Siida - Sámi Museum and Nature Center — Attraction in Northern Lapland

We had a truly wonderful time visiting the Sámi Museum Siida — it is one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting, museums we have ever visited. The entire experience felt thoughtful, immersive, and beautifully designed.

The museum has both indoor and outdoor sections, each offering a different perspective on Sámi culture and Arctic life.

The indoor exhibitions are extremely well curated, with artifacts and displays arranged in a clear and engaging way. Each piece is accompanied by explanations on touchscreens available in different languages (including several versions of the Sami language!), making it very convenient and accessible even without a tour guide.

The outdoor open-air section captures Sámi heritage and traditions so vividly. The detailed explanations help you understand how different structures — such as traditional houses, sauna, storage buildings, and traps — were used in daily life. Walking among these spaces really brings the history and lifestyle of the Sámi people to life.

The museum also offers excellent practical amenities, including plenty of lockers and clean bathrooms.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the cafeteria, which offers a daily-changing buffet featuring local ingredients and flavors. They also serve specialty coffees and pastries if you prefer something lighter.

Finally, the gift shop was beautifully arranged, with a wide selection of unique local handicrafts, books, and souvenirs — perfect for bringing a piece of the experience home.

If you are visiting the region, we highly recommend making time for this museum. It is an inspiring and eye-opening experience that deepens your appreciation for Sámi culture and the Arctic...

A must visit for anyone even somewhat nearby — the Sámi museum Siida is a good way to get informed on the Europe's only indigenous people, their land, colonisation & why representation matters and issues of tourism (e.g., cultural appropriation, loss of biodiversity & habitats, loss of grazing land for reindeer etc).

Since my previous visit 1.5 y ago, the Sámi museum had gotten even better & absolutely delighted in the touch screens that had very good descriptions, learned lots of new things — I would have gladly spent hours here! A stronger focus on the forced Finnisation, colonialism, how Finland still refuses to acknowledge their rights to their lands, war etc — some of which resonate in persons of Karelian heritage as well, although not to the same extent. I also really enjoyed the OAINNUS & Elina Länsman's exhibitions.

The museum shop has ethical souvenirs, literature, handicrafts etc available, everything supporting the museum and lots sourced directly from indigenous craftspeople. You get authentic kuksas, knives, reindeer crafts etc — absolutely shop here or at nearby Duodji Shop instead of markets & souvenir shops! I would have liked to buy a few prints/posters from either OAINNUS or Länsman's, which weren't unfortunately available— perhaps this could...

We really liked the museum. It was well designed and very informative. Had great information about the geological and biological development of the region. It also had great exhibits about the Sami people and culture. Being really interested in anthropology, I kind of missed a more detailed explanation of the migrations of people into the region. When did the Sami get there, where did they come from, when did the Indo-European and Finno-Ugric people arrive, etc.

The biggest disappointment was that we weren't able to see any of the outdoor exhibits because it was too icy. Damn global warming!

We spent about 2 hrs looking at and reading about the displays, but I felt like I could have easily spent twice as long. Unfortunately, it started getting pretty cramped with a lot of people, so we wound up leaving earlier than I would have wanted. Though I am glad that so many people came to read about...