In Pallas itself there is one kennel, Pallas Husky, and it is for people who want to drive their own team for a whole day or longer, not for a first short ride with the children. Its day tour is for adults and older teenagers and is priced as a full day with your own dogs; its multi-day trips mean a simple wilderness camp without running water. If that is what you want, few places do it in a smaller group. If you want an hour on a sled, book in Levi or Ylläs instead.
Search for a husky safari in Pallas and the results are mostly Levi and Ylläs.
That is not an accident: the booking platforms list nothing that starts at
Pallas itself, and the tours they sell in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park
come in from the resorts. The kennel that does work from Pallas sells directly,
and it sells something quite different.
One kennel, small groups
Pallas Husky has run multi-day dog-sled tours since 1993 and keeps its groups
to six guests at most. It works with Alaskan huskies in the national park, and
on every tour it sells, you drive your own
team.31
The day tour
The day tour lasts five to six hours, three to four of them on the trail, and
costs €500 a person. It is for guests aged sixteen and over. Winter clothing,
a fire break with hot drinks and a meal in the kota afterwards are included;
transport is not, though it can be arranged for a charge. It runs on request
rather than on a fixed timetable.1
That is a high price beside a resort ride, and a fair one for what it is: a
whole day driving your own dogs in a group of six, not an hour sharing a sled.
Why a husky safari costs what it does
explains where the money goes on a ride like this.
Tripadvisor ratings, 18 Rovaniemi operators
Highest first
Snowtrail Safaris 5.0
Nordic Odyssey 5.0
Nordic Adventures 4.9
Arctic GM 4.9
Book Lapland 4.9
Bearhill Husky 4.9
Arctic Attitude 4.9
StayLapland 4.8
Wild About Lapland 4.7
Wild Nordic 4.7
Lapland Winter Park 4.6
Safartica 4.5
Nordic Unique Travels 4.5
Apukka Resort 4.4
Lapland Welcome 4.3
Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park 4.3
Arctic Circle Husky Park 4.2
Raitola 3.4
<44.04.55.0
Ratings read from Tripadvisor. The shaded compartment left of the divider holds any score below 4.0. We record the score only; review counts and review text are not part of our comparison.
Three nights in a wilderness camp
The shortest multi-day trip is three nights with two full days on the sled,
at €1,350 a person. The group sleeps in a shared, wood-heated wilderness camp
with a sauna and without running water or mains electricity. Transfers from
Kittilä Airport or Levi, full board, winter clothing and a winter sleeping bag
are included, and the kennel aims the trip at physically fit
guests.2
The dates for the coming winter are fixed and few: two departures in mid-December,
two in mid-January and two at the turn of March and April, and one of the spring
ones is already full.2 With six
places a departure, that is the detail to act on first.
Who it suits
Adults and older teenagers who already know they want to drive dogs, and who
would rather spend a day or several on the trail than an hour at a resort. It
does not suit young families, first-timers who want to try a sled before
committing, or anyone who wants a hotel bed between husky days.
For a family or a first ride, the resorts next door are the better answer:
husky safaris in Levi sets out who runs the
kennels there, and the long-distance end of the same market is covered in
Hetta Huskies, the expedition kennel further north.
For the multi-day trips, yes: transfers from Kittilä Airport or from Levi are included in the price. For the day tour they are not, though the kennel can arrange one for an extra charge, so ask for the figure when you enquire. The kennel describes itself as about three quarters of an hour from Kittilä Airport, which makes the day tour realistic from Levi or Ylläs as well as from a stay at Pallas.
What happens if we have to cancel?
The tour pages do not set out cancellation terms; they link to general contract pages instead. With a price of this size, ask for the cancellation and weather terms in writing before you pay, and check whether your travel insurance covers a prepaid activity. Bookings are made by enquiry rather than an instant checkout, so there is a natural moment to ask before anything is confirmed.
How is this different from a husky ride in Levi or Ylläs?
In scale more than in kind. The resort rides are usually short, sold in fixed slots and open to children, with two people sharing a sled. Here you drive your own team for three to four hours on the trail, in a group of six at most, and the day costs accordingly. Neither is better; they answer different questions, and the resort rides are the right first taste for most families.
Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.
Rovaniemi's winter tours do sell out – December and the week around New Year first, and the small-group ones before the rest. Booking here goes straight to the operator at their own published price, and the code LH10 takes 10% off it.
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