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The best reindeer tour in Inari, by what you want from it

Three harnessed reindeer pulling a wooden sled at speed along a snowbank, the driver holding a long pole behind them

Illustration photo: a reindeer team at a race, not in Inari.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

If you want to sit in a sleigh behind a reindeer, book the village safari company's traditional ride, which puts about forty minutes of it in writing. If you want to see how herding works, book its herder's morning, which goes out to a herd grazing freely in the forest. For Sámi handicraft in a family's own house, book the afternoon by Lake Muddus. If time is short, the ranch visit beside the village is the quickest.

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.

Visit Inari: sleigh rideVisit Inari: herder's morningVisit Inari: Lake Muddus homeGalddoaivi: ranch feeding
Best for A ride in a sleigh Seeing how herding works Sámi handicraft and home life Little time to spare
In a reindeer sleigh About 40 min No No No
Length 1.5–2 h with transfers 3 h with transfers 3 h with transfers 1 h
Days Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat Tue, Thu, Sun Tue, Fri Not stated

Nothing is marked: each outing is best at something different. The ranch's length is the operator's own figure; its booking-platform listing says an hour and a half.

Where these figures come from
  • Visit Inari: sleigh ride: The village safari company's traditional ride in a wooden sleigh behind a reindeer, two to a sledge, with a warm drink by the fire afterwards.
  • Visit Inari: herder's morning: Out by snowmobile sleigh into the forest to find a herd that grazes freely, help feed it, then a hot drink and pastry at an open fire.
  • Visit Inari: Lake Muddus home: An afternoon with one local family: their reindeer first, then their house, and how Sámi handicraft such as traditional reindeer boots is made.
  • Galddoaivi: ranch feeding: A short visit to feed and photograph reindeer at a ranch right beside the village centre. The simplest and shortest of the four.

Inari sells more reindeer outings than the booking platforms show. The village safari company and a hotel in the village sell their own on their own sites, and with those counted there are eight to choose from in winter. They are good at different things.

For a ride in a sleigh

The safari company’s traditional ride seats two people to a wooden sleigh behind a reindeer for about forty minutes, and ends by a fire.1 The hotel sells a sleigh ride at a farm too, with the transfer from the hotel, but does not say how long you spend in the sleigh.2 If the ride itself is the point, the one that puts its length in writing is the safer booking.

For the herd

The herder’s morning is the only outing here that goes to the reindeer where they live rather than to a pen. A snowmobile sleigh takes you into the forest near the village to find a herd that roams freely, and you help feed it before a hot drink at the fire.3 Choose it over the sleigh ride if you want to understand herding more than you want to ride.

For a family’s home

On two afternoons a week the company takes guests to a local family by Lake Muddus, to meet their reindeer and then sit in their house hearing how traditional reindeer boots and other Sámi handicraft are made.4 The half-day workshop with a herding family on the booking platform, compared on reindeer in Inari, is the alternative on other days and runs all year.

For a short visit

With an hour to spare, the ranch beside the village centre is the answer: meet, feed and photograph the reindeer, and the operator says the whole family can join.5

What each costs, and what a family of four pays, is on reindeer safari prices in Inari.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can we combine a reindeer ride with looking for the northern lights?

Yes. The village safari company runs the same kind of reindeer sleigh ride in the evening, at half past seven on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from December to the end of March, with about forty minutes in the sleigh while you watch the sky. The company says plainly that it gives no refund if the aurora does not appear.

Is the Muddus visit the same as the Sámi family workshop on the booking platform?

No. They are two different hosts. The Muddus afternoon is a visit to one local family's reindeer and house, where the talk is about handicraft such as traditional reindeer boots. The workshop on the booking platform is run by another company, with a member of a herding family, a souvenir to make and a lunch, and it takes longer.

Is there anything if we come before December or after the snow?

Some. The safari company's winter outings run from the first of December to early April. Outside that, the hotel sells an autumn reindeer visit with feeding and stories, and in summer it sells the Lake Muddus afternoon, from early July to mid-September, at a lower price than in winter. The herding family's workshop on the booking platform runs all year.

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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