The Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos
The Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos
4.5
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
The Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos is the largest conference and events venue in northern Lapland and serves as a centre for Sámi self-governance, culture, education and know-how. Modern conference premises, facilities and technology go hand in hand with genuine, living Sámi culture. The Sámi Parliament’s main office and parliament hall are located in the Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos, in the village of Inari. You may visit the Sámi Parliament House by taking part to guided tours, organized by the Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos. All Sámi Parliament’s plenum sessions are also open to public. Guided tours Sajos guided tours are organized on weekdays at 12 p.m. The guided tour takes about 45 min and during the tour you will get information about the Sámi Parliament in Finland and the Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos. At the end, a short film, Sápmi – The Way of Being, will be shown. The film lets you to see the life in Sápmi, as it is today. The price of the tour is 8 e
Duration: 2-3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
112 reviews
Excellent
50
Very good
46
Average
12
Poor
4
Terrible
0
JariJK
Kouvola, Finland6,924 contributions
Jul 2022
You find a free Sámi handicraft exhibition in Sajos. They also tell about Sámi culture and sustainable tourism within the precincts of Sámi people. After that you know what is right and what isn't right. Besides, they have a shop which sells Sámi handicrafts and jewelry. They are guaranteed to be genuine Sámi products, not any fake copies from abroad.
I visited Sajos after the huge Sámi Museum Siida. After that Sajos seemed to be a very small place. It could be a good idea to take part in a guided tour and see the film about Sámi life.
I visited Sajos after the huge Sámi Museum Siida. After that Sajos seemed to be a very small place. It could be a good idea to take part in a guided tour and see the film about Sámi life.
Written July 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
chocolate123
Switzerland191 contributions
Aug 2024 • Couples
There is really nothing much to see. You can walk around the hall on the ground floor but there is nothing much to see. There is a coffee place. Library and souvenir shop are closed during opening times.
There could be tours available but not when we were there. No information about that or when they would take place in the centre nor on their website.
Does not give the impression that they wish tourists to come and visit.
Much better to go into the Siida museum!
There could be tours available but not when we were there. No information about that or when they would take place in the centre nor on their website.
Does not give the impression that they wish tourists to come and visit.
Much better to go into the Siida museum!
Written August 24, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Janka K
Brno, Czech Republic8,683 contributions
May 2023 • Couples
If you want to learn something about Sami culture, I strongly recommend to visit the place. There should be guided tours at 11 AM that costs 8 Euro per person.
On the day when I and my boyfriend were visiting the place, the tour was not supposed to happen. After some discussion, the lady working at the information desk that guides the tour was nice enough to make us a shorter version of the tour, just because we wanted to learn something about Sami culture. I really appreciate this forthcoming step and big thanks for being so nice to us!
On the tour, you will learn about the language, the traditional way of living, the current situation and position of Sami people in Finland, and much more.
It might be a bit tricky to park at Sajos, since it's not clear at the first sight which places are reserved for people working at the center, and which places are for visitors. But with some circling around, you will get it.
On the day when I and my boyfriend were visiting the place, the tour was not supposed to happen. After some discussion, the lady working at the information desk that guides the tour was nice enough to make us a shorter version of the tour, just because we wanted to learn something about Sami culture. I really appreciate this forthcoming step and big thanks for being so nice to us!
On the tour, you will learn about the language, the traditional way of living, the current situation and position of Sami people in Finland, and much more.
It might be a bit tricky to park at Sajos, since it's not clear at the first sight which places are reserved for people working at the center, and which places are for visitors. But with some circling around, you will get it.
Written June 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
cataloger
Huntington Beach, CA19 contributions
Sep 2019
The outdoor exhibits of Sami life are well presented. Inside exhibits tell much about the Sami and their various branches.
Written September 4, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Weary Travellery
Lexington, KY158 contributions
Mar 2018 • Couples
You can't really appreciate an area until you appreciate the culture and how the people who live there ended up how they are today. No visit to Finland is complete without a trip through Lapland, and no visit to Lapland would be complete without a visit to this small but delightful and thoroughly informative museum.
The ground floor contains the extensive gift shop - plan to spend some time here before you go, highly recommended - and a few smaller exhibits. There are also exhibits of old wooden buildings outside but we skipped those due to the cold.
