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Northern lights with children in Saariselkä: evenings a child can sit through

A faint green aurora glowing low in the sky between the dark trunks of tall pines

Illustration photo: the aurora over a forest in Oulu, not in Saariselkä.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With a baby or toddler, choose one of the resort's animal-drawn sleighs: they take all ages, lend overalls and blankets, and are over within two hours. With children of four or more who can stay up later, the sleigh to a camp gives a longer evening by the fire. If the sky over Saariselkä is cloudy, a van that drives to clear sky is the only one of the four that can do anything about it.

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.

Reindeer sleighHorse sleighSleigh to a campVan chase
Youngest All ages All ages 4 1
Starts 19:30 19:30 20:00 Not stated
Length 2 h 1.5 h 2.5 h 3 h
Warm clothing Included Included Not stated On request
Price From €99.64 per person From €98.58 per person From €145 per person €139 per person

Nothing is marked: the resort and the hotel do not print what a child pays, so the adult prices do not show what a family would pay. The start times are those of January departures.

Where these figures come from
  • Reindeer sleigh: Two hours under blankets behind reindeer, with a fire halfway, open to all ages.
  • Horse sleigh: An hour and a half in a sleigh behind two Finnhorses, stopping to watch the sky, open to all ages.
  • Sleigh to a camp: A sleigh pulled by the guide's snowmobile to a camp spot away from lights, with hot drinks.
  • Van chase: Three hours in a people carrier that drives towards clear sky, with pick-up near the village.

The four evenings below keep a child seated for the whole outing.

Behind reindeer or horses

Kakslauttanen, the resort south of the village, runs two evening sleigh rides open to all ages. On the reindeer sleigh the family sits under blankets for two hours with a stop at an open fire; the horse sleigh is shorter, with about 45 minutes of riding behind two Finnhorses. Overalls are lent at the farm or the stables.1

A camp, or a van

Wilderness Hotel Saariselkä tows a sleigh behind the guide’s snowmobile to a camp away from the lights, and sells child places from four.2 Arctic Timetravels’ van does not stay in one place: it drives towards a break in the cloud and takes children from the age of one.3

The tours for adults, on snowshoes or by snowmobile, are compared on the best northern lights tour in Saariselkä.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

What can the children do if the night is cloudy?

The resort has a planetarium showing a half-hour film about the northern lights, open to all ages and shown in fifteen languages, with shows starting in the morning and afternoon. It is no substitute for the sky, but it explains what the children are hoping to see and fills a day when the forecast is poor.

Do the resort's sleighs collect us from the village?

No. The transfer the resort includes runs from and to the resort itself, and guests meet at its reception, so a family staying in the village has to get there first. The van tour picks up within fifteen kilometres of the village centre. The hotel's camp evening does not list transport, so ask when booking.

Is the aurora guaranteed on any of these?

No, and none of the four offers money back if it stays away. The sleighs are an evening out in the forest with a chance of the lights, and the van improves the chance by driving to clearer sky. If a guarantee matters to you, the tours that offer one take nobody under twelve, so they are not an option with young children.

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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