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The best husky tour in Saariselkä

Three huskies curled up asleep in the snow beside a wooden fence, with frosted birches and a low building behind them

Illustration photo: huskies resting in the snow, not from one of the kennels compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Pick by the youngest person coming and by how firm your dates are. Toddlers can go on one short family ride and nowhere else, and some tours turn away anyone under eleven. If your plans might move, book through a platform with free cancellation up to a day before, because the operator's own shop charges in full from three days out. If you want the longest time on the sled for the money, compare the two ten-kilometre tours rather than the prices alone.

How the operators compare

Prices are the operators' own published starting prices as of the date this guide was updated, and they change through the season.

Lapland Safaris: 5 kmStar Arctic: 5 km, night skyLapland Safaris: 10 kmArctic Timetravels: 10 km
Price €169 – the lowest price per person €215 €236 €249
Trail 5 km 5 km 10 km 10 km
Time on the sled About 30 min Not stated About 50 min 45 min, half as passenger
Length of the tour 2 h 30 min 2 h 3 h 4 h
Youngest allowed Over 2 11 Over 4 4, as passenger until 12
Departures Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat at 12:30 Not stated Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri at 12:30 Not stated
Cancelling €25 fee from 72 h, full price within 71 h Free up to 24 h before €25 fee from 72 h, full price within 71 h Free up to 24 h before

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All four price per person and include the transfer and winter clothing, so neither is a row. Only price is marked: a longer ride is not better for a small child, and an evening departure suits some groups and not others.

Where these figures come from
  • Lapland Safaris: 5 km: The only tour here that takes children from two, with a family fare to match, and the cheapest ticket of the four. About half an hour on the sled. Sold from the operator's own shop, where cancelling within three days costs the full price.
  • Star Arctic: 5 km, night sky: A run under the night sky with a fire in a tipi and a chance of the aurora overhead, behind teams the kennel describes as Siberian huskies. The age limit is the strictest here: nobody under eleven.
  • Lapland Safaris: 10 km: The most time on the sled of the four, at about fifty minutes, for less than the other ten-kilometre tour. The same strict cancellation terms as the operator's short ride apply.
  • Arctic Timetravels: 10 km: A small kennel by its own description, starting from Veskoniemi, with the longest programme and time to spend with the dogs at the farm. The ride itself is 45 minutes, and you drive for half of it.

In Levi or Rovaniemi the first question about a husky tour is how you get to the kennel. In Saariselkä it does not come up: all four tours in the table fetch you and all four lend you an overall, boots and gloves. What separates them is further down each listing, and it decides more about the day than the price.

Every figure was read from the operator’s own page or its marketplace listing on the date shown under the table. “Not stated” means the page does not say.

If your dates might move

The two Lapland Safaris tours are sold from the operator’s own shop, and its terms are strict: a 25-euro fee if you cancel three days or more ahead, and the full price from 71 hours before the start. The two tours booked through GetYourGuide can be cancelled free until 24 hours before.

On a short trip where one day of storm can reshuffle the week, that difference can be worth more than the gap between the prices. If your dates are firm, it matters much less.

If you are bringing small children

Lapland Safaris’ five-kilometre ride is the one to book. It takes children over two, sells child fares from that age, and at about half an hour on the sled it is short enough for a small child in the cold.

Arctic Timetravels takes children from four, but anyone under twelve rides as a passenger. Star Arctic takes nobody under eleven on either of its tours, which rules it out for most families.

If you want the most time on the sled

Compare the two ten-kilometre tours on what happens on the trail rather than on the distance, which is the same. Lapland Safaris quotes about fifty minutes of riding, with two adults taking turns. Arctic Timetravels quotes 45 minutes, half of it as a passenger, inside a four-hour programme that also gives you time with the dogs at a small kennel. The first is more sledding for the money; the second is more of an afternoon.

If ten kilometres is still not enough, Lapland Safaris sells a twenty-kilometre day with about two hours on the sled and lunch by the fire. It is listed under the table with the other tours.

If you would rather go after dark

Star Arctic sells its husky tours as a ride under the night sky, with a stop in a tipi with a fire and, if the sky cooperates, the aurora overhead. The five-kilometre run is the one in the table; an eight-kilometre version costs more and is listed below.

Why the husky market up here is built around longer trips, and what the dark months do to it, is the subject of what a husky safari in Saariselkä is like. What makes a husky tour worth its price anywhere is set out in the Rovaniemi husky safari guide, and the rest of the resort is on the Saariselkä destination page.

What each ride costs per minute on the sled, and what the children’s fares come to, is worked out in husky safari prices in Saariselkä.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

When two of us share a sled, who drives?

It depends on the kennel. Arctic Timetravels splits its ride in half: you drive for half of it and sit as the passenger for the other half. Lapland Safaris has two adults take turns, one standing on the runners and one sitting. Star Arctic has one adult drive and lets the driver change during the ride, and if neither of you can drive it can arrange a guide to do it for an extra 100 euros per person, when one is available. Tell the kennel before the day if one of you cannot drive.

Are we liable if something goes wrong on the trail?

On Star Arctic's eight-kilometre tour, yes, and the listing says so plainly: the driver is held responsible for damage to the dogs or the sled, with a self-liability of 2,000 euros per accident. None of the four listings in the table states a figure. Before you book, ask the kennel what the driver is liable for and whether your travel insurance covers it, rather than finding out at the safety briefing.

Can we see the northern lights from the sled?

Only on Star Arctic's tours, and only with luck. Both are sold as a ride under the night sky with a break in a tipi with a fire, and the listing describes the aurora as something you might see if you are lucky rather than something it promises. The Lapland Safaris tours start at 12:30, and Arctic Timetravels does not frame its ride around the sky at all. If the aurora is the main aim, a dedicated aurora tour gives you more hours under the sky.

Written by

Lapland Handbook Staff

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.

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