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Northern lights in Ylläs: which evening to book

A single green arc of aurora rising over a low snowy hill with a lone tree on the skyline

Illustration photo: the aurora over a snowy hill, not taken on one of the evenings compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Book the evening you would enjoy without the aurora. With small children, the fireside evening is the cheapest and takes every age, but runs one night a week. For walking, the snowshoe outing goes six nights a week from twelve years. For a dinner out, the snowcat ride to the fell-top restaurant is the choice, and you make your own way to the ski resort. For something unrepeatable, the lake float needs no swimming, only a height of 120 centimetres.

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.

Lapland Safaris: fire nightLapland Safaris: snowshoesSnowcat dinnerSafartica: ice float
Price €70 – the lowest price per person €101 €129 €138
What the evening is Fire, sausages and stories Snowshoe walk Buffet dinner on the fell top Floating in a frozen lake
Duration 2 h 30 min 2 h 30 min 2.5 h 2.5 h
Runs Tue 20:00 Mon–Sat 19:30 Not stated Not stated
Who can go All ages 12 and over Not stated At least 120 cm tall
Getting there Transfer included Not stated From the ski resort Transfer included
Cancelling €25 from 72 h, full price within 71 h €25 from 72 h, full price within 71 h Free up to 24 h before Free up to 24 h before

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All four price per person. Only the price is marked: the evenings are different in kind, and none of them can promise the aurora.

Where these figures come from
  • Lapland Safaris: fire night: A short drive out to a fire with sausages and marshmallows, outfit included. The cheapest and the only one that says it takes every age, but only on Tuesdays.
  • Lapland Safaris: snowshoes: A snowshoe walk in the dark with a hot drink, six nights a week, for ages twelve and over. The outing that feels like a night in the forest rather than a stop.
  • Snowcat dinner: A snowcat up Ylläs fell to a buffet at the fell-top restaurant, watching the sky on the way. A dinner first and an aurora outing second; you get yourself to the ski resort.
  • Safartica: ice float: Lying on your back in a frozen lake in a rescue suit, looking up. Transfers included and no swimming needed; the one limit is a height of 120 centimetres.

The aurora evenings at Ylläs do not chase the sky. Each is a short outing near the villages, built around something to do while you wait, so the useful question is which one you would enjoy on a cloudy night.

With small children

Lapland Safaris’ fireside evening is the family one: a short drive to a fire, sausages and marshmallows, stories about the northern lights, and an outfit lent for the cold. It takes every age and is the cheapest here, but it runs only on Tuesday evenings.

For a walk

Lapland Safaris’ snowshoe outing goes out six evenings a week with snowshoes and a thermal outfit included. It is recommended from twelve, and it is the one that keeps you moving, which matters on a cold night.

For a dinner out

The snowcat evening takes you from the Ylläs ski resort in Ylläsjärvi up the fell, about fifteen minutes each way, to a buffet at the Ylläskammi restaurant. Drinks beyond the welcome drink are extra, and the listing arranges no pickup.

For something you will not do at home

Safartica’s float puts you in a rescue suit in a warm cabin, then on your back in a hole in the lake ice, looking up. It includes transfers and needs no swimming, only a height of 120 centimetres.

Why the hour matters more than the place for the aurora is explained in the Rovaniemi northern lights guide, and all of it applies here. The snowmobile evenings are listed below, and the rest of the resort is on the Ylläs destination page.

What each evening costs per hour, and which one a family with small children can book, is worked out in northern lights tour prices at Ylläs.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Is there a northern lights tour by snowmobile?

Three. Snow Fun Safaris sells a two-and-a-half-hour ride with a wilderness hut stop at 145 euros, not for children under seven; Kylmämaa sells three hours with transfers at 163 euros; and Lapland Safaris sells three hours at 182 euros, for over-fifteens. All three are listed below the table. Each needs a licensed adult driver.

What happens on the ice float if we cannot swim?

Nothing different. Safartica's listing says no swimming skills are needed because the suit keeps you on the surface, and that everyone is instructed before stepping into the water. The limit is height: 120 centimetres. The suits are put on in a warm cabin.

Is anything included beyond the dinner on the snowcat evening?

A welcome drink and the buffet. Other drinks are extra. The listing starts the snowcat at the Ylläs ski resort in Ylläsjärvi and gives the ride up as about fifteen minutes each way; it lists no pickup, so plan how you reach the ski resort, by the ski bus, a taxi or your own car.

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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