Snowmobile safari in Rovaniemi, what it costs

In a line behind a guide

A guide leads the line along a marked route, and two people usually share one machine. Lapland Welcome’s Rovaniemi safaris run 3 hours in total but put you on the throttle for about 1 hour 30 minutes of that, with the rest spent on transfers, putting on cold-weather gear, and a stop for a hot drink by an open fire. Longer Lapland Safaris tours run to 6 or 7 hours and cover more distance, sometimes ending with a visit to a reindeer herd or, from Levi, at SnowVillage.

Gear and transport come with the price. Lapland Welcome’s Rovaniemi safaris include “return transfers from your hotel,” a full winter adventure suit and helmet to go over your own clothes, and say that “all vehicles used in our programs include fuel and insurance.” Bring your own base layers and boots; the suit goes over them, not instead of them.

The licence, and who needs one

Only the driver needs a licence. Lapland Safaris’ booking terms set the driver’s minimum age at 18 and require “a driver’s license valid in Finland,” adding that “the driver of the snowmobile has to be able to present the driving license during the safari as the Police may check the validity.” A passenger needs no licence but must be at least 140 cm tall to ride behind the driver at the adult price, and the terms name no separate product for a shorter child passenger.

Riding behind costs the same as driving. The tall-enough passenger pays the adult price too, so two people sharing one machine pay for two adult places whichever seat they take. If nobody in your group is 18 or holds a valid licence, ask the operator directly whether a guide-driven option exists, since not every tour we checked lists one.

Who it is not for

Lapland Safaris rules out children under 2 on its snowmobile and husky safaris. Above that age the real limit is the licence. Both Lapland Safaris and Lapland Welcome require a valid driving licence to drive, which rules out most under-18s and anyone travelling without one.

Weather can take the day away too. Both operators’ terms reserve the right to change the route, schedule or duration for “prevailing weather conditions,” and Lapland Safaris names “impossible or unsafe weather conditions” as a reason it is not liable for a cancelled or shortened tour. Neither operator publishes a temperature at which it cancels a snowmobile safari, unlike Bearhill Husky’s stated cutoff for its dog sled tours. Dress as if for standing outdoors for the whole three hours, and not only for the parts spent on the throttle. The gear provided covers the body, but a long stop to meet reindeer or warm up by a fire is still time spent in the cold.

What it costs

An electric snowmobile costs more than a petrol one on the same route. Lapland Safaris’ Rovaniemi trip to a reindeer herd is 199 EUR by petrol snowmobile and 234 EUR by electric, listed on the same activity page. Rovaniemi also has a shorter electric option, crossing the Arctic Circle in 2 hours for 158 EUR, if a quieter and cheaper first try is what you want.

Booking one, and the alternatives

Snowmobile safaris run from Rovaniemi, Levi and Saariselkä, often combined with a stop to meet a reindeer herd or, on a clear night, with a chance at the aurora. Our Northern Lights tours page sets out what an evening like that buys you. If nobody in your group wants to drive, a reindeer sleigh ride or husky safari needs no licence at all. Our guide to what to wear covers the layers to bring underneath the suit an operator lends you.