Welcome to join the story of  gold and man!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
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Tankavaara is home for the only international museum in the World displaying past and present of gold panning and prospecting. The basic exhibition presents the history of gold prospecting in Lapland. The Golden World, the international section, presents over twenty countries all over the World. 

Museum is open Mon-Fri @10am - 4pm

Welcome!

Closed in public holidays as follows:  6.12., 24.-26.12.2019 & 1.1., 6.1., 10.-13.4, 1.5. and 21.5.2020

Summertime 1.6.-30.9. we are open every day @ 10am - 6pm



Museum Card 

Your ticket to 300 museums in Finland!

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Tankavaara Gold Village

Restaurant and accommodation, open every day from 9am to 9pm.

 In Tankavaara's gold themed restaurants, visitors can enjoy food made of local ingredients and enjoy unique atmosphere. Gold Village offers accommodation year around.

World Gold Panning Championships 2019

Gold Panning World Championships of 2019 will be held in Tankavaara to celebrate 150 years of Finnish gold prospecting and 70 years of the Finnish Gold Prospectors Union!

Time: 5.-10.8.2019

MUSEUM PROGRAMS

In summertime, please remember to make your reservation in time!

Gold Panning Lesson

A brief introduction to gold panning for beginners

Our guide gives advice on how to become a practiced user of the gold-making device called the pan. As you feel the weight of the heaviest gold nuggets in your pan, you will hear legendary stories from the diggings. At the end of the lesson, you'll collect your gold haul and leave a slightly wealthier person than when you entered.

Summertime the lesson instruction is held by the museum's outdoor pool and in the museum's indoor panning pool in winter.

The program includes: Guidance and necessary equipment and entrance to the gold museum. Any panned Lappish gold is yours to keep!

Duration: about 30 min. Tour languages: Finnish, English, German and French.

Gold panning lessons are held around the year at the panning-pool of the museum in Finnish and English, and in French and German mainly summertime.

In summertime, please remember to book gold panning in time!

Gold Panning Lesson, prices and orders

Golden Tour

Lifelike stories from the gold diggings

In the golden tour legends come to life. You'll hear stories about Ivalojoki, Lemmenjoki and Tankavaara's gold history and related people. The gold rush of Ivalojoki began in 1868 and it continues to be the last, living, gold-mining tradition in Western Europe.

In the Golden World exhibit, under the world's largest pan, you'll get to know the distinctive features of gold rushes in different countries that changed the course of global history.

The tour will focus on Finnish and international gold history, its stages and stories.

Duration: 1 hour. Tour Languages: Finnish, English, German and French. Golden Tours are held around the year in Finnish and English, in German and French mainly summer season. 

The program includes: A ticket to the museum and a cultural and historic guidance.

Golden Tour, prices and orders

Friends of Gold

Discover the richness of our soil

Lapland's history includes many other soil riches than gold. The diggers have always known the gemstones and other gold companions found there. The Friends of Gold will give you a glimpse into the fascinating world of stones and minerals found in Lapland. During the guided tour, you will find out where gold originates from and how its characteristics can be seen in nature.

During the circuit, you will have the opportunity to find gold and up to fifty different stones and minerals. How many of them will you manage to snag with you? 

Duration: 1,5 Hours. Tour languages: Finnish, English, German and French. The program is organized in summertime. 

The program includes: A ticket to the museum, geological guidance, certificates for minerals found and also a storage box or bag for any found treasure.

Friends of Gold, prices and orders

Goldfield School

A leap back to the gold rush

Students wearing old-fashioned clothes at the goldfield school spend the day in the 19th century. Schedules in their timetables are activities such as local history lessons and writing exercises on a chisel board. The teacher's job is to keep the class under control and adhering until the end of the lesson. Someone had even been sent to the naughty corner!

After the lesson, the class will do the Golden Tour at the museum and try gold panning in the inside panning pool of the museum. The goldfield school is suitable for young people, children, and childlike visitors of the museum.

Duration 3 hours. Program languages: Finnish, English. The program is held around the year.

The Goldfield School includes: old fashioned clothing, a lesson, a tour of the museum and the gold panning in the museum's indoor panning pool.

Goldfield School, prices and orders

Group size maximum 25 -30 people. And please notice there is minimum group size limit in couple of programs. For tours and programs outside the normal hours of operation, an opening fee of 60€ is added Mon-Sat and 80€ Sundays and public holidays.

KULTAMUSEO, Tankavaarantie 11 C, 99695 TANKAVAARA, FINLAND