The second floor has the main exhibit hall and a small restaurant, which we didn't use. The main hall is a hollow square, with the "outside" arranged to depict the Sami lifestyle at each season of the year. Signs tell you know how much sunlight there is in any given month, which can give you pause when you realize these people were living and doing things in near-darkness for months at a time.
The "inside" of the square has detailed exhibits on all facets of Sami life, from how the culture evolved to center around reindeer and raising/herding them, the importance of all-season fishing, to how they lived a nomadic lifestyle in this harsh climate and even thrived on it. The information signs are arranged in a way that allows you to spend as much, or as little, time as you want studying each one. There are plenty of individual exhibits on the plants, animals and natural aspects of Lapland. All are well done.
As a bonus, when we visited, there was a children's exhibit, complete with child-sized Lapland wooden house fully-stocked with cooking utensils and play food, a small playground area and pretend "fishing" stream with stuffed trout and other gamefish for small anglers to catch.
All in all an enjoyable and informative couple of hours. Be sure to get a bag of reindeer meat chips on your way out the door - they're delicious.
The ground floor contains the extensive gift shop - plan to spend some time here before you go, highly recommended - and a few smaller exhibits. There are also exhibits of old wooden buildings outside but we skipped those due to the cold.
The second floor has the main exhibit hall and a small restaurant, which we didn't use. The main hall is a hollow square, with the "outside" arranged to depict the Sami lifestyle at each season of the year. Signs tell you know how much sunlight there is in any given month, which can give you pause when you realize these people were living and doing things in near-darkness for months at a time.
The "inside" of the square has detailed exhibits on all facets of Sami life, from how the culture evolved to center around reindeer and raising/herding them, the importance of all-season fishing, to how they lived a nomadic lifestyle in this harsh climate and even thrived on it. The information signs are arranged in a way that allows you to spend as much, or as little, time as you want studying each one. There are plenty of individual exhibits on the plants, animals and natural aspects of Lapland. All are well done.
As a bonus, when we visited, there was a children's exhibit, complete with child-sized Lapland wooden house fully-stocked with cooking utensils and play food, a small playground area and pretend "fishing" stream with stuffed trout and other gamefish for small anglers to catch.
All in all an enjoyable and informative couple of hours. Be sure to get a bag of reindeer meat chips on your way out the door - they're delicious.
Written March 24, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dianne D
Brisbane, Australia127 contributions
Nov 2017 • Couples
At Siida, the National Museum of the Finnish Sámi and the Nature Centre of Metsähallitus work together. The Nature Centre was one of the best exhibitions I have seen anywhere. There were visual displays and some interactive elements and it was very big --- allow plenty of time to make the most of this wonderful display.
Written November 29, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Abraham M
Mexico81 contributions
Jan 2016 • Friends
This is the residence of the Sami Parliament of Finland, one of the few places where you can buy actual Sami handicrafts with a Duodji certificate, it holds a nice restaurant and is also a place for learning. That being said, Sajos is so much more than that. The architecture is beautiful, and there is an atmosphere in there that is hard to describe.
If you have the chance to be there during the Skabmagovat film festival, by all means do so, it is well worth the trip.
If you have the chance to be there during the Skabmagovat film festival, by all means do so, it is well worth the trip.
Written April 27, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your feedback Ferretbite! I also recommend a visit during Ijahis Idja (Aug. 19th to 21st.)
Written July 8, 2016
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
TheContinentalCouple
London, UK97 contributions
Feb 2016 • Family
SAJOS is not to be confused with SIIDA the former being the parliament and the latter the museum (see separate listing). However also SAJOS allows visitors to come in and has a nice little shop. The architecture alone is worth a visit.
Written February 13, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jasper K
Utrecht, The Netherlands145 contributions
Jan 2018 • Couples
You wouldn't expect a nice and well made museum in a small place like Inari, but this one really surprised us.
Main exhibition gives a good overview of the culture and nature in the area.
Main exhibition gives a good overview of the culture and nature in the area.
Written February 12, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wayne B
Guernsey, UK159 contributions
Jan 2018 • Couples
Well worth 90 mins if you are wanting to understand the history and culture of the Sami’s. Certainly added to our four days in the region. The exhibition is well laid out, staff friendly and informative. Very good cafe with good range of food and drinks. Staff there very helpful also.
Written January 31, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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