Every safari
Every listing sells you hours. What you actually want is kilometres, because a three-hour tour can mean six kilometres on the sled or one, with the rest spent in a minibus, in a thermal suit and at the kennel. Here are all twelve, sorted by price, with the distance and the one thing that matters more than either: whether you drive.
Quick answer
A husky safari in Rovaniemi is a guided dog-sledding trip from a farm 15 to 30 minutes outside the city, running from early December to the first week of April. Distances range from about one kilometre on short passenger rides to ten kilometres on the longest safaris. Tours cost from $69 to $261, and thermal overalls, boots and gloves are included on all of them.
Book direct
Twelve tours, cheapest first, with the distance on the sled and whether you drive.
★ 4.7 · 1,584 reviews
★ 4.8 · 11 reviews
★ 4.2 · 243 reviews
★ 4.3 · 553 reviews
★ 4.6 · 2,415 reviews
★ 4.6 · 1,036 reviews
★ 4.6 · 1,289 reviews
★ 4.6 · 284 reviews
★ 4.6 · 1,568 reviews
★ 4.9 · 220 reviews
★ 4.6 · 172 reviews
★ 4.7 · 496 reviews
The two kinds
A ride is a passenger trip. A safari usually means you drive.
The words are used interchangeably and they should not be.
A ride is a passenger trip. You sit in a wooden sled under a reindeer skin, a musher stands on the runners behind you, and the team pulls both of you for somewhere between one and a few kilometres. The thirty-minute version at Santa Claus Village is the clearest example, and at $69 it is a third of the price of anything else here.
A safari, at least as the Rovaniemi operators use the word, usually means you drive. You stand on the runners of your own sled with a team of four to six dogs, one foot resting on a metal brake bar, after a briefing that lasts about two minutes and covers three things: how to stand, how to lean into a corner, and never let go of the sled.
The distances differ accordingly. Rides are short because the musher is doing the work and the point is the experience of being pulled. Safaris run four to ten kilometres because the point is the driving, and forty minutes on the runners is roughly where the concentration settles into something else.
Both are worth doing. They are simply not the same purchase, and the listings do very little to help you tell them apart.
Reading a listing
All six change what you get, and none of them are in the headline.
A three-hour tour can be six kilometres on the sled or one. Our table prints both, because the hours include transfers, dressing and the kennel visit.
Five of the twelve here put you on the runners. The rest put you in the sled. This is the largest difference on the page and the least clearly stated.
The farms are fifteen to thirty minutes outside Rovaniemi. Without transfers that is a taxi each way, in the dark, in January.
The four-hour safaris usually include a kota, a fire and something hot. That half hour is what makes a long tour pleasant rather than an endurance test.
Set by the operator and published. Children ride; teenagers can usually drive with an adult on the sled.
Two of these have under fifty ratings. They may be excellent. It is simply not the same claim as 1,568.
If you are going to drive, that decision is worth more than any other on this page.
What driving actually involves→Every trip, current fare
Twelve tours, cheapest first, with the distance on the sled and the cost per hour. The distance column is the one no listing gives you.
| Tour | Length | Price | On the sled | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Claus Village Husky RideThirty minutes on the Arctic Circle | 30 min | $69 | ~1 km, you ride | $138.00 | 4.7 · 1,584 |
| Husky Farm VisitA kennel visit with no sled at all | 2 h | $86 | None — kennel only | $43.00 | 4.8 · 11 |
| Husky Farm Visit with a Sledge RideA farm visit with a short ride attached | 2 h | $114 | Short, you ride | $57.00 | 4.2 · 243 |
| Husky Farm and Reindeer ExperienceHuskies and reindeer in one afternoon | 3.5 h | $178 | Short, you ride | $50.86 | 4.3 · 553 |
| Reindeer, Huskies & Santa Claus VillageThe fullest single day on this page | 6 h | $205 | Short, you ride | $34.17 | 4.6 · 2,415 |
| Daytime Husky SafariNinety minutes, out and back | 1.5 h | $207 | You ride | $138.00 | 4.6 · 1,036 |
| Husky, Reindeer & SnowmobileHuskies, reindeer and a snowmobile | 6 h | $216 | Short, you ride | $36.00 | 4.6 · 1,289 |
| Self-Drive Husky Sled, 4–5 kmThe cheapest way to drive your own team | 3 h | $224 | 4–5 km, you drive | $74.67 | 4.6 · 284 |
| Apukka Husky Adventure, 6 km self-drivenSix kilometres self-driven, most reviewed | 3.5 h | $239 | 6 km, you drive | $68.29 | 4.6 · 1,568 |
| Husky Safari with Transfers & BBQFour hours with a fire stop, rated 4.9 | 4 h | $239 | You drive | $59.75 | 4.9 · 220 |
| Insider 10 km Husky Sled RideTen kilometres, deep into the forest | 4 h | $250 | 10 km | $62.50 | 4.6 · 172 |
| Husky Safari on a Snowy Trail, 10 kmTen kilometres on a forest trail | 3.5 h | $261 | 10 km | $74.57 | 4.7 · 496 |
Common questions
From $69 for a thirty-minute passenger ride to $261 for a ten-kilometre safari. Most self-drive safaris sit between $224 and $239.
Between thirty minutes and six hours as advertised, but the useful number is the distance on the sled: about one kilometre on the short rides, six on a standard self-drive safari, and ten on the longest. The rest of the time is transfers, dressing and the kennel.
On five of the twelve tours here, yes. You stand on the runners of your own sled with four to six dogs and a brake bar, after a briefing. On the others a musher drives and you ride.
From early December — occasionally late November if the snow has come — until the first week of April. Outside the season the same farms run cart rides on wheels.
A thermal overall, boots, gloves and usually a balaclava on every safari here, plus a briefing if you are driving. Most include transfers from central Rovaniemi, and the longer ones include a fire stop with something hot.
Four to six, depending on the weight of the sled and the length of the run. The two at the front are the leaders and they are the ones taking the direction from the musher.
The dogs are bred and kept to run, and any farm worth booking will explain at length how the teams are rotated, rested and fed. A farm that will not answer that question is itself an answer. The kennel visit at the end of most safaris is where you can see the conditions for yourself.
Go deeper
How it works, what the season is, and what it costs.
You driveThe runners, the brake and the one rule that matters.
FarmsThe version with no sled at all, and who it suits.
The villageThirty minutes on the Arctic Circle, eight kilometres north.
The dogsAlaskan rather than Siberian, and why they are so loud.
The verdictOne recommendation for each kind of visitor.
Apukka Husky Adventure, 6 km self-driven
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h