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By Juho Uutela
11 min read
A reindeer ride in Rovaniemi is the slowest way to travel through a Lapland forest, which is a big part of its charm. You sit in a sleigh while a reindeer pulls you along a snowy trail at its own steady pace, and at the farm the herders tell you about their work and the place of reindeer in Lapland life. On our winter farm tour the sleigh ride covers two kilometres, and the whole visit takes about three hours from pick-up to drop-off.
Until snowmobiles arrived in the 1960s, reindeer were the main way to travel across the forest and tundra, so the ride gives you a small taste of how people once got around in winter. Because a photography guide comes along on our reindeer farm tours in Rovaniemi, you can keep your attention on the animals while someone else takes the pictures.
A reindeer sleigh ride in Rovaniemi is a short, calm ride in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer along a forest trail, usually as part of a visit to a working reindeer farm outside the city. On our Authentic Reindeer Farm Experience the ride is 2 km long, the visit lasts around three hours including transfers, and guests of every age are welcome.
Each sleigh takes up to two people, so you share it with your partner, a friend or your child. The reindeer sets the pace and the sleigh glides quietly over the snow, which leaves time to look around. Afterwards you get to feed the reindeer, and for many younger guests that is the best part of the day.
Our photography guide takes pictures as the visit unfolds: you meeting the reindeer, listening to the herders and riding through the snowy forest. We prefer natural, documentary-style pictures, although we are happy to set up a posed portrait with one of our handsome animal models if you would like one. A collection of 5–15 edited photos is included in the price, and you download it from gallery.beyondarctic.com with the password your guide gives you, usually 2–3 days after the tour.
The farm we visit on the winter tour lies about 35 minutes outside Rovaniemi by minivan. We pick you up from your hotel if you are staying 1–10 km from the centre, and guests staying closer than that meet us at our office on Valtakatu 21, which is within walking distance of the central hotels. The tour leaves at 08:15, 12:15 and 13:15, so you can fit it into a morning or an early afternoon.
A typical winter visit runs like this:
If you would rather have the farm to yourselves, the Private Reindeer Farm Visit and Sleigh Ride with Photographer also includes a 2 km sleigh ride, with only your own family or group at the farm. You meet a family that has practised reindeer herding for at least five generations and finish with coffee, tea or hot chocolate and freshly made crepes in a traditional Lappish kota. Because the schedule is yours, the photographer also has more time for pictures. Start times depend on availability, so send us an email with your dates.
To meet huskies on the same day, the three-hour Reindeer and Husky Adventure with Photographer combines a 400 m reindeer sleigh ride with an 800 m husky sled ride driven by a musher. The shorter rides keep everyone comfortable on very cold days. In Levi, our Authentic Reindeer Sled Ride runs from 11 January to 27 March, starts with a 15-minute minibus transfer and includes a 1.5 km forest sleigh ride. All our Rovaniemi animal tours, husky trips included, are on our Arctic animals in Rovaniemi page.
The sleigh ride is only part of the visit, because the time you spend with the herders is where most of the stories come from. They explain what daily life with reindeer looks like and answer questions about the animals, their behaviour and the long tradition of herding in Lapland, so it pays to arrive with a few questions of your own.
A good one to start with is antlers. Reindeer grow a new set every year, and in summer the antlers can grow by up to two centimetres a day under a soft skin called velvet. By the time you visit in winter some of the reindeer may already have dropped theirs, which surprises a lot of guests. Winter itself is a hard season for the animals, since they can dig through more than a metre of snow to reach the lichen underneath, finding it by smell. During the coldest months herders sometimes give them extra food to help them through.
Herders also have their own vocabulary, built up over generations. A hirvas is an adult male over three years old, a vaadin is a mature female, a tokka is a large herd and valkko is a white reindeer. You will find more of these words, and other common questions, in our post on what you need to know about visiting a local reindeer farm.
If you are in Rovaniemi between June and mid-November, the Local Reindeer Farm Visit with Photographer takes you to a family-run farm where the herding family has worked for at least five generations. On this tour you meet the herd on foot rather than by sleigh: you feed the reindeer, try throwing a suopunki, the lasso herders use to catch reindeer, and finish with crepes in a kota.
Sleigh rides need snow, so they belong to winter. Our Authentic Reindeer Farm Experience runs from 16 November to 20 April, the private farm visit from 1 December to 18 April, and the reindeer and husky combination from 27 November to 15 March. From 1 June to 15 November the summer and autumn farm visit is the way to meet the herd.
Winter temperatures around Rovaniemi can fall below -30 °C, and the temperature can drop during the tour itself, so dress in layers. We provide warm overalls and winter boots on the farm tours, so underneath you only need thermal underwear, woollen socks and an extra fleece layer. Our equipment page has the full list, and before you set off your guide tells you how much to wear for the day’s weather.
Our reindeer rides leave between 08:15 and 13:15, while the northern lights belong to the dark evening hours and are never guaranteed. If you want both, the Electric Snowmobile Northern Lights Tour and Meet the Reindeer takes you through the night forest on a quiet electric snowmobile. On the way you stop at the reindeer enclosure and watch the sky from a campfire. Our post on guaranteed northern lights tours explains our view, and Visit Rovaniemi has general visitor information for the city.
