Best snowmobile tour in Ylitornio, by the kind of day you want
Illustration photo: a snowmobile in the mountains, not near Ylitornio.
The short answer
Book the three-hour valley shelter ride if it is your first time on a snowmobile, the six-hour border ride if you want the full day and the Arctic Circle, and Aavasaksa Adventures if you have children under five or want to ride after dark. If nobody in your party owns proper winter clothing, drive to Tornio instead, where the overalls and boots are part of the price.
Ylitornio has only a handful of snowmobile rides, and they barely overlap. Choose by the day you have in mind.
Your first time on a snowmobile
Take the three-hour ride from Aavasaksa to the shelter above the Tornio valley. It is long enough to get comfortable on the machine and short enough to leave the afternoon free.1
A whole day that leaves Finland
Take the six-hour ride, which goes under the border bridge and crosses the Arctic Circle in Sweden. It is the one to book if the ride itself is the reason for the trip.
Children under five, or the dark
Aavasaksa Adventures takes children from four on its half-day ride and runs a separate two-hour evening ride for twelve and over, ending by a fire.2 Ask for the price when you enquire, because its booking system shows none until a date is chosen.
Nobody owns winter clothing
Drive the 49 minutes to Tornio. Its company lends overalls, boots, a helmet and gloves, where KJ-Experience lends only the helmet, hood and gloves and Aavasaksa Adventures does not say.3 The full comparison is on snowmobile safari in Ylitornio.
Questions people ask
Can two of us share one snowmobile?
Yes on every ride compared here. KJ-Experience sells a two-on-a-snowmobile ticket and a one-on-a-snowmobile ticket for both its rides, and the Tornio company prices two sharing a machine at 175 euros each and one alone at 275. On a shared machine the driver needs the licence; the passenger does not, so a couple where only one person drives can still both go.
Which ride has the most time on the machine?
The six-hour border ride from Aavasaksa, simply by length, though the soup lunch and the stop at the Arctic Circle come out of that time. Aavasaksa Adventures also lists a full-day ride, but without a length or a description, so ask it what a full day means before comparing. The Tornio rides are two hours each.
Is anything included beyond the ride?
A warm drink and a pastry on the three-hour ride, a soup lunch as well on the six-hour one, and a fire on Aavasaksa Adventures' evening ride. The Tornio rides include a hot drink stop. None of the listings includes transport to the start, so plan on reaching Aavasaksa hill or Tornio yourselves.