Book now

Best reindeer tour in Sodankylä: one pick for each visitor

Two harnessed reindeer galloping across a snowfield pulling a wooden sled with a driver in a fur-trimmed hood

Illustration photo: a reindeer sled race in the Russian Arctic, not in Sodankylä.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

To feed reindeer and be back within a couple of hours, book Arctic Wonders' farm visit. If the ride is the point, book its three-kilometre sleigh ride rather than the one-kilometre taste. To see how herders work, with a lasso and a walk among the animals, book Arctic SISU's half day, and bring your own warm clothing. For the whole day with a meal, ask Arctic SISU about its reindeer lunch.

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.

Arctic Wonders: farm visitArctic Wonders: 3 km rideArctic SISU: herdingArctic SISU: reindeer lunch
Suits A short visit A ride behind a reindeer Seeing a herder's work A whole day with a meal
Time 2 h 2.5 h 4 h 5 h
Winter clothing Lent Lent Not included Not stated

Nothing is ranked: a short visit and a day with a herd are different outings, not better and worse ones.

Where these figures come from
  • Arctic Wonders: farm visit: Feeding, the farm's stories and coffee in a kota, with transfer from the village and winter clothing lent.
  • Arctic Wonders: 3 km ride: The same farm with a three-kilometre ride in a sled behind a reindeer, then coffee in the kota.
  • Arctic SISU: herding: Half a day among a herd of hundreds, with a lasso to try and a walk in the forest with the reindeer.
  • Arctic SISU: reindeer lunch: Five hours feeding reindeer with a traditional Lapland lunch at the farm, sold on the company's own site.

The reindeer outings in Sodankylä differ in what you do with the animals, and that is the thing to decide first.

To feed them

Arctic Wonders drives you from its village office to a reindeer farm, lends winter clothing and has you help with the feeding while the hosts tell the farm’s story, with coffee and pastries in a kota afterwards.1 Its longer versions add a ride in a sled behind a reindeer, of one or three kilometres.

To see the work

Arctic SISU Experience takes you by snowmobile sled to a herd of several hundred reindeer for half a day of feeding, a lasso to try and a walk through the forest with the animals, in your own warm clothes.2

For the whole day

On its own site the same company sells five hours with the reindeer and a traditional Lapland lunch at the farm.3 It is the outing for anyone who wants the day to be about the reindeer and nothing else.

Tours you can book

Priced per person

Price not stated

Questions people ask

Who drives the reindeer on the sleigh rides?

None of the listings says whether you hold the reins or ride as a passenger while someone from the farm leads the reindeer. If steering the animal yourself matters to you, ask when you book, since it changes the ride more than the difference between one and three kilometres does.

What is in the Lapland lunch on Arctic SISU's long day?

Its own booking page names a traditional Lapland lunch at a reindeer farm and five hours in all, but gives no menu and no price basis. Ask what is served, whether a vegetarian option is possible and whether the price is per person before paying, since the page does not say.

Can we photograph the reindeer up close?

On the farm visits, yes: you help with the feeding, which is when the animals come closest. On the herding half day you are among several hundred reindeer, which is the better chance for pictures of a herd rather than a single animal. Bring a lens cloth; lenses mist up when you come in from the cold.

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.

More about Lapland Handbook →