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Family snowmobile safari in Saariselkä

A small child in brown lace-up boots sitting on a sled between the legs of an adult, both in beige trousers, seen from above with no faces

Illustration photo: an adult and a child on a sled, not on any of the trips compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With a child under four, book one of the Lapland Safaris snowmobile trips: they take children from two, seat them in the guide's sled, and a child of two or three is listed at no charge. Older children pay about half the adult fare until they reach 140 cm, when they may ride behind a parent at the adult price. Avoid the first week of January if the budget is tight, and leave the trips with an age limit of four, seven or eighteen to families with older children.

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.

Lapland Safaris: northern lightsLapland Safaris: ice fishingLapland Safaris: reindeer farmSafartica: 1 hour
Adult price €175 €210 €214 €94 – the lowest adult price
Child fare, 4–14 €87 – the lowest child fare shown €105 €107 Not stated
Children of 2 and 3 €0 €0 €0 Not stated
Where a child sits Guide's sled Guide's sled Guide's sled Guide's sledge
A child over 140 cm Behind an adult, adult price Behind an adult, adult price Behind an adult, adult price Not stated
Length of the trip 3 h, from 8 pm 4 h 3 h 1 h
Two adults, a child of six and a child of three €437 €525 €535 Not stated

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest adult price and the lowest child fare shown. Lapland Safaris' child fares appear on its pages only when a child is added to the participants, and the family totals use them. Safartica's listing shows one price and takes children from four, so no family total is given.

Where these figures come from
  • Lapland Safaris: northern lights: The evening trip, from 8 pm, and the cheapest child fare here at 87 euros. On 2 and 5 January the same family places cost more than later in the month.
  • Lapland Safaris: ice fishing: Four hours out to a lake by snowmobile, the longest of the four for a small child in the sled. Early January dates are dearer here too.
  • Lapland Safaris: reindeer farm: A short reindeer ride at the farm on top of the snowmobile trip, which gives a child something to do besides sitting in the sled. The same price on every January date we saw.
  • Safartica: 1 hour: The shortest and lowest adult price, a single hour with children from four in the guide's sledge. Its listing, as we recorded it, shows no child fare.

Saariselkä has more snowmobile trips than trips that will take a small child. The ones that do all put the child in the same place, a sled pulled behind the guide’s snowmobile, and they differ in what that seat costs and in the age or height at which the rules change.

From two years old

Lapland Safaris’ three snowmobile trips, to look for the northern lights, to fish on a lake and to a reindeer farm, take children from two. A child of two or three is listed at 0 euros, and a child from four to fourteen pays about half the adult fare: 87 euros in the evening, 105 on the fishing trip and 107 to the farm. Two adults with a six-year-old and a three-year-old pay 437, 525 and 535 euros.

Safartica’s one-hour ride takes children from four in the sledge behind the guide, as does its two-hour ride up to the age of twelve. Neither listing, as we recorded them, shows a child fare, so ask before you book.

When height sets the fare

On the Lapland Safaris trips a child taller than 140 cm may sit on the snowmobile behind a parent instead of in the sled, but pays the adult fare to do so. For a tall ten-year-old that is 175 euros instead of 87 in the evening. Lapland Welcome uses the same line the other way round: on its tundra safari children under 140 cm travel in the guide’s sledge, and on its northern lights safari a child must be at least 140 cm to ride as a passenger at all.

Which trips leave small children out

Safartica’s evening ride with a fire picnic is not for children under four, Lapponia Tours’ ice fishing safari not for children under seven, and Northwild’s small-group ride has an age limit of 18. None of the trips here takes a child under two, and on Lapland Safaris the driver must be 18 with a driving licence valid in Finland.

The first week of January

On Lapland Safaris’ January 2027 calendar, one adult with a four-to-fourteen child and a toddler cost 262 euros on the evening trip from 7 January, but 306 on the 2nd and the 5th. The fishing trip showed 367 euros on the 1st, 5th and 6th against 315 from the 8th. The reindeer farm trip showed the same 321 euros on every date we saw.

The same trips compared for adults, on driving time and route, are on the snowmobile safari in Saariselkä page, and the fishing trips on ice fishing in Saariselkä. The rest of the resort is on the Saariselkä destination page.

What a minute in the sleigh costs on each reindeer ride, and what children and babies pay, is worked out in reindeer safari prices in Saariselkä.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can one parent drive alone with the child in the sled?

On Lapland Safaris' evening trip, yes, at a price: each snowmobile is shared by two guests taking turns, and riding alone is a supplement of 50 euros a person. The child still rides in the guide's sled. We did not find the supplement on the ice fishing and reindeer farm pages, so ask for it there before you book if one of you would rather not share.

Can the operator turn a small child away on the day?

Lapland Safaris says it can. Its pages reserve the right to refuse small children for safety reasons, naming demanding weather or trail conditions as examples. A booking with a two- or three-year-old is therefore not a certainty in a hard frost or a storm, so plan something indoors for that day rather than counting on the sled.

Can a pregnant parent come along?

Not on the Lapland Safaris trips. Their pages say snowmobile programmes are not suitable for pregnant women, citing the physical strain, the vibration of uneven tracks and the exhaust fumes. If a pregnant parent had hoped to ride in the sled with a small child, plan for the other parent to go alone.

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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