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Family northern lights in Ranua: which evenings take children

A blue-green aurora above a small cabin with glowing windows, snowmobiles parked on the snow and bare birches around it

Illustration photo: the aurora over a lit cabin in the snow, not in Ranua.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With small children, book the horse-drawn sleigh or the activity park evening, and book either where a child fare is printed rather than on the platform. The sleigh takes every age and lets the youngest ride free; the park fills the evening with sledging and reindeer whatever the sky does, and starts earliest. Leave the snowshoe trek to families whose youngest is ten, and the late snowmobile sleigh to adults, as both listings say.

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.

Finnhorse sleigh (resort)Activity park after darkLupland: 3–4 h at the fireSnowshoe trek (resort)
Youngest All ages Not stated Not stated 10 years
Child fare €110 (3–14) €119 (3–14 at the resort, 0–14 on Lupland's shop) €119 (0–14) €90 (10–14) – the lowest child fare
Under three Free Child fare on Lupland's shop Child fare Not taken
Starts 21:00 18:00 or 19:15 20:00 21:00
Length 2 h 3 h 3–4 h 2 h

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest child fare. Child fares as each seller prints them. The snowshoe fare is marked because it is the lowest figure, but it applies only from ten.

Where these figures come from
  • Finnhorse sleigh (resort): Two hours behind a family farm's horses with a campfire stop, sold at the resort reception. The only evening that names every age as welcome.
  • Activity park after dark: Three hours of sledging, skating, reindeer and a campfire. The child fare depends on where you book: the platform prints none.
  • Lupland: 3–4 h at the fire: A campfire at a fixed viewing spot with sausages and hot drinks, warm clothes lent, and a child fare up to fourteen.
  • Snowshoe trek (resort): Two hours on snowshoes through the forest at night, sold at the resort reception, for children from ten at the adult price.

A family choosing an aurora evening in Ranua is really choosing by its youngest child. The evenings differ more on who may come than on anything else.

Who is allowed

The resort reception sells both ends of the range. Its Finnhorse sleigh names every age as welcome and lets children under three ride free, while its snowshoe trek takes children only from ten and its late sleigh behind a snowmobile is listed for adults alone.1 The local company’s hunt and park evening print a child fare but no minimum age.

Where the child fare appears

The same park evening is sold three ways. The platform prices every guest as an adult, the company’s own shop charges less for anyone under fifteen,2 and the resort’s version, starting a little later, has a child fare from three. A family should book one of the latter two.

How late

The local company puts the likeliest viewing hours at roughly nine at night to two in the morning.3 The company’s own park evening is the earliest and ends by nine, the reindeer sleigh starts at seven, and the fire and the horses run into the likely hours. With a young child, earlier and shorter usually beats darker and longer.

The evenings themselves are compared on the best northern lights tour in Ranua, and reindeer outings for families on family reindeer outings in Ranua.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

How do children ride on the snowmobile evenings?

The resort prints a child fare of 99 euros for ages three to fourteen on its snowmobile aurora safari, and 70 on its snowmobile trip to a Lappish hut, and adds 49 euros for an adult who wants a machine alone, so two share one. Where a child sits is not stated on either. Ask before booking whether small children travel in a sleigh behind the guide, as they do on other snowmobile trips in Ranua.

Do the evenings lend warm clothing in children's sizes?

The local company lends warm clothes on its hunt and its park evening and rents full winter kit, overalls, boots, socks and gloves included, at 35 euros for guests who need more. None of the listings says which children's sizes are held. The horse-drawn sleigh has a cold limit of minus 28 degrees, below which it does not run, so dress children for far colder than the day felt.

What should we do if the children fall asleep before the sky clears?

Choose an evening that is good without the aurora, such as the sleigh or the park, and treat the sky as a bonus. On a clear night after the family evening, one adult can stay up and watch the forecast. The local company also offers, free, to choose the best evening of your stay for its hunt, which gives a family with a few nights in Ranua the best chance of a good one.

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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