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Walking in Utsjoki: which guided walk to book

A single walker crossing a wide snow slope below a low fell, a line of tracks trailing behind them

Illustration photo: a walker on open snow, not from one of the walks compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

If anyone in the party needs an easy route, book the two-hour nature walk at 80 euros: the guide picks the trail to suit the group and it can be made accessible for a pushchair or a wheelchair. For deep snow, the three-hour snowshoe tour at 120 euros lends the snowshoes and walks two to three of those hours. For height and distance, the four-hour fell hike, also 120, covers five to ten kilometres with a few hundred metres of climb.

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.

Nature walk, 2 hSnowshoe tour, 3 hFell hike, 4 h
Price €80 – the lowest price per person €120 €120
Listed duration 2 h 3 h 4 h
Time actually walking 2 h 2–3 h 3–4 h
Distance Not stated Not stated 5–10 km
Pickup radius 5 km 10 km 10 km
Ruled out Nobody named Wheelchair users, mobility impairments The same, plus low fitness

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All three are guided by the same company, price per person and include hot drinks and small snacks. The walking row reports the hours the listing puts on the trail rather than the length of the booking.

Where these figures come from
  • Nature walk, 2 h: The route is chosen for the group on the day, and the operator says it can be adapted for a pushchair or a wheelchair. The one anyone can join.
  • Snowshoe tour, 3 h: Two to three hours on snowshoes, lent for the tour, on the fells or by a frozen river. The way to move through deep snow without sinking.
  • Fell hike, 4 h: Five to ten kilometres and a few hundred metres of climb in the Paistunturi wilderness, at the group's pace. The only one with a distance.

Three guided walks are sold around Utsjoki, all by the same company, and they are separated less by scenery than by who is able to come.

The easy one

Two hours at 80 euros, with the route chosen for each group according to what the guests want and can manage. The operator says it can be tailored for a pushchair or a wheelchair, which no other walk here offers, and that no hiking experience is needed. Pickup within five kilometres of the village is included, and there are hot drinks and small snacks on the way.

The one for deep snow

Three hours at 120 euros, of which two to three are spent walking on snowshoes lent for the tour. Snowshoes strap onto ordinary winter boots, and the listing explains why they are necessary at all: from November to April the Paistunturi fells are deep enough that feet sink without them. The group is capped at seven, pickup stretches to ten kilometres, and neither meals nor winter clothing are included.

The one with a distance

Four hours at the same 120 euros, three to four of them on the trail, covering five to ten kilometres with several hundred metres of climb in the same wilderness area. It is the only walk here that publishes a distance, and the only one that names fitness as a condition. If nobody collects you, the meeting point is the car park of the Uulan Säästö shop in the village.

The aurora evening from the same company is on northern lights in Utsjoki, and the short farm visit on reindeer farm in Utsjoki.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

How far does each one go?

Only the fell hike gives a distance: five to ten kilometres with an elevation gain of several hundred metres, walked at the group's pace over three to four hours. The snowshoe tour says two to three hours of walking without a distance, because snow depth decides it, and the nature walk gives neither, since the route is chosen for each group on the day.

Do they collect us from the accommodation?

Yes, within limits that differ. The nature walk includes pickup within five kilometres of Utsjoki village; the snowshoe tour and the fell hike both stretch that to ten, but ask you to arrange it at least a day ahead, and the hike wants an email 48 hours before if you need transport to the trailhead. Otherwise you meet at the car park of the Uulan Säästö shop.

What do they feed you?

Hot drinks and small snacks on all three, with a wilderness lunch available on the fell hike for an extra cost. None of them includes a proper meal in the price, so bring your own water and something more substantial if you are walking for four hours, which the hike's own kit list recommends as well.

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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