Some mornings in Levi you want the village at your feet. The smell of coffee from the bakery. Ski boots clicking towards the lift. The day already awake around you. Other mornings you want to open a door onto nothing at all. Snow-laden spruce. A single track of hare prints. A silence so deep you can almost hear it. Choosing your stay in Levi is really choosing which of those mornings you want to wake up to.
That is the first thing we say to guests. Where you sleep quietly decides the rest: the rhythm of your days, and how close the northern sky feels at night. It decides whether Lapland reaches you as a lit resort, or as a stillness you did not know you were missing. Levi holds all of it within a few kilometres. The warm heart of the village. The quiet streets just beyond it. And the forest country, where the world goes still.
We are Polar Star, an Arctic Experience Company. We have hosted guests in the village of Sirkka since 2007. The same house guides the canoes, the bikes and the long aurora nights. So let us walk you through Levi's areas the way we would across the desk at our office on Torikuja. Which one fits the trip you have been dreaming about? Does an apartment or a cottage suit your group? And what are the honest details of our own Polar Star Apartments and cottages: the real sizes, who they sleep, when to book. Because the room is only ever the beginning. Once you have a base, our guide to things to do in Levi fills the days between.
Levi's areas explained
Levi is smaller than its reputation, and that is part of its charm. The whole resort gathers around a single fell, Levitunturi, with the village of Sirkka warming its foot and quiet forest country folding away in every direction. Kittilä Airport (KTT) is about 15 minutes away. Distances inside the resort are short, and the ski bus links the village with the homes around the fell. So the real question is never really about logistics. It is about which Lapland you want to come home to each evening.
Levi village centre (Sirkka)
Stay in the village and Lapland comes to you with the lights on. Restaurants, shops and services sit within an easy walk, the slopes rise practically from the village edge, and our office is a street away on Torikuja. You need no car here at all. The bus stop is 100 metres from our apartments. Transfers set you down at the door, and every meeting point is a short stroll. This is the place for a first winter, or a couples' trip. For any stay where you would rather step out into the evening than climb into a car. The village hums, and you are part of it.
Close to the centre (0–1 km)
A few hundred metres changes the mood more than you would think. Step just beyond the centre and the noise thins out. Quiet streets. Snow banked along the verges. The lit village close enough to walk to, and far enough that your evenings belong to you. You still reach the restaurants on foot, and the ski bus runs for the days you would rather not.
This is the middle ground our guests choose most often, and it is the easy answer when the group wants space without giving up the walk home. Nothing here sits high on the fell: Levi's slopes are for skiing, not for sleeping, and none of our homes is up there.
The forest country around Levi
Then there is the Lapland many people are really dreaming of when they close their eyes. Around the village stand log and kelo cottages, along quiet forest roads and out towards Kätkätunturi. Kelo is the silver-grey pine that has weathered a century or two of northern winters. Out here you get space, your own fire, and a silence with texture to it: snow settling from a branch, a raven somewhere over the trees. Some cottages sit close enough to walk into the village. The ski bus serves the homes around Levi fell. Even out here, a car is a convenience rather than a condition.
Here is the whole choice in a single glance, the way we would sketch it for you on the back of a map at the office:
| Area | Best for | Distances in practice | Do you need a car? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Village centre (Sirkka) | First visits, couples, car-free stays | Restaurants, shops and services on foot; bus stop 100 m from our apartments | No |
| Close to the centre (0–1 km) | Groups wanting quiet evenings and a walk home | The village on foot in minutes; ski bus for the rest | No |
| Forest country around Levi | Families, groups, cottage weeks, silence | A few kilometres out; ski bus serves the homes around Levi fell | Handy, not needed |
All three sit within a few kilometres of one another, so no choice ever shuts a door on you. It simply sets the default key your week is played in.
Apartment or cottage?
Both of our home families gather in and around the same village, hosted by the same people, so this is not a question of better or lesser. It is a question of how you want to live for a week. With the village underfoot? Or with the forest closing softly around you after the door shuts? Here is the honest comparison:
| Polar Star Apartments | Our cottages and villas | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | In or near the village centre | In the peace of nature or right by Levi's services |
| Size | 20–70 m² | 46–160 m² |
| Sleeps | 2–7 guests | 4–9 guests |
| Sauna | Private sauna in every apartment | Private sauna in every cottage |
| Feel | Easy, walk-everywhere base | Space, privacy and forest quiet |
| Best for | Couples, small families, car-free stays | Larger families, groups of friends, couples after silence |
| Day to day | Restaurants and services on foot; bus stop 100 m away | Own-kitchen evenings; ski bus or walk to the village |
Choose a Levi apartment if you want the village at your feet. Shops, restaurants and meeting points without a car, and room for two to seven guests. Choose a Levi cottage if the group is bigger or the stay is longer. Or if the whole point of Lapland for you is the quiet that arrives when the last light goes out. Only your people, your fire and the forest. Couples who want silence more than service choose the cottages just as often as families do. Guests heading for a wellness retreat almost always go the cottage way. Our Finnish Happiness pages tell that side of the story. If a canoe or bike week is the point of the trip, glance at our bike tours first. Then choose a base to match the plan. We will help.
