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Ice fishing in Levi: which guided trip to book

A pike lying on snowy ice next to a round, freshly drilled ice fishing hole

Illustration photo: a pike beside an ice hole, not caught on one of the trips compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Pick the trip for the weather you can stand, because the fishing itself is much the same on all of them. If the group feels the cold, book the one with a heated shelter and hot soup. If the price matters most, the cheapest trip includes gear and transport and is honest that fish are not guaranteed. For a quieter lake and a few photos, pay a little more for a small-group trip further out. Check the age limits before you book, since they differ from trip to trip.

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.

WonderlaplandKeo WildernessBeyond ArcticPolar Star Travel
Price €80 – the lowest price per person €89 €105 €113
Length 3 h 2.5 h 3.5 h 3 h
Keeping warm Hot drink Heated shelter, salmon soup Hot drinks Snack and drink
Group limit Not stated 8 8 Not stated
Age limits on the listing Not stated From 6, up to 65 Not stated From 7
Also in the ticket Pick-up Pick-up, fire to cook your catch Pick-up, a few photos Transport

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All four price per person and include fishing gear and a guide. Only price is marked: a longer trip is not a better one on a cold day, and a heated hut is worth more to some groups than to others.

Where these figures come from
  • Wonderlapland: The plain version at the lowest price: gear, transport, a guide and a hot drink, and nothing more. Its listing is the only one to say outright that a catch is not guaranteed.
  • Keo Wilderness: The comfortable version: a heated wooden shelter to retreat to, hot salmon soup and a fire to cook your catch. The shortest trip here.
  • Beyond Arctic: The longest trip, in a group of eight at most, to a lake about twenty minutes' drive out with a guide who photographs as well as fishes. A good choice for adults who want the scenery as much as the fish.
  • Polar Star Travel: The dearest of the four, fishing at a small village north of Levi rather than a lake near the resort. For visitors who want to see a quieter corner of Lapland as well as the ice.

Ice fishing asks little of a visitor. There is no licence to carry and no machine or team to control, and none of the four listings below asks for any fitness. That is why the guided trips look alike in the listings, and why the real choice is about everything around the fishing.

All four trips in the table include gear, a guide and transport from the resort. They differ on how you stay warm, how many share the lake with you, and who is allowed to come.

If the cold is the worry

Keo Wilderness. Its trip is built around a heated wooden shelter and a pot of hot salmon soup, with a fire where you can cook what you catch. It is the shortest trip of the four, which in hard frost is a feature. The catch is the age rule: its listing sets the limits more tightly than any other here, so check it against your group before anything else.

If the price matters most

Wonderlapland is the cheapest trip and includes what the others include: gear, transport and a guide. What you give up is comfort, with a hot drink rather than a shelter or a meal. It is the right choice for anyone who wants to try it once and has warm clothes of their own.

If you want a quiet lake

Beyond Arctic caps its group at eight, drives about twenty minutes out to its lake, and sends a guide who takes a few photographs of the trip. It is the longest outing here and the one that feels least like a resort activity.

Polar Star Travel goes further in another sense, north of Levi to a small village, and it is the dearest trip of the four. It suits visitors who would rather fish at a village than beside the resort.

For what an ice fishing trip is like minute by minute, and what the gear list means, ice fishing in Lapland covers the whole region. The Levi destination page has the rest of the resort.

Which trip takes a child of which age, from one year to twelve, and what a family of four pays, is set out in family ice fishing in Levi.

What the snowmobile ride adds to the price, and what each trip costs per hour, is worked out in ice fishing prices in Levi.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Will we actually catch anything?

Maybe, and one operator says so plainly. Wonderlapland's listing states that catching fish is not guaranteed and that fishing requires patience, which is true of every trip on this page even where the listing is silent. Treat the fish as a bonus and the quiet, the drilling and the hot drink as what you are paying for. If a child in the group will only be happy with a fish, set that expectation before you leave rather than on the ice.

Can we cook what we catch?

On the Keo Wilderness trip, yes: its listing includes an outdoor fireplace where you can cook your fish if you want to, alongside the salmon soup it serves anyway. The other three listings do not mention it. If eating your own catch is part of the appeal, book Keo or ask the operator in advance, since a fire is not something a guide can improvise on a lake without having planned for it.

Do we need our own winter clothing?

Probably, unless you ask. Wonderlapland asks guests to bring warm and thermal clothing, and Keo Wilderness offers thermal suits on request. Beyond Arctic and Polar Star Travel do not say. Sitting still on the ice is colder than walking or riding, so ordinary ski clothing may not be enough on a very cold day. If you have no proper winter gear, ask the operator what it lends before you book, or hire a set in the resort.

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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