Kiruna town, the move and the mine

5 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Kiruna was founded in 1900, and its name comes from Giron, the Northern Sámi word for mountain grouse. According to Kiruna Lapland the town lies 145 km north of the Arctic Circle. About 23,000 people live in the municipality, some 18,000 of them in Kiruna itself; the official figure from Statistics Sweden was 22,426 for the municipality in 2024. The municipality covers about 20,000 square kilometres.

The mine under the mountain

LKAB has mined iron ore at Kiirunavaara since the beginning of the 20th century, and today it is the largest underground iron ore mine in the world. Mining currently takes place at the 1365 m level. The ore leaves town by rail on the Malmbanan and Ofotbanen lines to Narvik, where it is loaded for shipment around the world. Parts of the town have to make way for the mine, and LKAB says the urban transformation will claim more land.

A town that moves east

About a third of the city and around 6,000 people are affected by the move. The new centre lies three kilometres east of old Kiruna. Its first building was the town hall Kristallen, inaugurated in 2018, and the new city centre as a whole was inaugurated on 1 September 2022.

Kiruna Lapland lists several guided walks about the transformation, and a QR walking tour lets you follow the route on your own with your phone.

The church that travelled 5 km

Kiruna church was designed by the architect Gustaf Wickman and consecrated in 1912. LKAB paid for it then, and the company also pays for its move. The altarpiece is by Prince Eugen. On 19 and 20 August 2025 the church was moved in one piece along a five-kilometre route. On its new site, just east of the existing cemetery and between the cemetery and the new centre, it was turned by 180 degrees, so the choir now faces west. The church is one of 23 cultural buildings that are being moved.

The parish says the building is still closed for groundwork and the restoration of the interior, and plans to reopen it during 2027. Until then you can see it only from outside.

Into the mountain

Kiruna Lapland runs public tours of LKAB's Visitor Center all year. They start at the tourist center at Malmvägen 9B, and a bus drives straight into the mountain to the show mine on the 540 m level, about 300 metres below the surface. A tour takes about three hours. Down there the temperature is between 8 and 12 °C above zero. In winter the tours are mainly in English and usually start at 14:00, often with an extra tour at 10:00, from Tuesday to Saturday. Children need to be at least 110 cm tall. Filming and photographing are not allowed from the bus while it crosses LKAB's industrial area; in the visitor mine itself you can take pictures. Places are limited, according to the organiser.

Seeing the town with a guide

A short guided tour by Aurora polaris takes 1.5 hours and collects you in Kiruna or Jukkasjärvi. It starts with coffee and pastries at Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården, goes on to a viewpoint over the mine, the old town and the sinkhole, and ends in the new centre with the wooden church. Groups are limited to eight, and the minimum age is 8.

If you also want to see the Icehotel, the half day by Explore Arctic ends with a guided hour in Kiruna that covers the new centre, parts of the old town and the moved church once it is open to the public.

Further out

Esrange Space Center lies 45 km northeast of Kiruna, at the end of the Paksuniemi road. The facility itself is closed to the public for security reasons, but an unstaffed visitor centre outside the gate is open every day from 08:00 to 18:00 without booking. There is no public transport, so you need a car. Groups who want to see inside the area can send a request to the operator.

The Kiruna Snow Festival has taken place on the last weekend of January since 1986, in the centre of town. Its main event is an international snow sculpture competition on Stadshustorget. The 2027 festival starts on 27 January; the festival pages give the end as either 30 or 31 January, and the programme is due around the end of 2026.

Getting into the centre

Kiruna Airport is about nine kilometres from the centre. The airport coach runs with every arrival and departure and goes via Hjalmar Lundbomsvägen and Malmvägen, the street of the tourist center where the mine tours start. You pay on board by card or in cash, and there is no cash machine at the airport. The railway station lies about 6 km out along the E10, and free shuttle buses connect it with the centre for every train.

For timetables, night trains and the drive from Norway, see getting to Kiruna. Our list of things to do in Kiruna collects what else fits into a day in town.