Guide · Snowmobile

Snowmobile from Saariselkä into the aurora night

Taking a snowmobile from Saariselkä out after dark turns the aurora hunt into a ride. Here is what the evening includes, the rules that apply, what it costs and which version suits you.

Check availabilityfrom $160 · free cancellation possible

Editorial team, saariselkanorthernlights.comUpdated October 19, 2026Reading time about 8 minutes12 sources

The tour behind this guide Saariselkä: Hunting Northern Lights by Snowmobiles 4.6 (241 reviews) 4 hours from$253per person Check availabilityCancel at no charge until 24 hrs before pickup

Before you ride

01The hunt: A 4-hour snowmobile hunt from Saariselkä, from $253, rated 4.56 from 241 reviews.
02Driver: The listing asks whoever drives for a valid driving license.
03Passengers: Children can ride along once they are 140 cm tall.
04Included: Guiding in English, hotel pickup, winter gear and snacks by a fire.
05Weather: Normal weather changes do not cancel it; extreme weather can.

What the snowmobile hunt includes

The snowmobile hunt sold by Lapland Welcome Ltd. leaves Saariselkä for 4 hours and starts from $253 per person. Guiding in English, pickup and drop-off from listed hotels, winter adventure gear, and light snacks with hot drinks by an open fire are part of the price. It is an evening built around motion: you are out in the cold on a machine, with the open sky above you for the whole outing.

Some lines cost extra. Solo driving, with a machine to yourself, is a per-person add-on at checkout, as is a self-liability waiver. Pickup and drop-off from hotels in Ivalo is a further add-on, which matters if you are staying near the airport rather than in the village. Tick those boxes while you book, not on the night, and keep the confirmation where you can find it with gloves on.

Its score is 4.56 from 241 reviews; cancelling is free with 24 hours of notice, and payment can wait. Like every aurora outing in Lapland, it cannot promise the lights, and the listing says so plainly. What it does give you is a night ride through Arctic winter with a guide who shares tips on photographing the sky with your own camera. Bring a spare memory card.

Step by step

Getting ready for the ride

Before you fly

Pack your license

The listing asks the snowmobile driver to bring a valid driving license.
When booking

Decide on solo driving

Driving alone is a per-person add-on at checkout, as is the self-liability waiver.
Pickup

From a listed hotel

Pickup and drop-off run from listed hotels; Ivalo hotels cost extra.
Gearing up

Winter adventure gear

The gear is included; add your own hat and gloves as the listing asks.
By the fire

Snacks and hot drinks

Light snacks and hot beverages are served by an open fire.

Who can drive and who can ride along

The person at the handlebars needs a valid driving license and should bring it along; the listing asks for it in so many words. Children can come as passengers once they are at least 140 cm tall. The tour is not suited to wheelchair users or to people over 95 years, and pets, smoking, alcohol and drugs are not allowed. Check the height of younger travelers before you book. Then add their names to the booking.

Finnish rules set their own floor for anyone driving a snowmobile: a person must be at least 15 years old.¹ That is the national minimum, not a promise that a tour will accept a teenage driver. A guided outing can draw a stricter line, and the evening snowmobile tour with a fire and picnic does: anyone at the handlebars there needs to be 18 or older with a valid category B driving license. Ask before you pay if anyone is young.

If you have never driven a snowmobile, a guided evening is the gentle way in. The fire and picnic tour lists snowmobile instructions among its inclusions, and its driving time is about 1.5-2 hours. On the hunt sold on this page, solo driving costs extra, and without it you should plan on sharing a machine and taking turns at the front. Agree on the order before you set off. Swap at the stops.

Ratings

Guest scores for evenings on snow

average rating

Average rating per listing; the Lappish sledge has 7 reviews, the snowmobile hunt 241.

