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Reindeer in Ylläs: what you can book

A pale reindeer standing on a red lead among snow-covered trees in a winter forest

Illustration photo: a reindeer in a snowy forest, not from one of the outings listed here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Book a sleigh ride if you want to ride behind the animals: the ones sold around Ylläs differ mainly in how long you sit in the sleigh and whether the transfer and clothing are included. Book the reindeer walk if you would rather spend the time beside a reindeer than behind it. The antler workshop is a craft session for a cold day, not an animal outing.

Reindeer are part of the landscape around Ylläs, and the outings sold with them come in three kinds: a sleigh ride, a walk beside the animals and a craft workshop with antler.

Sleigh rides

Ylläs Experiences runs short rides at its farm in Konijänkkä and at a remote farm,1 North Wind Lapland a two-kilometre ride near Ylläsjärvi with the transfer and clothing included,2 and Snow Fun Safaris a three-kilometre ride into the wilderness from Äkäslompolo.3 They are compared on the best reindeer tour in Ylläs, and what a family pays for each is on reindeer safari prices in Ylläs.

The reindeer walk

Jänkä Resort’s outing is a slow one. A small group of at most eight meets the reindeer, two guests share one animal, and you walk it along a forest trail for about a kilometre to a glass igloo in the wilderness, where you make Finnish pancakes over the fire. It lasts two hours and costs 109 euros per person.

Walking beside the animal gives more time with it than sitting behind it, and for some visitors that is the point.

The antler workshop

Arctic Artefact’s workshop in Äkäslompolo is a craft session: two and a half hours making two magnets on reindeer antler, with materials and juice included. It suits a cold or stormy day.

What a reindeer farm visit usually includes, and what a sleigh ride adds, is in the Rovaniemi reindeer farm guide. The rest of the resort is on the Ylläs destination page.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can small children do the reindeer walk?

The listing prints no age limit, and the walk is short, about a kilometre before the glass igloo. Two guests share one reindeer, so a young child walks with a parent. Ask the operator about pushchairs and very young children, because the trail is a forest path in snow.

Can we visit a reindeer farm without booking an outing?

Not the farms the Äkäslompolo safari company uses: it says they can only be visited as part of an organised group, and Poro Puolitaival, the family farm whose rides it sells, takes no walk-in guests. Book one of the outings instead, and ask the other companies if you hope to arrive by car.

What do you make at the antler workshop?

Two personalised magnets on reindeer antler, in a two-and-a-half-hour session with materials, juice and an instructor. The listing says it is not suitable for children under five. It is a good wet-weather or cold-snap outing rather than a reindeer encounter.

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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