Reindeer and Sámi culture around Saariselkä

7 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

The whole municipality of Inari, which includes Saariselkä, Ivalo and the village of Inari, belongs to the Sámi homeland in Finland. The Sámi are the only indigenous people in the European Union. In Inari three Sámi languages are used officially next to Finnish: North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi. The municipality says almost a third of its residents are Sámi, and the regional tourist office counts around 10,000 Sámi living in Finland.

For visitors, two things tend to blur together here: reindeer and Sámi culture. They are connected, but a ride behind a reindeer is not in itself a cultural experience, and most tours sold around Saariselkä do not claim to be one.

Reindeer herding and Sámi culture are not the same

Reindeer herding happens across a large part of northern Finland. According to Metsähallitus, which manages the state’s nature areas, the reindeer husbandry area covers Lapland and reaches south to Kuusamo, Kainuu and the north of Northern Ostrobothnia. It is split into 54 herding co-operatives, and the reindeer graze freely within it. Kuusamo and Kainuu, for example, lie well outside the Sámi homeland.

Within the homeland, herding carries extra weight. The Sámi Parliament lists it among the traditional Sámi livelihoods together with fishing, hunting, gathering, handicrafts and small-scale farming, and calls it one of the cornerstones of Sámi culture. The Sámi languages, handicrafts (duodji in North Sámi) and the Sámi names that every place in the homeland carries belong to that culture too, and none of them comes with a sled ride.

Most of the reindeer tours compared here come from safari companies, and their pages do not say if the hosts are Sámi. The Sámi Parliament asks that knowledge of Sámi culture is bought from Sámi providers, such as Sámi tourism entrepreneurs and craft makers, and that Sámi culture is only shown in tourism with the consent of the Sámi community. Among the tours compared here, one says plainly that a member of a Sámi reindeer-herding family hosts it.

The workshop by Finntation takes four hours in Inari. You work with reindeer leather, bone and antler, visit the reindeer and eat a homemade lunch with coffee or tea. Groups are limited to eight, the page says all ages are welcome, and the workshop runs all year. There is no sled ride, and the workshop starts in Inari, about 75 km from Saariselkä by road.

What the Sámi Parliament asks of visitors

In 2018 the Sámi Parliament in Finland adopted principles for responsible Sámi tourism. Several of them concern every visitor:

• A reindeer herd must never be approached or disturbed without the owner’s permission, for example by snowmobile, dog sled or on skis.
• Round-up fences, herders’ cabins and feeding places are workplaces and are off limits without permission. Reindeer fences near houses count as part of the home.
• A person in Sámi dress who does not work in tourism must not be photographed without consent, and a refusal must be respected. Church ceremonies need special permission from the community.
• Wearing Sámi dress in tourism that exploits Sámi culture is not acceptable, and neither are invented rituals such as the so-called Lapland baptism or linking Sámi people with Santa Claus.

The principles also make a point about the landscape: what looks like wilderness to a visitor is home to the local Sámi, and every place in the homeland has a Sámi name. Our husky sledding page explains why the same guidelines describe dog sledding as a tradition brought in from elsewhere.

Reindeer rides by day and after dark

The daytime safari by Easy Travel collects you from your hotel in Saariselkä around noon and drives into Urho Kekkonen National Park. You spend about an hour on a reindeer sled, try steering it yourself, feed the animals and warm up in a kota, a traditional hut. Thermal clothing is included, groups go up to 15 and there is no minimum age. Guests in winter 2025/26 wrote about long spells in the cold and cold feet at −27 to −30 °C, and one guest in 2024 felt rushed and kept at a distance from the animals. Transfers from Ivalo are not included.

After dark, Lapponia Tours starts from its safari house at Honkapolku 1 in Saariselkä. The outing takes 2.5 hours, you ride as a passenger and finish with a hot drink and local snacks by a campfire. Children must be at least 7, and torches are not allowed during the tour. There is no transfer from Kiilopää, Kakslauttanen, Muotka, Inari or Ivalo. If the northern lights appear, that is a bonus; our northern lights page has tours built for them.

Feeding visits near Inari and Ivalo

In Inari village, Galddoaivi Safaris runs a 90-minute feeding visit. From the meeting point a snowmobile pulls your sleigh 2.4 km to the reindeer yard, and if there is no snow or the cold is extreme, you go by car instead. A guest in March 2026 travelled by van because of poor snow. The tour page mentions an Inari Sámi home yard but does not say who owns the herd.

Near Ivalo, Ivalo Experiences takes up to eight guests at 8:00 to help feed a large herd that lives freely in the forest all year. The morning lasts about four hours and involves no sled ride. Pickup in Ivalo is included, while transfers from Saariselkä or Inari cost extra in each direction. Ivalo Safaris also combines a snowmobile ride along the Ivalo River and onto Lake Inari with a stop to meet and feed reindeer; it starts in central Ivalo and is described on our snowmobile tours page.

Learning about Sámi culture in Inari

For the culture itself, go to Inari, about 75 km north of Saariselkä. Siida is the national museum for Sámi culture and also the regional museum for the Sámi area, at Inarintie 46. From 5 October 2026 to 31 May 2027 it is open Monday to Saturday from 10 to 17 and closed on Sundays, and ticket sales stop 45 minutes before closing. The open-air museum is open all year when the weather allows a safe visit.

Sajos, on the Juutua river where it flows into Lake Inari, is the centre of Sámi self-government in Finland and home to the Sámi Parliament. Its name is an Inari Sámi word for a place where you love to arrive and stay a while. The building can be visited during opening hours, and a guided tour gives an insight into Sámi culture today. In January the Skábmagovat festival of indigenous films takes place in Inari, with screenings in an open-air theatre built of snow; the 2027 dates were not yet published in October 2026. Our page on Inari and Siida covers the village, and day trips lists tours with Siida tickets included.

Reindeer on the road

You will see reindeer outside any tour as well. The tourist office warns that they wander onto roads all year and that there are usually more nearby when you spot one, so slow down. Metsähallitus adds that stress from people can be fatal for reindeer in a hard winter. If you find yourself in the middle of a herd, stand still until it has passed, and keep dogs on a lead.