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Husky safari in Hetta: which day safari to book

A dog team pulling a sled across a frozen lake at dusk, with a low fell and a yellow sky behind them

Illustration photo: a dog team on lake ice, not from one of the safaris compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For a first try, book Silent Landscapes: six kilometres, about 45 minutes actually driving, 95 euros for an adult and 70 for a child. If you want a proper outing, Frozen Lakes crosses Lake Ounasjärvi over twelve kilometres with about two hours of mushing at 160 euros, and Magic of Winter doubles the distance again for 205. A sleigh to yourself, or one a guide drives, costs 170, 260 or 350 instead.

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.

Silent Landscapes, 6 kmFrozen Lakes, 12 kmMagic of Winter, 20 km
Adult, shared sleigh €95 – the lowest adult price €160 €205
Child €70 – the lowest child price €100 €135
Solo or guide-driven sleigh €170 €260 €350
Distance 6 km 12 km 20 km
Time mushing c. 45 min c. 2 h c. 2.5 h
Total duration c. 1.5 h 2.5–3 h c. 3.5 h

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest adult price and the lowest child price. The adult price is for a shared sleigh, which means two guests who take turns driving. The child prices on the two longer safaris are for ages three to twelve; the short safari's table gives a child price without an age range.

Where these figures come from
  • Silent Landscapes, 6 km: The short safari, and the only one whose driving time is under an hour. The cheapest way to find out whether you like standing on the runners.
  • Frozen Lakes, 12 km: Twice the distance and more than twice the driving time, across Lake Ounasjärvi. The middle choice, and the one most visitors mean by a husky safari.
  • Magic of Winter, 20 km: The longest day trip, at twenty kilometres, though its mushing time is only half an hour more than the twelve-kilometre safari.

Hetta Huskies sells three day safaris from the village, and its price table answers the question most kennels leave open: how long you actually spend driving.

Distance and driving time

Silent Landscapes runs six kilometres in about an hour and a half, of which roughly 45 minutes is mushing. Frozen Lakes runs twelve kilometres across Lake Ounasjärvi in two and a half to three hours, with about two hours of driving. Magic of Winter runs twenty kilometres in about three and a half hours, with about two and a half hours mushing. Note the shape of that: the longest trip adds eight kilometres to the middle one but only half an hour on the runners.

What each place costs

An adult pays 95, 160 or 205 euros for a shared sleigh, a child 70, 100 or 135, and a sleigh you do not share, whether you drive it alone or a guide drives it, costs 170, 260 or 350. The solo price is roughly one and three quarter times the adult price on every one of the three, which is worth knowing if you are a single traveller rather than a pair.

Choosing by what you want

If the question is whether you enjoy driving a team, the six-kilometre safari answers it for the least money. If you want the day to feel like an expedition, twelve kilometres across a frozen lake is the trip that reads that way, and the twenty-kilometre safari is for people who already know they like it. Two shorter options exist for small children or early-season visits: a two-kilometre taster at 60 euros and a five-kilometre early-season tour at 95.

The aurora version of the same dogs is compared on northern lights in Enontekiö, and the snowmobile trips from the same company on snowmobile safari in Enontekiö.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

What does a shared sleigh mean in practice?

Two guests to a sleigh, one standing on the runners and one sitting in front, swapping partway so that both drive. That is what the adult price buys. If you would rather not share, the same table gives a price for a solo sleigh or one a guide drives, which runs from 170 euros on the six-kilometre trip to 350 on the twenty-kilometre one.

What do children pay?

Seventy euros on the short safari, and 100 or 135 on the two longer ones, where the price table names ages three to twelve. A child of that age travels as the passenger rather than the driver, so a family of two adults and two children will usually need two sleighs. Work the total out before you choose the longest trip: four places on Magic of Winter come to 680 euros.

Are there shorter options than six kilometres?

Yes. The same page lists a two-kilometre Taster Ride at 60 euros and an early-season tour of five kilometres at 95, both shorter than Silent Landscapes and useful if you are travelling with small children or arriving before the trails are fully open. Neither is a full safari, and the driving time on them is short.

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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