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Private northern lights tour in Ivalo: per person, per group or on request

Two headlights shining through falling snow on a dark, snow-covered road with tyre tracks, a few street lights in the distance

Illustration photo: headlights on a snowy road at night, not a tour described here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For two people a private tour rarely pays: a shared hunt that drives to clear sky does the same job for less. For a family or a group of four, the tour priced per group is the one to look at, since the price is split between you. If you are staying in Ivalo and want the simplest booking, ask the local safari company for its private minibus evening, which collects you and can move to another night if the weather is bad.

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.

Ivalo SafarisArctic ToursLapland Private Tours
Price as printed Not stated €230 per person €860 per group up to 4
Two people Not stated €460 – the lowest total for two €860
Four people Not stated €920 €860 – the lowest total for four
Duration 3 h 4.5 h 5 h
If the weather is bad Change the date or cancel free Not stated Not stated

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest total for two and the lowest total for four. Totals multiply the printed price for two and for four people. The local company prints no price; ask it for one before comparing.

Where these figures come from
  • Ivalo Safaris: A private minibus evening from your accommodation in Ivalo or Saariselkä, with hot drinks at one of the company's spots and warm jackets if needed.
  • Arctic Tours: A private tour with photographs, priced per person, the longest of the per-person options on the booking platform.
  • Lapland Private Tours: A five-hour private hunt priced for the whole group, up to four people, collecting in Saariselkä, Ivalo or Inari.

Going private on an aurora hunt buys you the pace and the stops, not a better sky, so the question is mostly how the price is worked out.

Per person or per group

A tour priced per person costs a couple twice the fare and a family four times it. A tour priced per group costs the same for one as for four, so it is poor value for two and good value when the car is full. On the booking platform, the per-group hunt comes out cheaper than the per-person one only at four people.

The local option

The safari company in the village sells a private minibus evening that collects you from your accommodation, in Ivalo or in Saariselkä, and takes you to one of its spots with hot drinks. It lets you change the date or cancel free if the weather is bad.1 Its price is not published, so write and ask for one with your group size and dates.

Shared hunts, which cost a couple less, are compared on the best northern lights tour in Ivalo.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Is the pay-if-seen hunt private?

No. It runs for small groups of two to eight people, so you may share the van with others. It is still worth comparing with a private tour, because its structure protects you from paying in full for a cloudy night, which none of the private tours offers in the same way. A family of four would fill half of the van on its own.

Do private tours collect from Saariselkä?

The local company's private minibus evening says it can be joined from the Ivalo area and from Saariselkä, and the per-group tour on the booking platform names Saariselkä, Ivalo and Inari in its title. The per-person tour lists pickup without naming places in our record. Say where you are staying when you ask, because the driving time comes out of the evening.

What happens if it is cloudy on a private tour?

It depends on who you book. The local company says that if the weather is bad the date can be changed or the tour cancelled free of charge. Our record of the two tours on the booking platform does not show their terms, and a free cancellation up to a day before would not help on the night itself. Ask each what happens if the forecast turns in the afternoon.

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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