Aurora Village Ivalo: Glass-Roof Cabins, Towers, Prices and Is It Worth It

Updated 5 October 2026.

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Aurora Village sets glass-roofed cabins and towers in the forest near Ivalo, so you can watch for the aurora from bed and still be at the airport in minutes. Dinner, breakfast and thermal clothing come with a winter stay, which makes it one of the simplest glass-roof trips to plan.

What Aurora Village is, and where it sits

It sits in the forest at Ivalo, about 15 minutes from the airport and 25 km north of Saariselkä. It is a village of individual cabins in the trees, each with a glass roof over the bed, plus the larger suites and the two-storey towers. There is no shopping street and no ski lift. The forest is the setting and the sky is the point.

Saariselkä is about 25 km south on the main road, and Inari village with the Siida museum is about 40 km north.

Cabins, suites and towers compared

Four unit types, and they differ mostly in how many people they sleep and whether they have a kitchenette.

The Aurora Cabin is the classic version: 28 m² is generous for this category, enough for a bed under glass, a private bathroom and somewhere to leave two large suitcases without climbing over them. It is ideal for two.

The towers are the interesting ones. Living room and kitchenette on the ground floor, glass-roof bedroom above. That layout solves the single biggest complaint about glass igloos with children: in a one-room cabin, everyone goes to bed when the youngest does. In a tower, the adults can sit downstairs once the children are asleep.

What a night includes

Every unit has a laser-heated glass roof, the practical detail that separates a working aurora cabin from a greenhouse. Heating and air conditioning, a private bathroom and free high-speed WiFi come as standard.

Three inclusions are worth real money. Breakfast and dinner are included in the room rate in autumn and winter, the village says; lunch costs extra. Thermal clothing is provided, which other Lapland stays rent out by the day. And the village sends aurora alerts through an app, so you can sleep instead of setting hourly alarms and squinting at the sky.

On site there is a restaurant and a set of saunas, including a floating sauna, a panorama sauna and ice swimming, or avantouinti (swimming in a hole cut in the ice), priced separately from the room.

What it actually costs

An Aurora Tower for two was 666€ a night in late November, 761€ in early December and 951€ in mid-January. Between Christmas and New Year the cheapest unit was 1,422€.

Rates are Booking.com prices per night for two adults, checked at the end of September 2026. Prices are for the 2026-27 season and change annually, so check current rates for your dates.

The suites cost roughly double: a suite was 1,329€ a night in late November and an Aurora Tower Suite 1,602€ in early December. Christmas week costs nearly double early December for the same odds of aurora, so if your dates are flexible, that is the single biggest saving available on this trip. For the February and March dates marked not on sale, ask the village directly.

Getting there

You fly to Ivalo, usually with a connection at Helsinki-Vantaa. Ivalo is a small airport, and the village is a 15-minute drive from it.

The village arranges airport transfers if you book one in advance by email, or you can book an airport transfer here. A rental car is only worth it if you plan to drive to Inari, Saariselkä or the Norwegian border. For a pure glass-roof stay, you will barely use it.

Activities, and what they add to the bill

Snowmobiling, husky safaris, reindeer experiences, northern lights tours, horseback riding and cultural experiences are all sold through the village, and all are priced separately from the room. So are the saunas. Every activity is priced on top of the room, so price the ones you want before you commit to the dates.

Inari village to the north has the Siida Sámi museum, and the Inari-Saariselkä tourist board lists what is running each season. For aurora odds on your own dates, the Finnish Meteorological Institute forecast is more useful than any app store listing.

Practical warnings before you book

There is nothing to walk to. Dinner is the on-site restaurant, every night, unless you drive to Ivalo or Saariselkä. If you like wandering out to a different place each evening, a resort village like Saariselkä or Levi will suit you better.

Be honest with yourself about the weather too: a glass roof is a window, not a guarantee. Cloud cover in Lapland is common, and three nights gives you three chances, not three shows.

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

It suits a glass-roof-first trip where you want the fewest possible moving parts: fly in, 15 minutes by road, cabin, sauna, sky. Couples fit the Aurora Cabin. Families of three or four fit the towers far better than they fit any single-room igloo. It also suits anyone who does not want to buy or rent winter clothing, since the kit is included.

Look elsewhere if you want a ski-resort trip: there are no slopes at the village, and the nearest are in Saariselkä, about 25 km south. Look elsewhere if you want a village you can explore on foot, with shops and a choice of restaurants. And look elsewhere if the budget is the deciding factor: a hotel room in Saariselkä or Ivalo plus an evening aurora tour costs far less than a glass-roof night, and you will see the same sky.

Booking timing for the aurora season

Late November and early December are the value dates here, and they are also good aurora dates: dark and cold. Christmas to New Year is four figures a night, so if that is your window, book it well ahead.

For February and March, contact the village directly. Late winter is the season I would pick for a first trip anyway: more daylight for activities, still fully dark by evening, and snow at its deepest.

Alternatives worth comparing

Four properties sit in the same decision as this one. Northern Lights Village Saariselkä puts similar glass-roof cabins beside Saariselkä village. Kakslauttanen is the famous one, the original glass igloo resort, about 10 km south of Saariselkä. Star Arctic Hotel puts its glass cabins on top of the Saariselkä fell, which buys you a view. Wilderness Hotel Inari trades the airport proximity for a lakeside setting next to the Sámi village of Inari.

How I researched this

Non-price facts come from auroravillage.fi in September 2026: unit types, sizes, what is included, the saunas and the activity list. Nightly rates are Booking.com rates as shown on Google Hotels on 30 September 2026 for the dates in the rate table, two adults, cheapest unit available. Nobody from Lapland Trip Planner has stayed here; the verdict is a researched comparison, not a review.

Common questions

Written by Ville Laukkanen

Ville is a Finn who runs Lapland Trip Planner. The site is a researched planning guide: hotel rates come from Booking.com listings and activity prices from the operators' own pages, each dated, and nothing is presented as a personal stay or trip unless it was one.