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

A wide snow-covered frozen lake with a double track curving across it, two small figures in the distance and frosted trees along the far shore

Illustration photo: a frozen lake in Russia, not on a ride from Kemi.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For a first ride on the frozen sea, book the sunrise or sunset ride: the shortest distance and the best light. After work or dinner, book the night ride at eight. If you already drive well and want speed, the forest ride covers the most ground. If nobody in your party has ridden before, the snowmobile park with hotel pickup is the gentlest start.

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.

Sunrise or sunsetNightForestSnowmobile park
Leaves 9.00 or 16.00, daily 20.00, daily 11.30, daily At the time you book
Longest distance 20 km 30 km 70 km Not stated
For A first ride on the sea An evening outing Confident drivers Complete beginners
Hotel pickup Via the agency, for 10 or more Not listed Via the agency Included

Nothing is ranked. Times are from the operator's own schedule, distances and pickup from the Kemi agency that resells the three sea rides.

Where these figures come from
  • Sunrise or sunset: The short ride onto the frozen bay, timed for the low light at either end of the day, from the safari house in Kemi.
  • Night: An evening ride through forest and over the sea ice with a stop by a campfire in a Lappish hut, leaving at eight every evening.
  • Forest: The long ride across the bay into wilderness forest, described by the agency as one for confident drivers who want speed.
  • Snowmobile park: A family park with a warm cabin, for which no experience is needed; the lodge collects you from a hotel in Kemi or Tornio.

The three sea rides from Kemi come from one company and differ mostly in when they leave and how far they go. The fourth is a park for people who have never ridden.

For a first ride on the frozen sea

The sunrise and sunset rides leave the safari house at nine in the morning and four in the afternoon, every day.1 They are the shortest of the sea rides, at most twenty kilometres, so a first-timer gets the flat white bay at its best light without a long day on the handlebars.

For speed and distance

The forest ride leaves at half past eleven and covers up to seventy kilometres, across the bay and into the woods. The Kemi agency that sells it says plainly that it is meant for confident drivers who want more speed and changing routes.2 The night ride at eight sits between the two, at up to thirty kilometres in the dark.

For complete beginners

The snowmobile park run by a lodge near Kemi says no experience is needed, gives full driving instructions first and collects you from your hotel in Kemi or Tornio at the time you book.3 Children ride in a sled, and a warm cabin waits at the end.

Where each ride goes and what is included is on snowmobile safaris in Kemi, and what an hour costs on each on snowmobile safari prices in Kemi.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Will we see the northern lights on the night ride?

Perhaps, but nobody promises it. The listing mentions the moon, the stars and maybe the aurora on a clear night, and the Kemi agency that sells the same ride adds that the aurora cannot be predicted exactly and so cannot be guaranteed. Book it as an evening on the ice with a campfire stop, and count any lights as a bonus.

Do I need to have driven a snowmobile before?

Not for the park trip, whose operator says no previous experience is needed and gives full driving and safety instructions before you set off. The sea rides give a briefing too. The agency describes the forest ride as meant for confident drivers who want more speed and changing routes, so it is the one to leave until you have ridden once.

What would I owe if the snowmobile is damaged?

On the rides sold through the Kemi agency, the driver's liability is capped at 800 euros per person, per snowmobile and per accident. The platform listings for the same rides do not print a figure in our record, and neither does the park trip. Ask before you set off, and check whether your travel insurance covers a snowmobile excess.

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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