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Private northern lights tour in Kemi

A low moon over a frozen shore at night, its light on the ice, with bare birches in the foreground and distant lights across the water

Illustration photo: moonlight over a frozen shore, not the sea off Ii or Kemi.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For a priced private evening, book the sleigh on the sea ice off Ii: it is tailored to your party alone, runs four hours and costs 280 euros for two, with 90 for each further adult and 50 for each child. To stay in Kemi, ask the safari company for its private ride on the frozen sea, which it runs on request without a published price. A ready-made private aurora tour with a car is sold in Posio, far inland.

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.

Iisland: private sleighSea Lapland: private ice ridee-Coach: shared hunt
Only your party Yes – sold as private to your party alone Yes – sold as private to your party alone No
Price for two adults €280 Not stated €198
Two adults, two children €380 Not stated Not stated
Length 4 h Not stated 3–5 h
Starts from Ii, by car Safari house, Kemi Your hotel

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: sold as private to your party alone. The shared hunt prints no child fare, so its family total is not stated. Only the private row is marked: price and length depend on what you want the evening to be.

Where these figures come from
  • Iisland: private sleigh: A snowmobile-drawn sleigh on the sea ice off Ii for your party alone, four hours with a fire and a guide, priced for two.
  • Sea Lapland: private ice ride: A private ride on the frozen sea from Kemi's safari house, run on request with no price on the operator's page.
  • e-Coach: shared hunt: The cheapest shared aurora evening in Kemi, shown for comparison: what four adult seats cost, with strangers in the car.

Nothing in Kemi is sold as a private aurora tour with a price on it. The two nearest private evenings both go out on the frozen sea.

The priced one, down the coast

A fishing and boating company in Ii runs a sleigh behind a snowmobile onto the sea ice after sunset, tailored to one party: 280 euros for two, then 90 for each further adult and 50 for each child, up to ten people.1 Two adults with two children pay 380 euros. Four adults pay 460, against 396 for four adult seats on Kemi’s cheapest shared evening, so the private sleigh is not the expensive choice it sounds. You drive to the start yourself, at one of two car parks by the shore in Ii, and in midwinter the trip sets off around eight.

The one to ask for, in Kemi

The safari company in Kemi lists a private ride on the frozen sea, run on request.2 Its page carries no price or length, and it is sold as a ride on the ice rather than an aurora evening, so ask for a late departure and a price for your party.

A private car hunt

For a guide and a car to yourselves that go wherever the sky is clear, the nearest ready-made offer is in Posio, 146 minutes inland, priced per group of up to eight. The shared evenings in Kemi are compared on the best northern lights tour in Kemi.

Tours you can book

Priced per person

Priced for the whole party

Price not stated

Questions people ask

What if the sea ice is not safe on our date?

The Ii trip depends on it. Its page says that when the ice will not take the sleigh the trip can be made on foot, and that in bad ice conditions it is cancelled or postponed; in autumn, before the sea freezes, it is sold only on foot. Ask what happens to your payment if it is called off, because the terms page covers cancellations by you, not by the weather.

Can we add a meal or borrow warm clothes?

On the Ii sleigh, yes, both for a charge per person: a soup lunch of vegetable soup, bread and a drink for 20 euros, or a campfire picnic with a sausage and a hot drink for 12, and winter overalls with waterproof boots for 30. Reindeer skins on the seats, helmets and a tripod with a phone adapter are already in the price.

What is the private ride on the frozen sea from Kemi?

The safari company lists a private ride on the frozen sea on request, with its details in a booking widget. A travel company reselling it describes a heated sled with a clear roof, pulled by a snowmobile, with a picnic inside, starting at the safari house. It is sold as a ride on the ice rather than an aurora tour, so ask whether it can run after dark on your date.

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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