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Northern lights in Salla: which evening to book

A faint green aurora over a flat snow-covered frozen lake, with a low line of forest on the far shore

Illustration photo: northern lights over a frozen lake, not in Salla.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For the simplest evening with children, book the sleigh ride from Sallatunturi: you sit in a sleigh, there is a fire and sausages in a hut, and children have their own price. If you want to drive, the moonlight snowmobile safari is shorter and livelier. For the quietest setting and a longer night, book the reindeer ride from Salla Wilderness Park to its swamp.

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.

Sallatunturin Tuvat: aurora sleighSallatunturin Tuvat: moonlight safariSalla Wilderness Park: reindeer ride
Price €89 – the lowest price shown €110 €116
How you travel Seated in a snowmobile sleigh You drive a snowmobile Reindeer sleigh
Duration 2 h 1.5 h 3 h
Fire and food Fire, sausages, hot drink Not stated Fire, hot berry juice
Child price €46, ages 3–11 Not stated €58, ages 3–12

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price shown. All three prices are per adult, the moonlight safari's for two sharing a snowmobile. Only the price is marked: none of these can promise the aurora.

Where these figures come from
  • Sallatunturin Tuvat: aurora sleigh: Two hours seated in a sleigh behind a snowmobile to a hut near Ruuhitunturi, away from lights, with a fire and sausages. Children aged 3–11 €46.
  • Sallatunturin Tuvat: moonlight safari: An hour and a half driving a snowmobile through the evening fell landscape, an easy ride for beginners. €139 riding alone.
  • Salla Wilderness Park: reindeer ride: Three hours behind reindeer tied in a line to a fire by a swamp that opens to the north, with hot berry juice or chocolate and warm clothing lent.

Three of the aurora evenings sold in Salla go out to a dark spot by their own means and wait there. The wilderness park’s hunt by bus and its snowshoe walk are compared on the best northern lights tour in Salla.

In a sleigh

Sallatunturin Tuvat’s sleigh ride takes you through the winter night in a sleigh pulled by a snowmobile to a hut near Ruuhitunturi fell, away from artificial light, with a hot drink and sausages by the fire. The company says plainly that the aurora is not guaranteed.

On a snowmobile

The same company’s moonlight safari puts you on a snowmobile of your own for an hour and a half through the evening fell landscape, an easy ride aimed at beginners, with the chance of the aurora overhead.

Behind reindeer

Salla Wilderness Park’s evening ride leaves its reindeer park after dark through forest and swamp, with the reindeer tied in a line. It stops for a fire beside a swamp that opens to the north, away from any lights, with hot berry juice or chocolate.

Why timing matters more than place for the aurora is explained in the Rovaniemi northern lights guide. The rest of Salla is on the Salla destination page.

Which outings publish a child’s fare, and what two adults and two children pay on each, is set out in family snowmobile safari in Salla.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Do we need to drive anything?

Only on the moonlight safari, where you drive a snowmobile yourself, two to a machine or alone for more. On the sleigh ride you sit in a sleigh behind the guide's snowmobile, and on the reindeer ride the reindeer are tied in a line, so there is nothing to steer.

Can children come?

Yes on the sleigh ride and the reindeer ride, which both print a child fare, shown in the table. The moonlight safari gives no age limit or child's price, since children would ride on a snowmobile driven by an adult, so ask before booking. Dress children for sitting still in the cold for two hours or more; the wilderness park lends overalls, boots and mittens.

Which months are they sold?

The regional tourist site lists the sleigh ride and the reindeer ride from December to March, and the moonlight safari from December to April. Aurora evenings need darkness, so the spring weeks are short on night; book early in the season if the sky is the point of the trip.

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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