One question we answer daily, and the answer is a happy one. Every apartment and cottage we let has its own private sauna. Not a shared one down a corridor. Not a booking slot. Yours, and warm by the time you come in from the cold. Sauna is the centre of Finnish wellbeing. It is the reason a Lapland evening ends better here than anywhere else.
Polar Star Apartments
Our 29 apartments in six types are the village-base option. All are in or near the centre of Levi. We host them from our own office a street away, so a familiar face is always close. Every one has its own private sauna. The Polar Star and Origo apartments have held the Green Key environmental certificate since 2020. They run on 100% renewable electricity and share a full recycling point. The nearest bus stop is 100 metres away, which turns the classic night-train-and-coach arrival into something genuinely gentle. Browse them all under our homes in Levi.
| Apartment | Size | Sleeps | Homes of this type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moonlight Studio | 20 m² | 2 | 2 |
| Polar Star Studio | 35 m² | 4 | 9 |
| Moonlight 2 BR apartment | 42 m² | 4 | 2 |
| Polar Star 1 BR apartment | 45–50 m² | 5 | 11 |
| Tunturinlaita | 53 m² | 4 | 1 |
| Polar Star Origo | 70 m² | 7 | 4 |
Reading that table the way a host would: the Moonlight Studio is the snug nest for two. The Polar Star Studio and Moonlight 2 BR suit a family of four. Tunturinlaita gives four guests a little more room to breathe, and Polar Star Origo opens up for a full seven. Because most types repeat several times over, we can usually place a group of friends or two travelling families in the same building or on the same street. Bed setups differ, and in the studios some guests sleep on mattress beds. Tell us who is coming, ages and all. We will say plainly which apartment will feel like home, and which would feel tight.
Cottages and villas
Our 24 Levi cottages and villas come in nine types. Each has a name and a character of its own, from Villa Sointu to Polar Poro. They range from snug log houses to the 160 m² Bear's Lodge. They stand in the peace of the forest, or right beside Levi's services. In practice that means morning coffee taken to birdsong. Snow banked at the doorstep in winter. And your own sauna warm at the end of every day.
| Cottage / villa | Size | Sleeps | Homes of this type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Reini | 46–70 m² | 5 | 3 |
| Kelo Star II | 50–60 m² | 6 | 6 |
| Villa Sointu | 57 m² | 4 | 2 |
| Villa Maja | 57 m² | 5 | 4 |
| Polar Kelo | 70 m² | 9 | 2 |
| Raklevi | 78 m² | 6 | 1 |
| Polar Poro | 78 m² | 6 | 1 |
| Villa Rytmi 3 BR | 87 m² | 7 | 3 |
| Villa Rytmi 4 BR | 108 m² | 8 | 2 |
For big families and groups of friends the arithmetic is simple. Polar Kelo sleeps the most, at nine. Bear's Lodge gives the most room to spread out: 160 m² for eight. The middle of the table, from Villa Sointu to Polar Poro, suits four to six guests. A proper cottage week, without rattling around an empty wing. It suits two people who came north for the silence just as well. Because several types repeat, larger parties can often take neighbouring cottages. As with the apartments, the details live on our booking site, and we answer questions about any of them ourselves.
From the field: A family arriving for their first winter week asked us whether to take a studio in the village or a cottage further out. We asked three questions straight back: will you hire a car, how old are the children, and do you want your evenings out or in? They chose a three-bedroom villa near the services, walked to the snow with the children each morning, and told us afterwards at the office that the quiet evenings, not the slopes, had been the part they would remember.
Booking tips by season
Lapland is not one place. It is four or five places wearing the same name, and the season you choose changes the whole feeling of your stay. So here is how to book for the one you are dreaming of.
Winter peak (December–March). This is Levi at full voice: snow to the eaves, the polar-night blue at midday, huskies and reindeer and the aurora somewhere overhead. Christmas, New Year and the February and March holiday weeks fill earliest, and the larger villas go first. Book several months ahead, and more still for Christmas and New Year. Families planning husky and reindeer days should reserve those alongside the stay, from the same desk.
Aurora autumn and spring (late August–April). The aurora season runs from late August to mid-April, and it asks only two things of you: darkness and a clear sky. September and March often give both, pairing good darkness with kinder weather. One thing no booking can buy is a sighting: the aurora is a natural phenomenon and nature decides. Our northern lights in Levi guide is honest about how we help you play the odds and love the night either way.
Midnight sun summer (June–July). Levi's quiet season, and our favourite secret. Availability softens, the village exhales, and the light simply never ends. You can paddle the River Ounasjoki at midnight in gold. Pair the stay with the water and the fells from our summer in Levi guide. One practical note from the booking desk: summer stays can usually be confirmed at shorter notice than winter ones. If a canoe or bike week is the point of the trip, say so when you book. We will match the base to the plan.
