities there and they have a (sort of) kids’ menu and games in the lounge area.. but in terms of the accommodation… the jury is out on that one.
We have to be honest and say that, whilst we had an absolutely magical stay, fitting 4 people in an igloo felt a bit cramped.
We were out most of the time doing activities so it wasn’t really an issue. But finding space for all of the wet clothing and snow boots each time we came back.
There was nowhere to dry our wet clothes so we ended up laying them down on the heated floor in the bathroom. This worked quite well until someone needed to take a shower!
The main bed is positioned right under the glass roof and then there is a sofa bed in the corner. When that is open, there isn’t a lot of space in the room to move around.
We stayed there for 2 nights which we felt was the perfect amount of time. We were able to have 2 wonderful nights under the stars (and we were so lucky to see the Northern Lights).
We had one full day of activities and on the changeover days, we did a quick snowmobiling activity for the kids and a walk around the grounds and sledging.
Children under 3 stay for free and children between 4 – 14 are 50% of the adult price (for accommodation and activities).
Northern Lights Village glass igloos
The igloos at the Northern Lights Village are extremely comfortable and very cosy. We didn’t need to use the additional heater that is provided.
There are 40 igloos in total and they are all well spaced out so you are not overlooked and it is very peaceful.
If possible, I would opt for one with a view of the trees rather than other igloos but it is a personal preference. The furthest igloo from reception would only be a 5 minute walk.
The igloos have a wet room style bathroom with a shower and heated floor. They also have tea and coffee making facilities.
The glass is heated so if it gets covered in snow from a snowfall, you can melt the snow at the touch of a button to ensure every opportunity to see the Northern Lights.
There is no phone in the igloo but there is an iPad with all of the hotel information on it and can be used to contact reception.
What are the facilities like at the Northern Lights Village in Levi?
There is a communal lounge area in the main reception building which was really cosy. There was a lovely fireplace where you could sit and enjoy a drink before dinner. We liked to play games there after dinner so that we didn’t have to head straight back to the igloo.
There are two saunas that you can book for private use. You have to pay EUR 60 for 10 people or less for 1 hour. If you want to combine it with a hot tub, it is EUR 100 for 1 hour.
There are lots of sledges and shovels at reception that you can borrow. You can also hire snowshoes for free to go exploring in the local area.
When you book an activity at the Northern Lights Village, there are plenty of snow suits available to borrow for free if you don’t have your own.
Activities at the Northern Lights Village Levi
We didn’t do all of the activities. Partly because we were visiting with kids You can find a list of all of the activities at the Northern Lights Village here.
They have a large selection of snow gear that you can borrow when you book their activities just in case you don’t have your own.
Make sure to read our guide on what you need to pack for a Lapland holiday with kids for all of the essential gear you will need.
Husky Ride
They offer the option of a 5km or 10km husky ride. These are our thoughts. If you are travelling with children, we think that the 5km ride would be enough. The children sit on the front of the sledge while you drive it and it can get very cold. Your hands will get very cold too.
The 5km husky ride excursion lasts one hour with the actual husky ride lasting around 30 minutes. The sleighs can accommodate two people. Adults need to ride the sleigh with children sitting in the front.
You get to spend a little time with the huskies afterwards and warm up in the cosy Aurora hut with a warm berry juice.
We went at 3pm as that is the only time that was available. If we had more time, we would have preferred to go in the morning so that we could have seen the landscape and get better photos of the dogs. Night time photography is not easy!
Search for Santa
We only did one Lapland Santa trip and so we have nothing to compare The Northern Lights Village Search For Santa to but we thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was a thoroughly immersive and authentic Santa experience. We have also heard that the Santa Experience at the Elves Village is a great experience if you can’t find availability at the Northern Lights Village. Judging by chat from people who have done both, the latter wins hands down.
The experience lasts 3 hours and you are entertained throughout by the elves who take you to feed the reindeer, help you to make gingerbread cookies, take you on a reindeer sleigh ride and then on a snowmobile to finally find Santa where you have a private meeting with him lasting around 10 – 15 minutes.
Whilst the experience seems quite expensive, we actually thought that it was good value for money because it included a 15 minute reindeer ride and a snowmobile ride through breathtaking scenery.
Northern Lights
We didn’t do a Aurora Hunting experience. We had already seen the Northern Lights in Iceland and so while we really wanted to see them during our stay, we didn’t book a trip.
We were unsure whether to book in advance because there is no guarantee of seeing them. There is the option to move the experience to another date but with that is the danger that you run out of days. It is a large expense if you don’t get to see the lights.
You could speak to the hotel and ask about availability close to the time and try to decide from there.
If you are visiting with children, they have a heated sleigh available which his really essential when you are going out in the dark for a few hours and not moving much.
If the northern lights are out, you can see them from the village because there is very little light pollution. We were lucky enough to see them from our igloo and it absolutely made our stay!
The cost of the heated sleigh is EUR 120 per adult and EUR 60 per child (4 – 14 yrs) for a 3 hour excursion. There are other Northern Lights excursions available if you check their website.
Kids’ Snowmobile
When we were doing our research, there were two places in Levi where you could do snowmobiling for kids. This means that the kids get to drive their own mini snowmobiles.
One place was at VMax Rentals in Levi where it was EUR 50 for 30 minutes. The other was at the Northern Lights Village where it was EUR 30 for 30 minutes.
The snowmobile track at the Northern Lights Village is just behind reception so you don’t have far to go at all. It is a short but fun loop through the forest which will really test their driving skills.
This was one of the most fun things to do in Lapland according to the kids and we think it was a bargain compared to the other Lapland activities.
Alternative Lapland activities
I would say, if you are concerned about the cancellation policy, you can look at other excursions with better cancellation options.
These activities wouldn’t be as convenient because they don’t take place at The Northern Lights Village and you would need to arrange transport to get to them, but it may give you more peace of mind.
You can find all of the activities you could possibly want on GetYourGuide and most, if not all, have free cancellation policy up to 24 hours in advance of the activity.
3.5 hour Northern Lights hunting in a heated sledge (meet at Zero Point).
1 hour snowmobile excursion (includes hotel pick up and drop off).
2 – 2.5 hour private husky sledding (meet at Zero Point).
3 hour Snowmobile with ice fishing (hotel pick up included).
3 hour family reindeer tour with reindeer ride (pick up at hotel included – also include mini snowmobiles for kids and a 2km husky ride).
Food at the Northern Lights Village Levi
Having stayed at the Hotel Levi Panorama where the food was quite average, we were really pleasantly surprised by the food at the Northern Lights Village.
We stayed on a Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis. The food was always beautifully laid out and there were several options including food that was more suitable for children like spaghetti bolognese. There was even a cheese board at dinner which won us over.
Is the Northern Lights Village Levi worth it?
We would say that the Northern Lights Village Levi is definitely worth it! There are so many reasons to stay here and we would definitely go back.