Book now

Snowshoeing in Ylläs: which walk for which walker

A packed track running between snow-laden spruces and birches on a sunny winter day

Illustration photo: a winter forest track, not from the Ylläs trips.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With small children, book Snow Fun Safaris' easy walk, which states that it takes children from four. For a longer walk with clothing and transport sorted, choose Safartica from Ylläsjärvi. For a proper outing, go up Kesänki with NordX, or with Move with Nature for the smallest group, and sort out clothing first: NordX does not include it and Move with Nature does not mention it.

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.

Snow Fun SafarisSafarticaNordX AdventuresMove with Nature
Price from €75 €89 €95 €129
How far or long About 1.5 km 2–3 km 4 h 3 h walking
Youngest 4 Not stated 10 Not stated
Winter clothing Bring your own Included Bring your own Not stated
Group size Not stated Not stated Up to 8 Up to 6

Only the price is marked, as arithmetic. The two cheapest are also the two shortest walks, so the mark is not a like-for-like saving.

Where these figures come from
  • Snow Fun Safaris: An easy walk of about a kilometre and a half in the national park, with a hot drink and a bun in a hut.
  • Safartica: From Ylläsjärvi village to a frozen marsh, with transport and winter clothing included.
  • NordX Adventures: Four hours up Kesänki fell with sausages in a kota, for up to eight people.
  • Move with Nature: Three hours in the national park on a route chosen on the day, for up to six people.

Ylläs is two villages, Äkäslompolo and Ylläsjärvi, on either side of the fell, and the four walks below are the guided snowshoe walks sold there on the pages we read, aurora walks aside, from the easiest to the hardest.

Short and easy

Snow Fun Safaris walks about a kilometre and a half in the national park, stops in a hut for a hot drink and a bun, and takes children from four. You bring your own warm clothing.1 Safartica walks two or three kilometres from Ylläsjärvi village to a frozen marsh. It collects you within fifteen kilometres and lends winter clothing, and it welcomes children as long as they can walk the distance.2

Longer, and up a fell

NordX Adventures makes a four-hour outing of it up Kesänki fell, with grilled sausages in a kota, a group of eight at most, and children from ten. It recommends a basic to moderate level of fitness, and personal winter clothing is not included, though boots can be rented.3 Move with Nature keeps its group to six and chooses the route on the day, among Äkäskero, Kesänki and Äkäsäivo, with half an hour in a van each way around three hours of walking. It rules out anyone with heart or breathing problems and asks every walker for travel insurance.4

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Are there snowshoe walks after dark?

Yes. Three companies in Ylläs sell an evening snowshoe walk to look for the aurora: Snow Fun Safaris, Northwind Lapland and Lapland Safaris. They are compared as aurora tours rather than as walks, because what you are paying for is the chance of the sky, and [the best northern lights tour in Ylläs](/guides/best-northern-lights-tour-yllas/) sets them side by side.

Do we need travel insurance?

Move with Nature makes it a condition of its walk; the other three listings do not mention it. Whichever you book, check that your policy covers guided outdoor activities in winter, since some policies exclude them unless a winter sports option is added, and keep the policy number on your phone.

What if we cancel?

All four listings, as we read them, allow free cancellation until 24 hours before the start. After that the full price is due. On the longer walks, where the weather matters more, book with that in mind and check the forecast the evening before the cut-off rather than the morning of the walk.

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.

More about Lapland Handbook →