Ruska (September). For two or three short weeks the forests turn to fire. Gold, copper and deep red across every fell and gravel road. Ruska, the autumn colour season, has quietly become the trip our returning guests book first, especially for cottages. One date to know: the Ruska Marathon weekend, with its half marathon, trail runs and Ruska Reissu, fills the homes across Levi centre. Hikers and gravel riders chase the same window. If gold forests are the reason you are coming, settle the stay well in advance. Leave the routes to the week itself, when you can read how the colour is turning.
Whatever the season, current rates and availability live on our booking site. We publish no prices in our articles, because rates shift with the calendar. If you are weighing two homes against each other, write to us. We answer ourselves.
Ask us, we live here
This is the part no booking platform can copy: the people taking your reservation live in the village you are travelling to. Tell us your dates, your group and what you want the week to feel like. We will match you to the right home, arrange transfers from Kittilä Airport about 15 minutes away, and book the experiences from the same desk. Nothing in your trip is a stranger to anything else. If you would rather arrive by rail, take the VR night train to Lapland. The connecting coach sets you down 100 metres from the apartments.
One house, one email, one phone number, and the same star over the village that has been pointing travellers north since long before any of us arrived. We do not only want to help you find where to stay in Levi. We want to help you decide how you would like to feel it. Book your stay on our booking site, or write to us first. See you in Sirkka, and discover the North with us.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best area to stay in Levi?
It depends on the rhythm you want. The village centre (Sirkka) is best for walk-everywhere stays. Just beyond it, the homes within 0–1 km keep the walk home and lose the noise. The forest country around Levi gives cottage space and real silence. All three sit within a few kilometres of each other, so no choice locks you out of the others.
Should I choose an apartment or a cottage in Levi?
Apartments (20–70 m², for 2–7 guests) put the village underfoot. Cottages and villas (46–160 m², for 4–9) trade walking distance for space, privacy and forest quiet, and suit couples after silence as readily as big families. Both have a private sauna, and the ski bus serves the homes around Levi fell, so neither choice depends on a hire car.
Do Polar Star Apartments have saunas?
Yes. Every apartment and cottage we let has its own private sauna, which in Finland is the centre of the home rather than an extra. No shared sauna, no booking slot: you heat it when you want it.
How big are the Polar Star Apartments?
We have 29 apartments in six types, from the 20 m² Moonlight Studio for two guests to the 70 m² Polar Star Origo for seven. All are in or near the centre of Levi and all have a private sauna. The Polar Star and Origo apartments have been Green Key certified since 2020.
How many guests fit in your largest cottage?
Polar Kelo sleeps the most guests, nine, in 70 m². The largest floor area is the 160 m² Bear's Lodge, which sleeps eight. We have 24 cottages and villas in nine types. Groups of ten or more usually take two homes near each other. Ask us, and we will arrange it.
Can I stay in Levi without a car?
Yes, comfortably. Our apartments are in or near the centre, the bus stop is 100 metres away, and the ski bus serves the cottages around Levi fell. Transfers cover Kittilä Airport (about 15 minutes), and experience pick-ups and meeting points are arranged when you book.
When should I book a stay in Levi for Christmas?
As early as you can, ideally the spring or summer before. Christmas and New Year are Levi's fullest weeks and the larger villas are reserved first. The February–March winter holiday weeks fill early too, and in autumn the Ruska Marathon weekend fills the village.
Is summer a good time to book a stay in Levi?
Yes. June and July bring the midnight sun, open hiking trails and calm villages, and availability is far friendlier than in winter. Current rates for every season are on our booking site.
Written by Heidi Jokela, CEO, Polar Star Travel, an aurora seeker and Levi local since the 2000s.
About Polar Star Travel
Polar Star Travel is a family-owned, truly local Arctic Experience Company based in Levi, Finnish Lapland. We don't just want to show our guests Lapland. We want them to truly feel it. We bring together accommodation, Arctic nature, local people and culture, adventure, and wellbeing to create meaningful Lapland experiences. We know this land, its stories and its special places, and we want to share them with our guests in an authentic, warm and personal way. Polar Star: Find Your True North.
From our home village of Sirkka, about 15 minutes from Kittilä Airport, we have hosted guests since 2007. Our apartments and cottages each have their own sauna. We guide around 30 of our own experiences year-round, from aurora canoeing and snowshoe walks to e-fatbike, gravel and mountain-bike tours. Our work is certified by Green Key (Polar Star and Origo Apartments), Green Activities and Travelife for Tour Operators.
Sources:
Finavia: Kittilä Airport, official airport information
VR, night trains to Lapland
Levi Ski Resort, official Levi resort information
Book your stay on our booking site, or ask us first. We answer ourselves.
Polar Star Travel · Torikuja 10 A, 99130 Levi · +358 10 325 4040 · sales@polarstartravel.fi
