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Ice fishing in Ivalo: which Lake Inari trip to book

An aerial view of a small wooded island covered in snow, surrounded by the white ice of a frozen lake

Illustration photo: an island in a frozen lake from above, not Lake Inari.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Choose by what you want from the morning. For the fishing itself, book Arctic Guides: a local fisherman shows several winter methods by a fire, and it is the cheapest of the three. For a fuller outing with reindeer and a home-made lunch, book Ivalo Safaris, and check both platforms on your date because the same trip was cheaper on Viator. Bring your own winter clothes to Arctic Guides unless you ask ahead.

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.

Arctic Guides: with a local fishermanIvalo Safaris on ViatorIvalo Safaris on GetYourGuide
Price €142 – the lowest price per person €155 €165
On the ice Several winter methods Rod and bait Rod and bait
Food Warm drinks by a fire Home-made lunch Home-made lunch
Reindeer No Yes, on an island Yes, on an island
Winter clothing On request Included Included
Getting there Meet at K-Market; car to the harbour Hotel pickup in Ivalo Hotel pickup in Ivalo; Saariselkä extra
Youngest 10 Not stated Not stated

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All three price per person, last about four hours and can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before. Only the price is marked.

Where these figures come from
  • Arctic Guides: with a local fisherman: A local fisherman shows several winter fishing methods and lets you try traditional ice fishing, with warm drinks by a fire. The cheapest; clothing on request.
  • Ivalo Safaris on Viator: Rod and bait on Lake Inari, reindeer on the owners' island and a home-made lunch, with hotel pickup and thermal clothing. Starts at ten, at most ten guests.
  • Ivalo Safaris on GetYourGuide: The same Ivalo Safaris trip at a higher price on the day checked. This listing offers pickup from Saariselkä, Kakslauttanen and Kiilopää at extra cost.

Ice fishing from Ivalo is sold by two companies. Both take you onto Lake Inari by sleigh behind a snowmobile, but they spend the morning differently.

Fishing with a fisherman

Arctic Guides meets you at the K-Market car park in Ivalo, drives you to a small harbour and takes you across the ice by sleigh. A local fisherman shows several of the methods used on the lake in winter and lets you try traditional ice fishing yourself, with warm drinks by a fire. Winter clothing is not included, and the trip is not for children under ten.

Reindeer and lunch

Ivalo Safaris is a family company whose owners live on the Lake Inari island the trip visits. It collects you from your hotel, lends thermal clothing and shoes, and gives you a rod and bait on the ice, reindeer to feed on the island and a home-made lunch with hot berry juice.

The trip is listed on two platforms. On the day we checked, Viator started at 155 euros and GetYourGuide at 165, for the same four hours, so check both on your date.

If you are staying elsewhere

The trips from Saariselkä, about 25 minutes from Ivalo Airport, are compared in the Saariselkä ice fishing guide. Inari village, about fifty minutes from the airport, has shorter sessions of its own in the Inari ice fishing guide.1

How an afternoon on the ice goes, and what the kit lists mean, is in ice fishing in Lapland. The rest of the village is on the Ivalo destination page.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can we borrow winter clothing from Arctic Guides?

Ask when you book. The listing marks winter clothing as not included but available on request, and does not say whether that costs extra. You sit on the open ice for a few hours, so if you have no Arctic layers of your own, settle this before the day rather than at the meeting point.

Do the two Ivalo Safaris listings differ?

Only in price and in what they print. Both describe the same four-hour trip with a sleigh ride, reindeer and lunch, and both allow free cancellation until a day before. The Viator listing gives a start at ten in the morning and a group of at most ten; the GetYourGuide listing prints neither, but offers pickup from Saariselkä at extra cost.

What if we want a shorter session?

Look at Inari village, about fifty minutes from Ivalo Airport by car against ten for Ivalo village. Fishing guides there sell two hours on the ice, one with sonar and a tent on cold days, without hotel pickup. The Inari ice fishing guide compares them.

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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