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Snowmobile safari in Saariselkä: which tour to book

A snowmobile with a tall windscreen parked on open, wind-packed snow, with a low treeless horizon under a pale sky

Illustration photo: a snowmobile on open snow, not from one of the tours compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For a first try, a one-hour ride is enough to find out whether you like it, and it lends you the clothing. For the open fells, book a three-hour tour or longer, because the short rides are described as trips around the village. Before you pay, check two lines: whether warm clothing is included, since one small-group tour provides none, and what the driver is liable for, because you can pay to reduce it on some tours and not on others.

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.

Safartica: 1 hourSafartica: 2 hoursNorthwild: small groupLapland Welcome: tundra
Price €94 – the lowest price per person €133 €179 €199
Driving About 45 min Not stated About 1.5 h with photo stops About 1.5–2 h
Length of the tour 1 h 2 h 3 h 3.5 h
Where the listing says it goes Around Saariselkä Hills and forest Forest, frozen lakes, open country Tundra, forest, frozen wetlands
Driver's liability for damage Up to €990; €150 with €20 cover Up to €990 Up to €990 €950; €200 with €50 waiver
Winter clothing Included Included Not provided Included
Children 4–14 in the guide's sledge 4–12 in the guide's sledge Adults only Under 140 cm in the guide's sledge

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All four price per person, with two people sharing a snowmobile unless you pay for solo driving. Only price is marked: a longer tour is not a better first ride.

Where these figures come from
  • Safartica: 1 hour: A first try: 45 minutes of driving around the village, clothing lent, and the cheapest ticket of the four. It also has the cheapest cover against damage, a 20-euro add-on that brings the driver's liability down to 150 euros.
  • Safartica: 2 hours: Twice the time over hills and through forest, with a hot-drink stop and a pick-up from your hotel. The listing does not say how much of the two hours is driving, and it offers no way to reduce the liability.
  • Northwild: small group: Six guests at most, adults only, with photos sent to you afterwards and a route across frozen lakes and open country. The catch is that it lends no thermal clothing, so it suits people who travelled with proper winter gear.
  • Lapland Welcome: tundra: The longest drive of the four, up to two hours, out onto the tundra with a snack by a fire. It is also the only one to sell solo driving openly at checkout.

The short rides and the long tours in Saariselkä are different trips, not longer and shorter versions of one. The listings describe the one-hour ride as a trip around the village and the two-hour ride as hills and forest. The three-hour tours are described as going further, across frozen lakes and wetlands and onto the open tundra.

For a first try

Safartica’s one-hour ride gives you 45 minutes of driving for the lowest price of the four, with clothing lent. It answers the question a first-timer actually has, whether they enjoy it, before they spend on a longer tour later in the week.

The two-hour ride from the same operator doubles the time and adds a hot-drink stop, but the listing does not say how much of it is spent driving.

For the open fells

Lapland Welcome’s tundra tour has the longest drive of the four, an hour and a half to two hours, with a snack by a fire. Northwild’s small-group tour goes across frozen lakes and open country with six guests at most and sends you the photographs afterwards.

The two differ on clothing. Lapland Welcome lends it; Northwild does not, and says so plainly. If you did not bring a snowmobile-grade outfit, that settles it.

What the damage line means

The driver is responsible for damage to the snowmobile, and the four listings put the limit between 950 and 990 euros. Safartica’s short ride and Lapland Welcome’s tundra tour both let you buy that down, to 150 euros for a 20-euro add-on and to 200 euros for a 50-euro waiver. The other two do not offer it. On a first ride on unfamiliar ground, a small add-on against a bill that can reach four figures is worth considering.

How a snowmobile safari works in general, from the briefing to what the driver answers for, is in the Rovaniemi snowmobile safari guide. The rest of the resort is on the Saariselkä destination page.

Which trips take a child from two, what a child’s seat in the guide’s sled costs and when a tall child pays the adult fare is set out in family snowmobile safari in Saariselkä.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can I ride a snowmobile on my own?

On two of these tours, for a supplement. Lapland Welcome sells solo driving as an add-on of 50 euros per person at checkout. Northwild asks you to contact it after booking to check availability for a single-driver supplement, and warns that a guest travelling alone may otherwise be paired with another guest. Safartica's short ride is priced for two people per snowmobile and does not mention riding alone, so ask before you book if it matters.

What happens if we arrive late?

You may lose the tour and the money. Safartica asks guests to be at its office on Lutontie fifteen minutes before the start and says a missed meeting time means a missed safari, which is not refunded. Northwild says the same about late arrivals. Pick-up times are confirmed after booking, so check the email the evening before rather than relying on the time you remember.

What licence does the driver need?

A full car driving licence, carried with you. Safartica and Northwild both set the driver's minimum age at 18, and Northwild asks for a Category B licence specifically. Lapland Welcome asks the driver to bring the licence on the day. Passengers need no licence, so a couple where only one person drives can still go, with the other riding behind for the whole tour.

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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