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Best snowmobile tour in Ivalo: one pick for each kind of rider

A small white trail sign reading 8 km in yellow on black, nailed to a tree trunk in a dark winter forest with snow between the trees

Illustration photo: a distance sign on a winter trail, not on a route described here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

To drive, book the safari along the Ivalo River to Lake Inari, the one outing here with the handlebars in your hands, after checking the licence rule. If one of your party would rather not drive, book them the sleigh ride that travels with the same group and meets you for lunch. For the dark and the chance of the aurora, choose one of the two evening sleigh rides instead.

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.

Ivalo Safaris, drivingIvalo Safaris, sleighIvalo ExperiencesPrimitif Aventure
You drive Yes – you drive the machine yourself No No No
When Daytime Daytime Evening Night
Where Ivalo River and Lake Inari, 25–30 km The same route Edge of the Hammastunturi wilderness Near Ivalo, route not stated
Youngest 10; drivers 18 with a licence Not stated Not stated 10

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: you drive the machine yourself. Only driving is marked, because it is the one thing three of the four outings do not offer; a sleigh is not a worse outing for someone who does not want to drive.

Where these figures come from
  • Ivalo Safaris, driving: The one outing where you drive: along the frozen Ivalo River to Lake Inari, reindeer on an island and lunch by the fire, in a group of up to eight.
  • Ivalo Safaris, sleigh: The same trip and the same group, sitting under a reindeer hide in a sleigh the guide pulls, for anyone who would rather not drive.
  • Ivalo Experiences: An evening sleigh ride to the edge of the Hammastunturi wilderness, with a fire and an eye on the sky, for up to eight.
  • Primitif Aventure: A three-hour night ride seated in a passenger sled behind a guide, from age ten.

Snowmobile outings at Ivalo split into one you drive and three you ride, and the three rides split again by the time of day.

If you want to drive

The safari from the village follows the frozen Ivalo River out to Lake Inari, about twenty-five to thirty kilometres in all, with a stop on the company’s island for reindeer and lunch. Drivers must be eighteen and hold a licence valid in Finland, and nobody under ten comes.1

If someone would rather sit

The same company runs a sleigh behind the driving group, so a passenger can make the same trip under a reindeer hide and meet everyone for lunch. It is cancelled at minus twenty or colder, with a refund or another date.2

If you want the dark

The evening sleigh ride goes to the edge of the Hammastunturi wilderness, with a fire and time to watch the sky, and the night ride takes you out in a passenger sled from age ten. Neither needs a licence, and both put you outdoors when the aurora is possible. For your party alone, see private snowmobile tours in Ivalo.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can we add ice fishing to the snowmobile safari?

Yes, for an extra charge. The company offers an hour of ice fishing at its fishing place on Lake Inari as an add-on to the driving safari, booked by e-mail request. If fishing is the main reason for the day, its separate ice fishing trip gives the fishing more time and travels by sleigh, so nobody has to drive.

How cold is too cold?

On the sleigh ride, minus twenty. The company cancels that trip at minus twenty degrees or below and offers a full refund or another date, since sitting still in a sleigh is colder than driving. It prints no such limit for the driving safari, where you are moving and dressed in its thermal outfit, so ask on a very cold morning.

What if our group has an odd number?

The shared safari puts two on each machine, so with three or five people one of you rides as a passenger on the guide's machine or in the sleigh. The company says you can swap places along the way so that everyone gets to drive. A machine to yourself costs a supplement per person.

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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