Viking Hut
Lapland Riverside · Kolari · Lapland
- Entire cabin
- Kolari, Lapland
- 3 guests
- 24 m²
- 2 beds
- Outdoor dry toilet
- ▲100-year-old logs
These walls stood nearly a century somewhere else before they were raised here in the 1970s.
- ▲Fully renovated in 2026
Carved with an axe, filmed from the first log to the last.
- ▲Your own sauna, own fireplace, your own shore
Nothing shared — except eight metres of yard.
Outdoor dry toilet · No shower — you wash in the sauna · Tap water from the river, not drinkable — bring drinking water
About this cabin
The logs in these walls are a century old. The cabin has its own spirit — "the piss man" — standing guard in front of it.
We filmed the whole rescue of the cabin. The collapse, the doubt, the twenty-five men who flew in from all over the world to help and build. You can watch it further down this page before you decide whether this is your kind of place.
This is an Arctic experience for sure. Inside there are 24 square metres of solid timber and nothing that does not earn its space. A sofa that opens into a double bed, a sleeping loft above it for one more, a small kitchen with a wood cooking stove, and one large window with nothing in it but forest and a river view. Wood heat with an electric heater behind it, so the cabin is still warm at six in the morning. Wood heat is mandatory when the thermometer hits −20 °C.
Your own wood-heated sauna — old timber, hand-cut benches. A fire pit at the water's edge and a path down to a stretch of riverbank that belongs to this cabin alone. Ylläs is 35 minutes away, and in winter the sky above the clearing goes green with no streetlight for kilometres.
It is a small, cosy cabin. The toilet is outdoors. You wash in the sauna. The water in the tap comes from the river, and you bring your own to drink. What you get instead is a hundred-year-old building, a river, and silence — for two people, or three who like each other. This is not suitable for small children under 7.
How we saved it
Where you'll sleep
What's here
- Your own wood-heated sauna
- Wood cooking stove
- Wood heating
- Electric heater
- Kitchen
- Electricity
- WiFi
- Own beach
- Fire pit by the river
- Bed linen and towels included
- Pets allowed
- Year-round
Where it is
- Äkäsjoen Piilo8 m
- Own beach50 m
- Ylläs & Äkäslompolo35 min
- Kolari, shops15 min
- Kittilä airport1 h
Where in Finland is this?
Kolari sits in western Lapland, 100 km north of the Arctic Circle and 940 km from Helsinki. The cabins are 17 km outside the village, on the bank of the Äkäsjoki, at the end of a 5 km road. Ylläs — Finland's largest ski resort by piste area — is a 35-minute drive.
- Fly
Kittilä airport is 1 hour away and takes direct winter flights from London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich and Vienna. Rovaniemi is 2 hours.
- Night train
The car train from Helsinki runs to Kolari station, 20 minutes from the cabins. You sleep on board and wake up in Lapland with your own car.
- Drive
940 km from Helsinki, roughly 11 hours. Most people break the journey halfway — you can stop at our Lakeland place, Wanha Koulu (wanhakoulu.fi).
Nature and Ylläs
Ylläs and Äkäslompolo are a 35-minute drive: 63 slopes, 330 km of cross-country trails, hiking and cycling routes, restaurants and equipment hire. Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park begins there. Levi, Pallas and Olos are each about an hour away. Around the cabins there is nothing but forest, river and marsh — berries in autumn, northern lights from late August to April. In summer the midnight sun is up 24 hours.
Fishing
The Äkäsjoki runs past the door. It is famous for its grayling and is the most important spawning river for sea trout in the system. Four kilometres away you can hire a salmon boat on the Tornio-Muonio, one of the best salmon rivers in Europe, with permits and a boat ramp at the same place. Guided trips can be booked separately.
Hunting
State hunting grounds begin 100 metres from the yard, and you can reach them on foot or on skis. Small-game permits are issued by Metsähallitus. Guided trips can be booked separately.
Distances
- Äkäsjoki riveron the bank
- Own beach40 m
- State hunting grounds100 m
- Tornio-Muonio river, boat hire4 km
- Kolari — shops, restaurants, health centre, Alko15 min
- Kolari railway & car-train station20 min
- Ylläs & Äkäslompolo35 min
- Swedish border20 min
- Kittilä airport1 h
- Levi fell1 h
- Pallastunturi1 h
- Olostunturi1 h
- Muonio1 h
- Rovaniemi — airport & car train2 h · 180 km
- Kilpisjärvi260 km
- Kuopio620 km
- Tampere820 km
- Helsinki940 km
Our other places
Same people, three places in Finland. They are all on the map above.
Nearest services
- Kolari, 15 min
Shops, restaurants, petrol station, electric car charging, health centre and Alko.
- Tornio-Muonio river, 4 km
Luttusen Suanto — fishing permits, boat hire and a boat ramp.
- Ylläs & Äkäslompolo, 35 min
Ski slopes, cross-country trails, restaurants, equipment hire.
There is a second cabin 8 metres away — and you can have it too
Äkäsjoen Piilo and Viking Hut share one yard, separated by a fence, and each is rented on its own. If both are available, book them and the whole place is yours: nine guests, two saunas, an indoor dry toilet and the spring-fed cold plunge. Message us on WhatsApp and we will price it as one stay.
Ask about both cabinsGood to know
- The toilet is outdoors
A dry outhouse — clean, sheltered and lit, a short walk along the TOILET sign. There is no flush toilet here.
- There is no shower
You wash in the sauna, the way it has been done here for a very long time. Heat the water on the stove, mix it, and wash.
- Bring drinking water
The tap water comes from the river. Fine for washing and the sauna, but not for drinking. The last shop is Kolari, 15 minutes before you arrive.
- Heating
Wood plus an electric heater, so the cabin stays warm through the night. Firewood is included.
- In winter the fire pit is under snow
You can dig it out.
- Pets
Welcome.
- Reindeer
They wander through the yard. Please do not feed them.
The other cabin
{'en': 'Lapland Riverside Hideaway', 'fi': 'Äkäsjoen Piilo'}
Solid log, carved by hand, standing alone on the riverbank. Fire pit near the beach.
Lapland Riverside Hideaway →