Staying at the Sámi-Owned Reindeer Lodge in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden (My Review)

A couple of years back, I was traveling through Abisko and Kiruna when I added a stop at the Reindeer Lodge onto the Kiruna part of my itinerary since it was close to the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi.

I didn’t get to spend much time there, but I vowed to return and stay there the next time I visited Swedish Lapland. It is a Sámi-owned spot, which is something my partner and I often seek out when traveling through the northern parts of Fennoscandia.

That day finally came and I just had a chance to stay overnight and share my experience here on the blog. My first trip to the Reindeer Lodge was in February (although it was a warm winter that year, so the photos don’t have a lot of snow in them!) and this time I had the pleasure of staying there during summer. June, to be exact.

I stay at a lot of different accommodations on this site and I mainly do that to see which places are of good value and which places are not. As a result, I tend to stay at these places in the off-season because they are less crowded (that is my way of saying MUCH CHEAPER).

I evaluate them by looking to see how much more I’d be willing to spend on the place if I were traveling during the high season. I will break that down a bit further below.

In this guide, I will tell you about my stay at the Reindeer Lodge in Jukkasjärvi, how to get there, and whether or not I think it is worth your money. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. Thanks!

About the Reindeer Lodge in Jukkasjärvi (+ My Experience)

Jukkasjärvi’s Reindeer Lodge is owned by Nils Torbjörn Nutti, a Sámi reindeer herder, and his partner Carina Pingi. Both grew up around reindeer herding and the Sámi lifestyle and their mission was to share that knowledge with visitors from afar. They opened Nutti Sámi Siida, a Sámi cultural center in Jukkasjärvi, as well as the Reindeer Lodge that I am reviewing in this guide.

The Reindeer Lodge offers three types of accommodation: Lávvu, Goahti (what I stayed in), and Stohpu.

A lávvu is a traditional Sámi tent, while the goahti is a modern Sámi tent. A stohpu is a Sámi forest cabin. The goahti wasn’t the cheapest option of the bunch when I stayed there (that was the stohpu), but I had previously seen the goahti and thought it would be a unique place to sleep for the night.

The lodge is located a short drive from Nutti Sámi Siida and the village of Jukkasjärvi. Once you arrive on site, you can find reception, a somewhat large parking lot, and a large tent which hosts the breakfast and dinners.

There is also a sauna and hot tub, both of which are free to use for guests, but you will likely be sharing them with others. I never used them, but my partner did and said they were nice! I forgot to grab photos of them before leaving, however.

Shower facilities and a couple of bathrooms are available, but they may be crowded and hard to get into. I found this an issue during the summer months and I can only imagine that it worsens during the high season.

The accommodation is scattered about on the property, but spaced far enough from each other that you will have a peaceful sleep. The tents can bring in a bit of noise, but it wasn’t bad at all!

I loved most everything. I slept SO well in the Goahti and the room was very comfortable (especially the bed). I also loved making a fire and reading beside it, but if you’re not someone who knows how to do this, it would be best to get instructions from reception before they leave for the night (in summer).

I didn’t love the toilet, which was an eco-toilet that had a lot of instructions before using it. The bathroom smelled a bit (only when we opened the door to it – it didn’t permeate the room) and we decided to never use it and just go to the shared bathroom facilities. However, in winter I would likely have been too lazy to put on layers of clothes, so I would have welcomed that in-cabin toilet!

Reindeer Lodge has a commons area with plenty of couches, as well as a fully-equipped kitchen (including a kettle for making tea and coffee). There is also a fridge in there.

Summer vs. Winter at the Reindeer Lodge

The high season at Reindeer Lodge is undoubtedly the winter season. Prices are around 4-5 times higher for the accommodation during the winter due to demand. Here are a few noticeable differences between the seasons:

Summer

Summer at the Reindeer Lodge was calm and relaxing. There were a few other guests on site and I met a few of them in the shared kitchen and commons lodge. You only get breakfast included during the summer months and it was kind of a minimal breakfast (although they did have waffles!). They offer fishing and hiking tours, as well as rentals for kayaks, canoes, and SUP. There is no staff around the clock, so you will need to reserve everything ahead of time.

The temperatures were pretty perfect when I was there, but I can see mosquitoes being a little bit of a problem within two weeks of me leaving (they were behind on schedule this year in Kiruna). If you have issues with mosquitoes, I would opt to stay in Kiruna city center. But, if you want to give it a shot anyway, just ensure your accommodation’s door is always shut and you bring repellent for yourself.

