Saija Lodge

Pale, honest pine logs. The effect is plain rather than polished: exposed log walls, a working kitchen, a dining hall that seats around 100. Twenty apartments ring the courtyard, each with its own sauna, bathroom and a bedroom for two. Two fully equipped log cottages and two glass-roofed aurora huts sit close by, built for year-round nights under open sky. You can watch the northern lights directly through the hut's glass ceiling without leaving bed. The kitchen leans on local and wild ingredients, and breakfast comes with every apartment stay; other meals are ordered as needed. Winter turns the lodge into a base for dog-sled trips, snowmobile safaris, skiing, snowshoeing and fatbike routes; summer shifts to canoeing, fishing, hunting and berry-picking. It is a working stay, not a hushed one.