Kittilä today: weather now, the airport and village, the Särestöniemi Museum, trails by season, where to eat with today’s hours and tonight’s aurora chance.
Totovaara fell trail: A moderately demanding 13.6 km loop on the Kittilä side of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, marked with green signposts. It takes about 4.5 hours, and Metsähallitus recommends walking it anticlockwise. On Vasalaki you step from stone to stone for about 200 m. Haavepalo, the best-known summit of the area, has a kota (a traditional Lapland hut) with a woodshed and dry toilets. The trail can be walked only when there is no snow. The photo shows the Aakenustunturi fells as seen from about 13 km to the west.
Kaukonen lit cross-country trail: A 2.7 km lit cross-country trail in Kaukonen that starts from the trotting track by Rovaniementie. Kaukonen is also the village of the Särestöniemi Museum, but the trail does not go there: the museum is about 5 km away. The photo shows Kaukonen across the frozen Ounasjoki river.
Särestöniemi Museum: The home and art museum of the painter Reidar Särestöniemi (1925–1981) stands by the Ounasjoki river in Kaukonen, 29 km by road from Kittilä village. It has three buildings: Old Särestö, his childhood home, whose oldest part dates from 1873; the Gallery, built of kelo pine in 1972; and the Studio, completed in 1978. Reima and Raili Pietilä designed the Gallery and the Studio. The museum is open all year from Tuesday to Saturday. The last 10 km is a gravel forest road, and no public transport runs there. The museum is not step-free, but the café is wheelchair-accessible.
Kittilä Church: A wooden church built in 1829–1831, mostly to designs by Carl Ludvig Engel, and enlarged into a cruciform church in 1886–1887. It seats about 550. In the Lapland War in 1944 the village around it was destroyed, but the Germans did not burn the church. The pulpit dates from 1687 and was a gift from the old church of Keminmaa, and the altarpiece was painted by Johan Gustaf Hedman in 1831.
Kittilä Airport: Kittilä Airport (KTT) is a 6 km drive north of the village, and from there it is 15 km to Levi centre. According to Finavia, traffic is busiest in winter. The nearest railway station is in Kolari, about 80 km away.
Palsa Museum: The home and studio of the artist Kalervo Palsa (1947–1987) is one of the few buildings in Kittilä village that survived the Lapland War. Palsa called his studio Pilvilinna (Castle in the Clouds) and Getsemane. The museum is open in summer, from early June to the end of September. It was closed in summer 2026, and the museum says it will reopen in summer 2027. There is no step-free entrance.
Einari Junttila Art Museum: The home of the watercolourist Einari Junttila in Kittilä village, where he lived and painted, has been an art museum since 1991. The municipality counts him among the most gifted watercolour painters of the 1930s. Open on Thursday afternoons, and at other times by arrangement.
Vaaranmikkola local museum: Kittilä’s local history museum stands on the bank of the Ounasjoki in Pakatti, about 4 km from the village centre. The main building dates from the 1860s, and the collection has nearly a thousand objects. The museum is open in summer, and in summer 2026 entry was free.
Hotelli Kittilä (ravintola): Hotel restaurant and bar in the village centre.
Pizza & Kebab Kittilänpiste: Pizza and kebab place.
Kotipizza Kittilä: Kotipizza pizzeria at the Neste station.
Kittilän opiskelijaravintola (REDU): Vocational school student lunch restaurant.
TiinanHerkku Kittilä: Café and bakery, fresh pastries daily.
Pilot's Pub: Local pub near Hotelli Kittilä.
Aula Cafe & Shop (Kittilä Airport): Airport cafe and shop with sandwiches, pastries and drinks, including alcohol.