The rules

Snowmobile rules in Finland at a glance

Rule	What it says	Applies to
Minimum age to drive	15 years	Any snowmobile driver
License on routes	Category T	Official routes, road crossings
State and town tracks	Permit needed	Metsähallitus and municipal tracks
Speed on terrain	60 km/h	Terrain and routes
Speed on lake ice	80 km/h	Ice-covered water
Speed on ice routes	60 km/h	Routes laid across ice
Guided hunt, driver	Valid driving license	The tour sold on this page

Finnish rules from Traficom and Metsähallitus; the last line is the listing's own condition.² ³ ¹ ⁴

Three ways out

Three evenings with an engine

On this page

Snowmobile hunt

You drive, fire stop

Duration: 4 hours
Driver: License needed
Price: from $253

Check the dates

Saariselkä: Evening Snowmobile Tour with Fire & picnic

Shorter

Fire and picnic ride

A shorter evening

Duration: 3 hours
Drivers: 18 and over
Price: from $172

Check the dates

Muotkatunturi

Lappish sledge

Coffee, tips, flexible stops

Duration: 2 hours
Group: Up to 8
Price: from $116

Check the dates

Decision helper

Which ride fits you

Pick the line that sounds like your evening

I want to drive myself I am traveling with a child A shorter, cheaper ride Photos taken for me Dinner by Lake Inari

The snowmobile hunt

A valid driving license for the driver, and 4 hours out in the snow.

Check the height rule

Passengers on the hunt must be at least 140 cm tall.

The fire and picnic tour

3 hours from $172, with drivers aged 18 and over.

The van hunt

3 hours with photography by a professional camera, from $160.

The Lake Inari tour

5 hours with a snowmobile sleigh ride and a home-made dinner.

To drive on official snowmobile routes and to cross roads, you need a category T driving licence.

TraficomSource 2

The rules on routes, tracks and speed

Outside a guided tour, Finland's snowmobile rules are specific. Traficom says that to drive on official snowmobile routes and to cross roads you need a category T driving license.² Tracks maintained by Metsähallitus and by municipalities can also be used, but only with the relevant permit.³ It helps to know this framework exists before you think about renting a machine on your own later in the trip.

Speed limits are set as well. Metsähallitus gives a maximum of 60 km/h on terrain and on routes, 80 km/h on ice-covered water, and 60 km/h on routes laid across ice.⁴ Those are limits, not targets, and on a night ride in deep cold even modest speeds feel quick. Wind on an open machine also makes the air feel sharper than the thermometer suggests, and that is worth remembering when you dress.

The wilderness around Saariselkä is protected ground. Urho Kekkonen National Park is the second-largest national park in Finland and stretches east from Saariselkä to the Russian border.⁵ ⁶ Respect for that landscape is part of any evening out there: stay on the line your guide takes, keep the noise down when the engines stop, and leave nothing behind in the snow. The forest will thank you.

Checklist

Pack and check for a snowmobile night

Included on the hunt

Guiding in English
Pickup and drop-off from listed hotels
Winter adventure gear
Snacks and hot drinks by an open fire

Bring or decide

A valid driving license for the driver
A hat and gloves
Solo driving or waiver add-ons
Children: 140 cm or taller to ride

Cost calculator

Price a snowmobile night for your group

Starting totals for your group, before add-ons.

Snowmobile hunt4 hours, you drivefrom $253 Fire and picnic3 hoursfrom $172 Lappish sledge2 hoursfrom $116 Lake Inari dinner5 hoursfrom $213

People 2

Total from$505

each from $253

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals start from each listing's lowest per-person price on GetYourGuide, turned into your currency at the ECB rate; the booking screen shows the exact sum.

Video

Subzero Ski Resort In The Arctic Circle + Snowmobile Tour In Saariselkä + The Northern Lights Part 2

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Dressing for an open machine

Cold is the constant on a snowmobile night. January in Saariselkä runs from an average high of -8.3 °C to an average low of -15.6 °C.⁷ Visit Finland gives the average winter temperature in Finnish Lapland as -14 °C, with occasional dips to -30 °C.⁸ Add wind from the ride itself, and an open machine feels a good deal colder than a parked car or a seat by the fire. Plan your layers around that.

