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Snowshoeing in Saariselkä: which trip to book

Looking down at a grey snowshoe strapped to a boot and the tip of a trekking pole on trodden snow

Illustration photo: a modern snowshoe, not on the Saariselkä trips.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

If you have your own warm clothes, walk into the national park with Outdoor Expert, the least expensive and the only one offering a shorter or a longer walk. If you need clothing and a pick-up, book Safartica by day or its aurora walk after dark. Give four hours to Lapland Welcome's lake trip only if the fishing is what you want.

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.

Outdoor ExpertSafartica, daySafartica, auroraLapland Welcome
Price from €75 €82 €89 €184
Duration 2 h or 4 h 2.5 h 2.5 h 4 h
Winter clothing Bring your own Included Included Included
Pick-up Not stated Yes Yes Yes
Youngest Not stated 12 12 10

Only the price is marked, as arithmetic. The lowest price is for walkers who bring their own winter clothing; the others lend it.

Where these figures come from
  • Outdoor Expert: Walks into Urho Kekkonen National Park from an office by its boundary; two hours, four, or an evening.
  • Safartica, day: A daylight walk with pick-up, a full set of winter clothing and hot chocolate with marshmallows.
  • Safartica, aurora: The same company after dark, looking for the aurora; runs when two full-paying adults have booked.
  • Lapland Welcome: Snowshoes out to a remote frozen lake for ice fishing and a light lunch by an open fire.

Saariselkä sits on the edge of Urho Kekkonen National Park, and the four trips below are the guided snowshoe walks sold for it on the pages we read.

Into the park from the village

Outdoor Expert’s office is a few steps from the park boundary, and its walks start there: two hours, four hours, or two hours in the evening. It lends the snowshoes and pours a warm drink, and asks you to come in your own outdoor clothing.1 Its page mentions neither a pick-up nor clothing, which the other three include.

Collected and dressed

Safartica collects you from five points and lends a full set: overall, boots, woollen socks, scarf, hat and gloves. Its daylight walk ends with hot chocolate and marshmallows.2 Its evening walk is the same arrangement after dark, looking for the aurora, which the company does not promise.3 Neither takes children under twelve.

Four hours on a lake

Lapland Welcome uses the snowshoes to reach a remote frozen lake, where you fish through the ice and eat a light lunch by an open fire.4 It is a fishing trip as much as a walk; ice fishing in Saariselkä compares it with the others.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

What if our plans change?

All four listings, as we read them, allow free cancellation until 24 hours before the start. Later than that, the money is gone. Safartica's evening walk also needs two full-paying adults to run, so a single traveller or a parent with a child should ask what happens if no one else books, and whether that counts as a cancellation by the company.

Is there a trip that picks us up from Kakslauttanen or Kiilopää?

Safartica's daylight trip lists five pick-up points and Lapland Welcome's lake trip eleven hotels. Neither names them in the listing text; the points appear in a list you open or when you choose one at checkout. Check that your accommodation is there before paying, or ask the company, since a missing pick-up can mean a taxi each way.

Which is best for photographs?

Daylight is short in December and January, so for landscape photographs a morning or midday walk gives you the most light. The aurora walk is the one for the sky, but you will be moving with a group, so bring a small tripod only if the guide confirms there will be a stop long enough to use it.

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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