Silver Birch Resort: My New Favorite Northern Lights Hotel in Rovaniemi

I am always looking for unique stays around Lapland, so when the Silver Birch Resort opened here in Rovaniemi, I was pretty excited to try it out and see what it had to offer.

I finally had a chance to stay at the new northern lights hotel in Rovaniemi this autumn, and I was blown away by my stay. So many places in the region all feel the same… the standard igloo design, restaurant serving similar renditions of the same 4 dishes, etc.

Silver Birch Resort is located in Oikarainen (just outside of Rovaniemi) and has only 5 cabins. That alone shaped a completely different overnight experience here in Lapland.

In this guide, I review my stay at Silver Birch Resort in Rovaniemi, one of my new favorite northern lights hotels in Lapland. I also share a special discount code for readers that can only be found on this site. It will give you (and up to 5 others) a FREE wood-fired Finnish sauna session during your stay.

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. Please also make note that Silver Birch is newer and is evolving with each season, so I will make changes to this guide accordingly. Thanks!

About Silver Birch Resort in Rovaniemi

Silver Birch Resort was opened last season by the team at Wild About Lapland, one of my favorite tour companies here in Rovaniemi. I have been doing tours with them for a handful of years, so I was pretty stoked when I heard they were opening a northern lights resort here.

On-site, they currently have 5 northern lights cabins. There is also a restaurant, 2 kotas, and a wood-fired sauna. All of this is situated on Lake Jyrhämäjärvi, around 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) outside of Rovaniemi city center.

How to Book a Stay at Silver Birch

The best way to book a stay at Silver Birch in Rovaniemi is to go to their website and book directly with the resort. You will be able to explore their booking packages, where you can combine your overnight stay with the tours they offer, taking care of your entire trip itinerary in one place!

They also offer different prices throughout the seasons, so you can compare prices during different times of the year and select a time that suits your budget (I stayed there in autumn, which I would argue is the best time to visit).

Also, if you book directly with them, you can use my special discount code, where you can get a free, wood-fired sauna session for yourself and up to 4 other guests! This is such a great way to enjoy a relaxing part of the Finnish culture on your trip!

To redeem your free sauna session, just type in the code ‘MEGAN’ at the time of checkout and it will be included in your stay. You can arrange the timing with them before you arrive or at the time of check-in.

Highlights of My Stay at Silver Birch Resort

1. Staying in a glass northern lights cabin.

The best thing about Silver Birch Resort is the cabins. The stilted black cabins have two walls made of reflective glass, where you can feel at one with the surrounding wilderness. It is the perfect place to view the northern lights (more about that below) or watch the snow fall in the forest surrounding you.

Inside the cabins, you’ll find a double bed, a sofa bed (located in a separate section of the cabin), a kitchenette, an electric kettle, a small table for two, and a luxurious bathroom.

The kitchenette comes with two hobs for cooking, silverware, dishes, and pots/pans to use. There is also a mini-fridge in the room. It is perfectly equipped for a multi-day stay at Silver Birch.

There is also a glass roof where you can gaze up at the stars and northern lights (on a clear night, of course).

2. There is no light pollution at Silver Birch.

Ok, so I have stayed in heaps of glass igloos and northern lights hotels in Finland. And one thing that often sucks about ones in Rovaniemi is that there is a lot of light pollution at night. This can be really annoying when you’re trying to see the northern lights but don’t have a car to escape it.

Silver Birch has the darkest skies of anywhere I’ve stayed in Rovaniemi. By a LONG shot. Maybe it is because it is removed just enough from Rovaniemi that none of the light pollution is lingering nearby. Or perhaps it is because there are such few cabins on-site. Probably both.

I visited in autumn when there was no snow on the ground to reflect off of, but it was so dark that I could see every star in the sky when the clouds opened up. The northern lights only came out for a bit that evening, but the number of stars I saw was mind-blowing.

If your goal is to see the northern lights in Rovaniemi, this will be your best shot at it. And there is a lot of property that you can walk around on, so you can escape your cabin with ease and go photograph lakeside!

3. Relaxing in a wood-fired sauna by the lake.

One of the biggest perks at Silver Birch is their sauna! They have a wood-fired sauna, which is honestly the best kind, in my opinion. It is located right on the lake, so you can head in for some ice swimming or simply to cool off from your sauna session.

The sauna fits up to 5 people and you can book sessions with the reception. But if you want a FREE sauna session with your stay, you can use my code ‘MEGAN’ to secure one with your visit! Just type it in at the time of booking on their website.

4. Enjoying dinner in their northern lights restaurant, The Birch.

Another great thing about staying at Silver Birch is that you have access to their delicious on-site restaurant, The Birch. This is the first northern lights restaurant in Rovaniemi and it is as cozy as it is delicious.

The menu I had when visiting is going to transition into a more wintry one soon, so it will not be the same, but the reindeer I had was impeccable. I am definitely going back out there to visit soon to try out their new seasonal offerings.

5. Easy to book tours and activities all in one sitting.

A benefit of staying in a northern lights hotel owned by a company with an established portfolio of tours is being able to have your entire trip booked in one sitting and on one website. They offer several packages, including ones for Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn.

The packages all include the accommodation along with a few tours and experiences you can choose from. These packages also include transfers to/from the resort and full-board meals.

Honestly, it is the easiest way to book a vacation to Lapland without all the stress and hassle that comes with trip planning.

Is Lapland’s Silver Birch Resort worth it?

I had an exceptional stay at Silver Birch Resort. I have also dined at their restaurant on my own without even staying there! The dark skies, tour inclusion, wood-fired sauna, and unique cabins are all things that will make your Lapland trip unforgettable and one for the books!

If you have any additional questions, please let me know in the comments (or send me a message). Thanks so much to Silver Birch Resort for hosting me during my stay, and I can’t wait to return to try their new winter menu in the near future.

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