Reindeer in Finland are semi-domesticated animals cared for by herders. According to the Reindeer Herders’ Association, the reindeer husbandry area covers about 36% of Finland and is divided into 54 herding cooperatives, each responsible for the herding in its own area. Within a cooperative, families care for large shared herds, and depending on local conditions some reindeer roam freely all year while others are brought into enclosures for the winter.
The sleigh season is a small part of a much longer herding year, which runs from 1 June to 31 May. The busiest work comes with the calf markings in June and July and the autumn round-ups from the end of September to January, as the association’s page on the reindeer husbandry year describes. The association notes that most people offering reindeer farm services to travellers are herders themselves, so tourism adds income and gives young people more chances to stay in the profession.
When you compare reindeer tours, three questions tell you a lot. Who owns and cares for the animals? How many people share each sleigh, and how large is the group? Is there time to learn about the reindeer as well as ride? On our winter farm tour the herders introduce the animals and their work before the ride, and each sleigh carries up to two people. While you are there, ask the herder how the reindeer are looked after between rides.
We hold Visit Finland’s Sustainable Travel Finland label, granted in 2021, and the Green Activities certificate, and our sustainability page explains how we work in Arctic nature.
In winter the Authentic Reindeer Farm Experience suits most travellers, the private visit suits families and groups who want the farm to themselves, and the reindeer and husky combination suits anyone who wants both animals in one outing. Each tour page shows the current prices, child rates and open dates, and the private visit is booked by email.
For help with your dates, call or WhatsApp us on +358 50 323 1090, email contact@beyondarctic.com or drop by our office at Valtakatu 21 in the centre of Rovaniemi. We are happy to help you build a day around the reindeer.
It is a calm sleigh ride pulled by a reindeer along a snowy forest trail, usually combined with a visit to a local reindeer farm outside the city. On our winter farm tour the ride is 2 km long and each sleigh takes up to two people. You also meet the herders, feed the reindeer and warm up with a hot drink and snacks.
The whole Authentic Reindeer Farm Experience takes about three hours, including the 35-minute drive each way. The sleigh ride itself covers 2 km through the forest. On the Reindeer and Husky Adventure the reindeer part is shorter, a 400 m ride, because the three hours are shared with the huskies.
Prices depend on the tour and on whether you join a small group or book privately, and each tour page lists the current adult and child rates. The private farm visit is priced per group, with one rate for 1–4 people and another for 5–8. On the Authentic Reindeer Farm Experience the photography guide, transfers, warm clothing, snacks and edited photos are all included.
Sleigh rides run while there is snow, and our winter farm tour operates from 16 November to 20 April. From June to mid-November the summer and autumn farm visit lets you meet and feed the reindeer on foot.
Yes. The winter farm tours are open to every age, and children under four join free of charge on the Authentic Reindeer Farm Experience. Feeding the reindeer after the ride is often the favourite moment for younger guests, and we provide warm overalls and boots for the whole family.
Our farm visits are hosted by reindeer herders, and the sleigh season is a small part of their herding year, which also covers calf markings in summer and round-ups in autumn. Small groups and up to two people per sleigh keep the visit calm, and you are welcome to ask the herders how they care for their animals.
The two terms often mean much the same thing. A reindeer ride usually means a shorter route at a farm, like our 2 km ride near Rovaniemi. “Reindeer safari” tends to mean a longer trip, such as the one-hour sleigh safari on our reindeer tour in Pyhä, which runs from 27 December to 4 April.
Our reindeer rides leave in the morning or early afternoon, so the aurora usually belongs to a separate evening tour. Our Electric Snowmobile Northern Lights Tour and Meet the Reindeer visits the reindeer enclosure at night while we watch the sky by a campfire. The lights depend on clear skies and solar activity, so a sighting is a bonus on top of the evening in the forest.
Author: Juho Uutela, Founder & CEO, Beyond Arctic
📞 Contact: contact@beyondarctic.com | +358 50 323 1090 🏢 Office: Valtakatu 21, Rovaniemi, Finland
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The Arctic animals in Lapland that most visitors meet are reindeer and huskies. Reindeer graze all over Lapland, along forest edges and roadsides, and in a Rovaniemi summer they sometimes wander down to the river beach among the sunbathers. Sled dogs live at family kennels outside the towns. Bears, wolves, lynx and wolverines generally avoid people, and the Arctic fox is so rare in Finland that most travellers meet these animals at Ranua Wildlife Park, about an hour's drive south of Rovaniemi.
Working out what to pack for Lapland in winter is mostly about layers you can open and close, and about keeping your fingers, toes and ears warm. A winter day in Rovaniemi or Levi moves between long spells outdoors and short breaks in a warm minivan or a kota. The temperature can also fall further during a single evening tour, so your clothes need to keep up while you stand by a frozen lake and watch the sky.
A reindeer ride in Rovaniemi is the slowest way to travel through a Lapland forest, which is a big part of its charm. You sit in a sleigh while a reindeer pulls you along a snowy trail at its own steady pace, and at the farm the herders tell you about their work and the place of reindeer in Lapland life. On our winter farm tour the sleigh ride covers two kilometres, and the whole visit takes about three hours from pick-up to drop-off.
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