Family northern lights in Enontekiö: which evening suits children
Illustration photo: a horse-drawn sleigh in winter, not the Finnhorse ride near Hetta.
The short answer
With children under fifteen, book the horse sleigh: it prints a child fare, collects you from your accommodation and ends at a fire with something to eat. The guaranteed aurora night is out until your youngest is fifteen. The evening snowmobile ride can carry passengers in a sledge but prints no child rule, so ask first. On a very cold night, the horse-sleigh company lets you cancel free below minus 32.
For a family, the aurora evenings around Hetta divide on age before anything else.
The evening that takes children
The horse sleigh prints a child fare for ages up to fourteen, collects you from your accommodation in Hetta and ends by a fire with small tastings of local food.1 It is the gentlest of the evenings for young children.
The one that does not
The guaranteed night, which refunds you if nothing appears, has a minimum age of fifteen.2 A family with younger children cannot use its promise.
Cold nights
The company behind both lets you cancel free of charge when it is colder than minus 32 at the activity location.3 The kennel’s evenings and their child fares are set out on northern lights in Enontekiö, and the family totals on northern lights tour prices in Enontekiö.
Tours you can book
An evening snowmobile ride from Hetta to watch for the aurora
Run by Näkkälä Adventures
From €100per person
Length2 h
See it on the operator’s site(opens in a new tab)An aurora ride in a heated sleigh behind a snowmobile
Run by Hetta Huskies
From €140per person
Length2.5 h
See it on the operator’s site(opens in a new tab)An evening horse-sleigh ride with local tastings by a fire near Hetta
Run by Vilu Arctic Experience
From €145per person
Length2–3 h
See it on the operator’s site(opens in a new tab)
Questions people ask
What time do the evenings start?
The evening snowmobile ride leaves at eight and lasts about two hours. The horse sleigh is an evening of two to three hours but its page gives no clock time, and the neighbouring village company's times include the drive from Hetta, which it puts at about half an hour in total. With young children, ask for the start time before booking, since bedtime is the real limit on most family evenings.
What should children wear?
Everything warm you have. The neighbouring village company's terms say participants must wear appropriate winter clothing and footwear, and its pages do not say it lends any; the evening snowmobile ride includes snowmobile equipment. On its snowmobile evenings the kennel hires clothing by the piece, 5 euros for snowmobile clothing or boots and 2.50 for gloves, hats or buffs, without saying which children's sizes it has.
Do children have to be with an adult?
On the neighbouring village company's evenings, yes: its terms say children must always be accompanied and supervised by a responsible adult. The same terms keep drivers of its snowmobiles at fifteen or over, with an adult guardian on the tour for any minor at the handlebars, though that applies to its snowmobile safaris rather than its aurora evenings.