The listing includes winter adventure gear and asks you to bring a hat and gloves. Beneath the outer suit, put on thermal base layers, a wool or fleece sweater and thick socks. A thin liner glove under your outer gloves lets you handle a phone or a camera at a stop without baring your skin to the air, and a neck gaiter keeps the wind off your face while you drive. Ski goggles help on clear, frosty nights.

Eat a proper meal before you go, and drink something warm when the group stops. The tour serves light snacks and hot drinks by an open fire, and that pause is the moment to look up properly and let your eyes settle. Keep spare batteries in an inside pocket; cold drains them fast, and you will want power left when the sky starts to move. A small thermos of your own never hurts either.

Snowmobile or van for the aurora?

The snowmobile hunt and the van hunt this site books chase the same sky in different ways. The van tour lasts 3 hours, starts from $160 and includes photography with a professional camera. The snowmobile evening lasts 4 hours from $253, and its guide shares tips for photographing the lights with your own camera. One leaves the camera work to the guide, the other hands it to you.

Where the two differ most is the experience between sightings. The van evening revolves around getting to a clear patch of sky: the booked tour lists transportation and knowledge of the best locations among its inclusions. On a snowmobile, the time between sightings is the ride itself, through frozen country in the dark, with a fire as the pause. If you have only one evening, decide whether the drive or the sky matters more to you.

Hunting the northern lights by snowmobile in Finland gives you a story even under thick cloud, and that is its strongest argument. The van is the sharper tool when the forecast is marginal and every clear patch counts. You can also do both on different nights, keeping the van for the evening when the cloud map looks most promising and the snowmobile for the night you want the ride.

Gentler ways onto the snow

The evening snowmobile tour with a fire and picnic is a shorter night: 3 hours from $172, with 1 snowmobile per 2 people and grilled sausages, pastry and hot drinks. Its guests rate the guide 4.7, transportation 4.7 and value for money 4.1, for an overall 4.49 from 137 reviews. It is not suitable for children under 4. Value scores trail the others there, which is worth weighing.

In the Muotkatunturi area of Inari, a Lappish sledge outing with traditional snowmobiles lasts 2 hours from $116, for up to 8 guests. Coffee and tea, an explanation of the northern lights and practical photo tips come with it, and the guide picks the spots by the conditions and can stop for longer when the sky is worth it. It is a smaller, slower kind of evening than the hunt.

A third way puts the snowmobile in someone else's hands entirely. The northern lights tour to Lake Inari from Saariselkä lasts 5 hours from $213 and includes a snowmobile sleigh ride, thermal clothing, meeting reindeer and a home-made dinner of local fish or reindeer. It is not for children under 7. It is a long night, with a warm meal in the middle of it. Ask about the pickup time when you book.

Picking the right night to ride

Aurora hours run late. Visit Finland gives 9pm to 2am as the usual best window, and NOAA puts the best aurora within an hour or two of midnight.⁹ ¹⁰ Ask the seller when your evening starts, and choose a departure that overlaps those hours if you have the choice. A late start also means a late finish, and an early morning plan the next day can wait. Sleep in the next morning if you can.

Clouds decide more than activity. Visit Finland calls clouds the most common reason people miss the Northern Lights entirely.¹¹ The snowmobile hunt is not cancelled for ordinary weather changes, only for extreme weather; a cloudy forecast alone does not move your booking. Plan the ride as a night out that is worth having either way, and treat the sky as the prize. Either way, dress for the full evening.

The odds improve over several nights. FMI statistics give the Lapland ski resorts, Saariselkä included, auroras on roughly 50 % of nights that are dark and free of cloud.¹² A snowmobile evening early in the trip, with a van hunt held in reserve for a clear forecast, is a balanced way to use a short stay and leaves room for a second try. Keep at least one more night free for a second attempt.

Plan your night