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The best northern lights tour in Saariselkä

Bright green and violet aurora arching over smooth snow-covered hills, with a line of distant peaks under a deep blue night sky

Illustration photo: the aurora over snowy hills, not taken on one of the tours compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

On a clear night you do not need a tour to see the aurora from Saariselkä, so book one for what it adds. If the forecast shows cloud over the village, a van chase that drives to clear sky is the purchase that changes your odds. If the night is clear and you want company and a reason to be out, a snowshoe walk is the cheapest way to have both. The snowmobile tour sells the ride as much as the sky.

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.

Safartica: snowshoesTrafinari: van and campfireArctic Timetravels: vanLapland Welcome: snowmobile
Price €89 – the lowest price per person €135 €139 €219
How you spend the night On snowshoes Chasing by van, fire Chasing by van On a snowmobile, fire
Length of the tour 2.5 h 3.5 h 3 h 4 h
Group Not stated 2–6 guests Vehicle for 8–18 Not stated
Winter clothing Included Not included On request Included
Photos taken for you Not stated Yes Yes Tips only
Youngest allowed 12 Not stated From 1 Passengers from 140 cm

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All four price per person; Lapland Welcome's price is the undiscounted one. Only price is marked: a van chase is worth more on a cloudy night and less on a clear one.

Where these figures come from
  • Safartica: snowshoes: The cheapest way to have a guide with you in the dark: a snowshoe walk out of the village with warm clothing and hot drinks. It adds company and a route rather than distance, so it is the tour for a clear night.
  • Trafinari: van and campfire: A chase in a van for six at most, willing to drive a long way for clear sky, with sausages on a fire and portraits of you under the aurora. It lends no winter clothing, so dress for standing still.
  • Arctic Timetravels: van: A chase in a larger people carrier with photographs taken for you on a professional camera, and warm clothes lent if you ask. The vehicle seats eight to eighteen, against Trafinari's limit of six, and pick-ups beyond 15 km of the village are not included.
  • Lapland Welcome: snowmobile: The ride is half the point: a night on a snowmobile to a fire in the forest, with the gear lent. It is the dearest of the four, and its listing describes a trail and a fire rather than a chase for clear sky.

The case for staying in Saariselkä for the aurora is that the dark starts at the edge of the village. On a clear night you can walk into it. That changes what an aurora tour is for: it has to add something to a sky you could reach on your own, and the four in the table add different things.

When the village is under cloud

Two of the tours drive. Trafinari takes six people at most and is willing to go a long way for a gap in the cloud; its listing names a bridge near the Russian border as one possible destination. Arctic Timetravels does the same in a larger vehicle and photographs the night for you on a professional camera.

On a night when the forecast puts cloud over Saariselkä and clear sky somewhere within driving distance, these are the only tours in the table that change your chances. Choose between them on group size and on clothing: Trafinari lends none, Arctic Timetravels will if you ask.

When the sky is clear

A van adds little on a clear night, and Safartica’s snowshoe walk is the better buy. It costs the least, lends everything you need to stand in the cold, and gives you a guide and a reason to be out in the dark rather than at the window. It needs two paying adults to run and takes nobody under twelve.

When the ride is the point

Lapland Welcome’s tour is a snowmobile night: forest trails, a fire, snacks and the sky overhead. It suits people who want to drive a snowmobile anyway and would like the aurora as a possible bonus. It is the most expensive of the four, and its listing describes a trail and a forest stop rather than a chase, so on a cloudy night it does less for your chances than a van.

Why the aurora odds here are what they are, and why the hour matters more than the place, is set out in the northern lights in Saariselkä. For a tour with only your own group aboard, see the private northern lights tours in Saariselkä. The rest of the resort is on the Saariselkä destination page.

What each shared tour costs per hour, and what a family of four pays on the ones that take children, is worked out in northern lights tour prices in Saariselkä.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Does any tour give our money back if we see nothing?

One does. Safartica sells an eight-hour tour in a group of seven at most for 199 euros per person, and its listing says that if the northern lights are not captured on camera during the tour you get a full refund. The company confirms each departure by four in the afternoon from the forecasts, and offers a refund or another date if it cancels. Nobody under twelve can go. None of the four tours in the table refunds for an empty sky.

Can a tour be cancelled for too few people?

Safartica's snowshoe walk needs at least two full-paying adults to run, so a solo traveller may find the departure called off. The other listings do not state a minimum. Lapland Welcome's snowmobile tour, for its part, says it is not cancelled or moved for ordinary changes in the weather, only for extreme conditions, so a cold or cloudy night still goes ahead.

Will someone take photos for us?

On the two van chases, yes. Arctic Timetravels includes photography with a professional camera and a tripod and shares the pictures after the trip. Trafinari's guide photographs the sky and takes portraits of you with the aurora behind. On the snowshoe walk and the snowmobile tour, bring your own camera: Lapland Welcome's guide gives tips on photographing the lights rather than taking the 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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