The best reindeer tour in Enontekiö, by what you want from it
Illustration photo: harnessed reindeer in winter, not in Enontekiö.
The short answer
For the fullest visit, with lunch in a kota and a lasso demonstration, book the farm visit sold by the husky farm in Hetta. If you need collecting from your accommodation, book the two-hour visit that includes the transfer. For a quick hour, ask for the short visit. For an actual ride behind reindeer, phone the herder who runs sleighs from December to April.
Four ways to meet reindeer start in Hetta, and the choice turns on what you want from them.
The lunch and the lasso
The visit the Hetta husky farm sells goes to a working herding enterprise and feeds you in a kota after the corral and the lasso, over two to three hours. It is the visit with the most to it.
Collected from your door
The other farm visit lasts two hours, includes a transfer from your hotel or cabin in Hetta, and ends with a hot drink, donuts and a short film about the herding year.1
An hour
The lunch farm also sells an hour without the meal, when it can.
A ride behind reindeer
Neither farm visit promises a sleigh ride. A local herder does: a short ride of one to two kilometres, a half-day for up to ten with winter clothing, or a journey of two or three days, arranged by phone.2
The lunch visit is described in full on reindeer farm in Hetta, and the prices side by side on reindeer safari price in Enontekiö.
Questions people ask
Which visit is better in summer?
The two-hour visit with the transfer says it runs all year round, so it is the one to book outside winter. The herder's sleigh rides run from 1 December to 30 April, and his autumn offer is reindeer trekking in the national park highlands from 1 September to 10 October, with the reindeer carrying your gear.
Is there anything further away worth the drive?
Kilpisjärvi, 132 minutes north, has a family farm in the village that sells a one-hour visit with a sleigh ride and a two-hour visit, and a safari company with its own reindeer afternoon. For someone already staying in Hetta the local farms cover the same ground, so the drive only makes sense as part of a trip to the fells.
Can vegetarians eat on the lunch visit?
Yes. The farm visit with lunch serves reindeer sausage, Lappish bread and salad in the kota, with dried reindeer meat to taste, and the listing says a vegetarian option is available on request. Mention it when you book rather than on the day, so the farm can prepare it.