Private reindeer tour in Kilpisjärvi: what each route costs you
Illustration photo: a reindeer eating in winter, not at the visits described here.
The short answer
For a private visit with a known price, book the safari company's herder evening and add its 660-euro private fee to the 95 euros a head. For a private visit at a working family farm in the village, ask the farm, which arranges private and tailor-made visits by request. A couple should know that the safari company's evening needs four people, so a quiet week may turn it private whether they wanted that or not.
In Kilpisjärvi a private reindeer visit can be bought at a printed price, or arranged by asking.
The printed price
The safari company’s two-hour herder evening costs 95 euros a head, and for a private tour it adds a fee of 660 euros to the normal price and tailors the schedule to the group.1 For a small party the fee is the larger part of the bill.
The farm that arranges it
The Sámi family farm in the middle of the village arranges private family, group and tailor-made visits by request, and publishes no private price.2 Its ordinary visits are priced per person, so ask what a private version adds before choosing between the two.
Which to ask first
A family with children under eight can only use the farm. A group that wants a fixed figure before it commits can only use the safari company. Anyone else should ask the farm as well, because its answer may come in above or below the safari company’s printed figure, and only the reply will tell. Both visits are compared for everyone on best reindeer tour in Kilpisjärvi.
Questions people ask
What happens if only two of us book the safari company's evening?
Its terms say tours need a minimum number of customers, and for this evening the minimum is four. If fewer book, the company contacts customers at the latest the day before and offers either cancellation with a full refund or a private tour at extra cost. A couple therefore either loses the evening or pays for privacy they did not set out to buy.
Does the private fee change the time of the visit?
The company says the private tour's schedule is tailored individually, rather than fixed at its usual half past four to half past six. That is useful for a family that cannot make an early evening start, and it is one of the few things the fee buys besides having the herder and the reindeer to yourselves.
How big a group can the family farm take?
The farm says it welcomes couples, families and groups of up to 50 guests and that private family, group and tailor-made visits are available by request. For a large party travelling together, that makes the farm the natural place to ask first, and it is within walking distance of the village hotels, so nobody has to arrange a coach.