Snowmobile tours in Saariselkä

7 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Most of the snowmobile tours compared here come from two operators: Safartica, whose office is on Lutontie in the village, and Lapland Welcome. Ivalo Safaris starts its ride in Ivalo, and Muotkan Ruoktu runs short trips from its own base at Muotka. The basic pattern is the same everywhere. You are lent winter gear, a guide leads a line of snowmobiles along the route, and most tours stop for hot drinks.

What changes from tour to tour is the driving time, the seating and the rules for children. Read the age and licence lines on the tour page carefully, because they differ more than the descriptions suggest.

Licence, seats and the rules on the trail

Every operator here asks the driver to show a valid driving licence. Safartica spells it out: category B, and drivers must be at least 18. Ivalo Safaris also accepts A1, T and A licences. If no one in your party has one, you can still join as a passenger.

The standard arrangement is two people on one machine, with the driver and passenger swapping roles during the tour. Solo driving is an add-on on the tundra safari and the evening hunt by Lapland Welcome, and Safartica charges a single-rider supplement on some tours, for example when a group has an odd number of people. Children ride either behind an adult or in a sledge pulled by the guide, depending on the operator’s height and age limits.

Finnish rules also shape the tours. According to the transport agency Traficom, snowmobiles may run on official routes, and anywhere else only with the landowner’s permission. Drivers and passengers must wear helmets, including anyone sitting in an open sledge, and with passengers in a sledge the limit is 40 km/h. Around Saariselkä, the trail fee collected by the local trail cooperative covers the ski tracks, the winter trails and the snowmobile trails alike.

The driver carries financial responsibility for damage. Each tour page states a maximum liability per accident, and some operators sell a waiver that reduces it. Check those lines before you book.

Short rides for a first try

The shortest format is Safartica’s one-hour safari, with about 45 minutes of driving. You meet at the Safartica office at Lutontie 16, 15 minutes before the start, and the operator does not refund a missed start. Hotel pickup from selected hotels can be added. Children from 4 to 14 ride in a sledge behind the guide, and the ride is not recommended for people with back problems.

Safartica’s two-hour ride with hot drinks is the next step up. It includes hotel pickup, a helmet and warm clothing, and again children from 4 to 12 sit in the sledge behind the guide. Guests mention how cold the wind gets on your face, and that one unsteady driver can slow down the whole group.

Half-day safaris

Lapland Welcome’s tundra safari is a classic half day of 3.5 hours with roughly 1.5 to 2 hours of driving. It collects guests from a list of hotels, adds Ivalo as an option and ends with light snacks by an open fire. Children shorter than 140 cm travel in a sledge pulled by the guide, while taller children up to 14 ride behind an adult on an adult ticket.

Safartica’s adults-only adventure lasts three hours and keeps breaks short, for photos and hot drinks only. The operator describes the focus as purely on driving. Passengers must be at least 13 and 140 cm tall.

In the evening, Safartica’s three-hour tour with a fire adds a picnic of grilled sausages, pastry and hot drinks, with vegetarian and gluten-free options. You drive for 1.5 to 2 hours in the dark, and children from 4 to 14 ride in the sledge. The page asks you to keep an eye on the sky, but the northern lights are not promised. Lapland Welcome’s four-hour aurora hunt by snowmobile is described on our northern lights page.

A full day out

Safartica’s full-day adventure takes six hours, with two people per snowmobile and a soup lunch outdoors. A reviewer felt it was a tour for experienced drivers and wished the description said so more clearly, so book it after a shorter ride rather than as a first try. The tour page gives the minimum age as 12 in one place and 13 in another.

From Ivalo across the river and the lake

Ivalo Safaris starts from its office next to Hotel Kultahippu and a small K-Market in the centre of Ivalo. The pickup only covers the Ivalo centre area, within 5 km, so guests in Saariselkä have to get there themselves. After a ten-minute minibus ride you drive along the frozen Ivalo River and onto Lake Inari, about 25 to 30 km in total, sharing a snowmobile and swapping halfway. The group meets and feeds reindeer and has lunch of local fish or reindeer. Up to eight people join, all aged 12 or more. A guest in February 2026 found only two reindeer at the farm.

For a private trip on Lake Inari from Nellim, see our page on ice fishing and Lake Inari.

Muotka, if you have a car

Muotkan Ruoktu offers a two-hour trip among lakes and fells. There is no pickup: you park in the main car park and start at the restaurant entrance. You drive alone or as a pair, in a group of up to eight, with a thermal suit and helmet provided and a coffee break outdoors. Children from 6 years and 120 cm can ride along. The operator states that the trip is about nature and culture, not speed, and the guides speak several languages, including French, Italian and Spanish.

Reindeer on the trail

Inari municipality is part of the Sámi homeland, and reindeer graze freely across the area. The Sámi Parliament’s tourism guidelines say a herd must never be approached without the owner’s permission, by snowmobile or otherwise. The reindeer and Sámi culture page explains why this matters to herders.

Snowmobile tours run whenever there is enough snow. Weather records show a closed snow cover in Saariselkä from about 1 December to mid-April in every winter from 1991 to 2020, and a January average of roughly −12 °C. In December and January the sun barely rises or stays below the horizon, so daytime rides take place in twilight. For layers under the overalls, see what to wear.