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Reindeer safari price in Ivalo: what each outing costs a family

A stack of split logs burning brightly on the snow at night, with dark trees behind

Illustration photo: a log fire in the snow, not at a place described here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

The herders' morning is the cheapest hour with reindeer at Ivalo, and it includes the pickup, but a family pays four full fares unless the company offers a child fare when asked. The farm near the village is the cheapest outing for a family, because children pay less and the youngest nothing; its shortest visit costs a family of four less than one adult place with the herders.

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.

Herders' morningHerders' eveningFarm, two hoursFarm, half an hour
Adult €199 €120 €157 €40 – the lowest adult price
Child 4–12 Not stated Not stated €110 €25
Per hour, adult €49.75 – the lowest price per hour €60 €78.50 €80
Family of four €796 €480 €534 €130 – the lowest family total
Pickup Ivalo included; €45 each way from Saariselkä On request Not stated Not stated

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest adult price, the lowest price per hour and the lowest family total. Families of four are two adults and two children from four to twelve; where no child fare is printed, all four pay the adult price. The cheapest visit is also the shortest.

Where these figures come from
  • Herders' morning: Four hours feeding a free-ranging herd with a herder's family, from eight, with the pickup from Ivalo included.
  • Herders' evening: Two hours with the same family's reindeer by the fire, with sausages and hot drinks.
  • Farm, two hours: Two hours in the farm's enclosure six kilometres from the village, with a fire in a hut and a child fare.
  • Farm, half an hour: The farm's short visit to photograph and feed the reindeer, the cheapest reindeer outing at Ivalo.

Reindeer at Ivalo are priced per person everywhere, so what separates the outings is how many hours the money buys and whether children pay less.

What an hour costs

By the hour, the herders’ morning is the cheapest: four hours with a working herd for less per hour than any other reindeer outing, with the pickup from Ivalo in the price.1 The farm’s visits cost more per hour and are shorter, which is the right trade for a small child.

What a family pays

The farm near the village is the only seller here that prints a child fare, for ages four to twelve, and it lets under-fours in free.2 That is why its half-hour visit is the cheapest family outing by far, and why the herders’ morning, with four full fares in our record, costs a family more than any other reindeer outing at Ivalo.

If you stay in Saariselkä

The herders include the pickup only from Ivalo; from Saariselkä or Inari it costs 45 euros in each direction. Ask whether that is per person or per booking, because for a family it is the difference between a small extra and a large one.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

What does the evening at the farm cost?

More than its daytime visit: 213 euros for an adult and 149 for a child from four to twelve, for two and a half hours, with under-fours free. The extra buys the chance of the northern lights over the enclosure, not more time with the reindeer. A family of four with children in that age range pays 724 euros, so choose it only if the sky matters.

Is there a minimum number of people?

At the farm, two participants for every visit, so a single traveller has to ask. The herders take groups of up to eight and print no minimum in our record. If you are travelling alone and want the farm, write to it: two paying places may be the price of going on your own.

Do the prices include food?

The herders' evening includes sausages and hot drinks by the fire, and its morning snacks. The farm serves coffee or tea in its hut on the two-hour and evening visits, but not on the half-hour one. Nobody here includes a full meal, so the outings are best fitted around lunch or dinner rather than instead of them.

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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