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Private northern lights tour in Inari: asking, or driving south

Red tail-light trails along an empty road at night, with a green aurora glow behind a row of thin pines

Illustration photo: a road under the aurora at night, not in Inari.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

If a private evening matters, email Wilderness Hotel Inari first: it arranges most of its activities privately on request, so your party could have the hunt by car to itself without leaving the village. If you need a price before you ask, the cheapest printed private aurora tour nearby is sold from Saariselkä for a group of up to four, and its title includes Inari. For a party of two or three, a shared evening from the village costs far less than either.

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.

Wilderness Hotel: on requestLapland Private ToursLapland WelcomeAuthentic Experiences
Price On request €860 up to 4 – the lowest printed price for a private group €1,290 up to 4 €2,190 up to 8
Per person, full group Not stated €215 €322.50 €273.75
Starts from Inari village Not stated Saariselkä Your accommodation
Length Not stated 5 h 5 h 7 h
Winter clothing Not stated Not provided Included Not stated

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest printed price for a private group. Group prices as each listing prints them; the per-person row divides by the largest group allowed. The three tours with a price are sold from Saariselkä, 56 minutes from Inari by car.

Where these figures come from
  • Wilderness Hotel: on request: The hotel in Inari village arranges most of its guided activities privately, husky and reindeer trips excepted, at rates it gives by email.
  • Lapland Private Tours: Five hours in a minibus for your group only, sold from Saariselkä with Ivalo and Inari in its title. Winter clothing is not provided.
  • Lapland Welcome: Five hours for up to four people from Saariselkä, with winter gear and guided photography, meeting at Kelotie 1 at nine in the evening.
  • Authentic Experiences: Seven hours for up to eight people, with food and drinks and pick-up from accommodation anywhere in Lapland.

Every aurora evening sold in Inari village is a shared one. There are two ways to have the night to yourselves.

Ask the hotel

Wilderness Hotel Inari describes its activities as guided group trips, but says most of them can be arranged privately; only those with huskies or reindeer cannot. Conditions and rates are given in advance by email.1 Its hunt by car, which drives further out when the sky is closed, is the one to ask about. Visit Inari’s pages mention no private evenings; the only private service it lists is an airport transfer.

Or pay a printed price in Saariselkä

The nearest private aurora tours with a price on them are sold from Saariselkä, 56 minutes south of Inari by car. The cheapest is 860 euros for up to four people in a minibus, and its title names Inari with Saariselkä and Ivalo.2 It does not provide winter clothing. The others cost more and add either winter gear and guided photography or a larger group and pick-up.

Against a shared evening

Four people pay 676 euros for four shared seats on Visit Inari’s hunt by car, less than the cheapest private tour, though the car is shared with whoever else has booked. For two, the cheapest private tour costs two and a half times as much as two shared seats.

What the shared evenings are like, and which suits which night, is on the best northern lights tour in Inari.

Tours you can book

Priced per person

Priced for the whole party

  • A private aurora night for up to four, by minibus

    Run by Lapland Private Tours

    From €860per group of up to 4

    Length5 h

    Listed on GetYourGuide · Price read Sep 22, 2026

    Book now on GetYourGuide(opens in a new tab)

  • A private aurora tour for up to four, winter gear included

    Run by Lapland Welcome

    From €1,290per group of up to 4

    Length5 h

    Listed on Viator · Price read Sep 22, 2026

    Book now on Viator(opens in a new tab)

  • A seven-hour private aurora hunt for up to eight

    Run by Authentic Experiences Rovaniemi

    From €2,190per group of up to 8

    Length7 h

    Listed on GetYourGuide · Price read Sep 22, 2026

    Book now on GetYourGuide(opens in a new tab)

Questions people ask

Can a private evening guarantee the aurora?

One private tour sold from Saariselkä, the one for up to eight with pick-up anywhere in Lapland, lists a guaranteed tour to view the northern lights, but its page does not say what the guarantee means or what you get back if the sky stays closed. Ask for those terms in writing before you pay. Visit Inari, in the village, says outright that a night without the aurora is not refunded.

Will a private tour collect us in Inari?

The tour for up to eight lists pick-up from accommodation anywhere in Lapland. The tour for up to four from Lapland Welcome meets at Kelotie 1 in Saariselkä, so from Inari you drive 56 minutes each way yourself. The cheapest one names Inari in its title beside Saariselkä and Ivalo but does not say where it collects; ask before booking.

Can we have a snowmobile evening to ourselves?

Partly. Visit Inari says it does not put different parties on one snowmobile, so the machine is yours, and a machine for one driver costs 40 euros more on its snowmobile evening; the group and the guide are still shared. Wilderness Hotel Inari's offer to arrange activities privately covers its snowmobile evening too, since it excludes only the husky and reindeer trips.

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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