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Best northern lights tour in Ivalo: one pick for each kind of evening

A band of green aurora across a starry sky above an open snowfield, where a red tent and a few small tents glow from inside

Illustration photo: aurora over a snowy camp, not near Ivalo.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

If seeing the lights is the whole point, book the hunt that charges its tour fee only after a sighting: the risk of a cloudy night is then mostly theirs. If you want pictures to take home, choose a drive that includes a photographer or a lesson. If the evening should be worth it whatever the sky does, book the sleigh ride and dinner on Lake Inari, or the reindeer evening near the village.

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.

Northern PolarArctic GuidesIvalo SafarisIvalo Reindeer Farm
Goes to clear sky Yes – drives to where the sky is clear Yes – drives to where the sky is clear No No
If the lights stay away Only the booking fee Full price Full price; the date can be moved Not stated
Photos Taken for you A short lesson Not stated Not stated
Besides the sky Hot drinks, snacks Warm drinks, snack Sleigh ride, reindeer, dinner Reindeer, coffee by the fire

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: drives to where the sky is clear. Only the drives to clear sky are marked: they are the ones built around seeing the lights. The other two are evenings that happen to be outdoors at night.

Where these figures come from
  • Northern Polar: A small-group hunt by van from your accommodation in Ivalo or Inari, where most of the fee is paid only after the lights have been seen.
  • Arctic Guides: A four-hour drive to wherever the sky is clearest, with warm drinks and a short photography lesson, sold on a booking platform.
  • Ivalo Safaris: A sleigh ride to the company's island on Lake Inari, with reindeer and a home-made dinner by the fire in a traditional hut.
  • Ivalo Reindeer Farm: An evening in a reindeer enclosure six kilometres from the village, with coffee in a hut and the sky overhead.

The aurora evenings at Ivalo fall into two groups: those that chase clear sky, and those that stay in one place and give you something to do there.

If the lights are the point

One company from the village takes a booking fee up front and charges the rest of the tour only if the group sees the lights, collects you from Ivalo or Inari, and cancels with a full refund if the weather rules the night out.1 The drives sold on the booking platforms chase the sky too, at a full price whatever happens.

If the evening should be worth it anyway

The Lake Inari evening takes you by sleigh to a small island for reindeer and a dinner by the fire, and the company says plainly that the lights are not guaranteed but the evening is worth having without.2 The reindeer farm near the village offers the quieter version: two and a half hours in its enclosure, watching the sky over coffee.3

Tours for your group alone are on private northern lights tours in Ivalo.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Is a 98 per cent success rate believable?

It is the company's own figure for its guaranteed tours last season, and we could not check it. It is plausible that a company that drives to clear sky and cancels on cloudy nights sees the lights on most of the tours it actually runs; that is not the same as most of the nights you are in Ivalo. The fee structure matters more than the percentage.

What if our only free night is cloudy?

Tell the company when you book. The pay-if-seen hunt asks for two or three alternative dates and contacts you the day before; the Lake Inari evening lets you change the date if the forecast looks bad. With a single night and no flexibility, the reindeer or sleigh evenings are the safer booking, because they give you something to do under a cloud.

Which one is best for photographs?

Two include them: the pay-if-seen hunt says its guide photographs the group and sends the files afterwards, and the campfire chase on the booking platform includes high-quality photographs. The four-hour drive teaches a short lesson so you can take your own. If you have a camera and tripod, the lesson is worth more than someone else's pictures.

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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