Lauri-Toutteet oy, Pohjolankatu 25 (tel. 016/342-25-01), is a log cabin in the center of town that houses workshops where craftspeople turn out both modern and traditional decorative pieces using such items as reindeer antlers and the gnarled roots of pussy willows. The store's cafe is a permanent sales exhibit, featuring curly birch products, wool and leather goods, jewelry, and Puukko knives. Open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm.
The Trading Post, Route 4 (tel. 016/356-20-96) at Santa Claus Village at the Arctic Circle, might be corny and overly commercialized, but it has some of the country's best handicrafts shops. On the two floors of elegant shops, you'll find cloudberry jam, engraved horn-handled knives, birch and pinewood children's toys, beautifully detailed hand-knit sweaters, and the best hand-woven Finnish tablecloths and textiles. There are also pieces of regional jewelry fashioned from silver and a semiprecious form of feldspar called spectrolite (found only in parts of Russia, Canada, and Finland).
One store sells Saga mink coats for perhaps half the price of similar coats in North America (excluding the Customs duty). Always popular among visitors is a certificate you can buy to prove that you've been north of the Arctic Circle; if you mail postcards from here, they'll receive a special Arctic Circle postmark. There's also an outdoor cafe for summertime midnight sun watching. Hours are daily in summer 8am to 8pm; off season daily 10am to 5pm. Bus no. 8 runs here from the center of Rovaniemi.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
