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Best snowmobile tour in Inari: which trip for which driver

Rolling snow-covered hills with dark patches of bare rock stretching to a flat horizon under a clear blue sky

Illustration photo: snowy open fells, not the Inari trails.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For a first drive with adults or children of twelve and over, book Visit Inari's two-hour trip from the village, the cheapest here. With children under twelve, book Wilderness Hotel Inari, which seats under-fifteens in a sleigh behind the guide. For a full day with lunch and no experience needed, take the hotel's four hours. Experienced drivers should book the six hours on Lake Inari.

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, two hoursWilderness Hotel, two hoursWilderness Hotel, four hoursVisit Inari, archipelago
Length 2 h 2 h 4 h 6 h
Who can come From 12 Under 15 in the sleigh Under 15 in the sleigh Experienced adults
Driving alone €162 instead of €125 Not stated Not stated Always, included
Lunch Not included Not included Included Included
Price per person €125 – the lowest price per person €145 €225 €430

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. Only price is marked, and it follows length: a six-hour day is not a worse buy than a two-hour one, only a different one.

Where these figures come from
  • Visit Inari, two hours: A first drive from the safari office in the village, through forest or onto Lake Inari, daily at one; from twelve years old.
  • Wilderness Hotel, two hours: A driving lesson and a trip through the nearby country, two to a machine, with children under fifteen in the guide's sleigh.
  • Wilderness Hotel, four hours: A day in the wilderness after a driving lesson, with lunch and warm drinks, on the same terms for children as the short trip.
  • Visit Inari, archipelago: Six hours among the islands of Lake Inari with lunch, a machine for each driver, for adults with snowmobile experience.

Two sellers in Inari village run snowmobile trips from their own door, and neither is on the booking platforms. Between them they have a trip for most kinds of party.

For a first drive

Visit Inari’s two-hour trip is built for beginners and is the cheapest drive here, with a supplement to have a machine to yourself. It takes no one under twelve.1

With children under twelve

Wilderness Hotel Inari seats children under fifteen in a sleigh pulled by the guide’s snowmobile, so younger children can come along while two adults share a machine. Its two-hour trip is the short version; the four-hour one adds lunch and warm drinks in the wilderness, and suits a party that wants a whole outing without needing any experience.2

For experienced drivers

Visit Inari’s six hours among the islands of Lake Inari are for adults who have driven a snowmobile before, with lunch and a machine each, and run on request for at least two.3

For a small group in the fells with your own car, or a private day on the lake from Nellim, see snowmobile safaris in Inari. What children can and cannot do on each trip is on the family snowmobile safari in Inari.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

What licence does a driver need?

Every driver must be at least eighteen with a valid driving licence, and Visit Inari asks you to bring it on the safari and sign a form accepting liability of up to 900 euros for damage to the machine. For its longer safaris it names the minimum licence classes as tractor or car. Wilderness Hotels asks for a licence valid in Finland, and both forbid driving after alcohol.

When does the season start?

Visit Inari's two-hour trip runs from 1 December to 5 April, and at other times if the weather allows; the company opens dates in its online shop only when it knows the snow and ice will carry the trips. The six hours on Lake Inari are sold on request from mid-January. Wilderness Hotel Inari's page does not print the season for its snowmobile trips.

Can we stay out overnight?

Visit Inari sells a two-day snowmobile safari with a night in a cabin or apartment, meals and a machine each, from 10 January to 7 April, for drivers with some experience. The price per person falls with the size of the group, from 1,485 euros for two to 944 for four. It also sells a five-day trip to the Arctic Ocean in Norway, on request, from March.

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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