Right after booking, I received a message saying there were no reindeer at the Reindeer Lodge. If you’re unfamiliar with reindeer, they head to the forest during the summer months! This is standard for the semi-wild animal. However, they did have three male reindeer on-site when I arrived and they were super friendly (because we had lichen to feed them).

Since the reindeer are currently in their summer home, Reindeer Lodge gave us passes to the museum at Nutti Sámi Siida, which was a 500 SEK value (about $50).

This is huge as our accommodation was only double that price and we were planning to head to the museum anyway!

Winter

The accommodation remains the same in the winter, except that the property is usually fully booked. Breakfast AND dinner are included in your price, and there are a variety of different winter tours offered at this time (you can see more on their website).

Reindeer Lodge offers transfers from Kiruna and the airport during the winter months, so you will need to get that prebooked.

Reindeer are back on-site during the winter months, so you will not have an issue getting to feed and hang out with them!

The winters can get COLD in this part of Swedish Lapland. And these accommodations are only heated by fire (and an oil burner that is fueled by the fires in the fireplace). If you are not comfortable with this, I would reach out to Reindeer Lodge before booking and ask your questions so you can book alternative accommodation if you feel this is unsuitable. This is not the place for everyone, and I am going to be the first to admit that!

Another thing you will want to know is that only the Goahti-style lodging offers a bathroom, and it is an eco-friendly toilet that you will need to learn to use when reception shows you your cabin. There is no shower in these rooms… merely the toilet and a sink.

You will need to shower in the common shower area (private). In the winter, you will have to get dressed warmly to leave your cabin/tent to use the toilet and to shower. Just something to think about.

One huge perk, on the other hand, is that you may get to watch the northern lights as you wait on that toilet, which is something I definitely couldn’t do during the summer months!

Tips For Your Stay at the Reindeer Lodge

✅ Bring flip-flops. You will be sharing showers and possibly toilets with other guests, so be sure to have shower shoes. They are also good to have in the sauna area.

✅ Bring swimwear if you plan to use the sauna and hot tub. Self-explanatory.

✅ There is only one grocery store, a 5-minute drive away in the village of Jukkasjärvi, so if you’re planning to cook or want snacks during the day, I highly advise stopping by before your stay!

✅ This is a unique stay, more than it is a luxury stay. Please realize this before booking the hotel! If you are looking for something offering more luxury, it is probably best to stay in Kiruna city center.

✅ Pack warm clothing, no matter the season you’re visiting. Wool socks or slippers are great for inside the cabins/tents.

✅ There’s not an overabundance of plugs in the rooms, so if you have a lot of things to charge in the evenings, bring a power strip and plug into the wall (with a converter if you’re coming from a place that uses different electrical sockets).

How to Get There

During the winter, they offer transport options, so just get in touch with them before your trip to arrange. Otherwise, you can drive out there yourself! There are no public transportation options.

Jukkasjärvi is located 20 km (12.4 mi) away from Kiruna and will take around 20 minutes to reach. But as I mentioned twice in this guide, Reindeer Lodge is not in the center of Jukkasjärvi. It is 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from Nutti Sámi Siida. That is about a 5-minute drive.

Do I think the Reindeer Lodge in Jukkasjärvi is worth it?

In summer, yes. I 100% think it was worth what I paid (about €120 for a Goahti). While I didn’t use my toilet in the room, it was nice knowing it was there for the winter travelers.

However, I am not sure I would want to stay there for more than one night if I were traveling there during the winter season. The prices are 4-5 times higher than what I paid and the accommodation is relatively basic and you need to maintain a fire throughout your stay in order to heat the place. Maybe space heaters are available, or there is a way around this, but their site states that only an oil burner assists the fireplace in the winter.

Since showers and toilets are also few, and they require getting dressed in winter clothing to use, I think it may not be fun for more than a night for some travelers.

But, I do think that it is worth your money for one night because this is truly a unique accommodation, and it is Sámi-owned, which means the money is benefiting a marginalized and often overlooked community in Sweden. And… there’s reindeer.

Do you have any questions about staying in the Reindeer Lodge near Kiruna, Sweden? Let me know in the comments (or send me a message). Thanks!

More Swedish Lapland Travel Guides

• Kiruna Airport to city
• Kiruna in winter
• Kiruna snowshoeing tour
• Kiruna snowmobiling tour
• Kiruna northern lights tour
• Abisko hiking guide
• Abisko in winter
• Snowshoeing in Abisko