Saariselkä Northern Lights Tours: How to Choose One

Where Saariselkä sits and why aurora tours run from here

Saariselkä lies in eastern Finnish Lapland, close to Ivalo and to the fells that rise along the edge of Urho Kekkonen National Park. That far north, the aurora oval sits overhead for much of the winter, so displays can appear straight above the village rather than only on the northern horizon.

The village itself is small and the surrounding forest thick, so operators drive, snowmobile or sled you to lakes, fells and border country where the sky opens up. Fixed camps are the simplest option because everything is set up before you arrive; mobile hunts trade comfort for the chance to drive away from cloud.

Aurora tours in Finnish Lapland follow the same logic across the region: get away from village lights, keep the group small enough to move fast, and be ready to wait by a fire. Saariselkä's advantage is that dark, roadless country starts within a few minutes of the hotels. The same decision between fixed camps and mobile hunts shapes finnish lapland northern lights tours in other bases too, so compare formats before you commit.

When the aurora season and dark nights run

Aurora season in northern Finland broadly follows the dark months, roughly from late August and September through to early April, when nights are long enough for the sky to go fully dark. Midwinter brings the shortest days but plenty of dark hours; late September and March offer a useful balance of dark nights and manageable cold.

Snow cover builds over the early winter and lasts well into spring, which is what makes snowmobile, sleigh and snowshoe tours possible. Early in the season, when snow is thin, husky sleds may run with guests seated in a guide-driven sleigh instead of driving themselves.

Clear skies are the deciding factor, not solar activity alone, and no operator can promise a display. Kp figures are guidance only; what you can control is the number of nights you spend outside under an open sky.

Aurora camps: by the lake and on the border

The Aurora Camp by the Lake is a three-hour evening run by bus to a lakeside camp, with a fire in a hut and warm berry juice while you watch the horizon. Rates are €159 for adults, €79.50 for children aged 4 to 14, and free for infants aged 0 to 3, with guiding in English, snacks and thermal overalls, boots and mittens included. A longer alternative is the four-hour Aurora Camp on the Border, which passes through Ivalo and Nellim toward the Russian border and continues to a camp at Virtaniemi. It also stops at the Paatsjoki river bridge, where flowing water can reflect aurora colours against the snow, and costs €179 for adults and €89.50 for children aged 4 to 14.

Camps suit families, photographers who want a stable foreground, and anyone who prefers sitting by a fire to riding a machine through the dark. The trade-off is fixed: you stay where the camp has been set up, so clear skies over that lake matter more than anything else.

Aurora hunting by snowmobile

The three-hour Aurora Hunting by Snowmobile drives through dark forest and up onto the fells, away from residential lights, and stops to photograph the sky when the aurora appears. Rates are €338 per shared snowmobile, €228 for an individual snowmobile, €169 for a single traveller and €84.50 for a child riding in a sleigh. Snowmobile prices include the machine, fuel, helmet, balaclava and insurance with a €2,000 self-liability, plus thermal overalls, boots, mittens and hot berry juice. Two people normally share a machine and swap driving, which is why the shared rate is higher than the individual figure and the single-traveller option is the cheapest way to join alone.

This format rewards travelers who want distance and speed, since a snowmobile covers ground a bus or snowshoe group cannot. The cost is noise, cold wind and the fact that you are driving rather than simply watching the sky.

Aurora hunting by heated sleigh

Aurora Hunting by Heated Sleigh is the low-effort version of the same idea: a guide tows a heated sleigh by snowmobile up to a fell top, away from village lights, where you step out to photograph the sky. The three-hour tour costs €149 for adults, €74.50 for children aged 4 to 14, and is free for infants aged 0 to 3.

Guiding, warm berry juice and snacks, thermal overalls, boots and mittens and the heated seat are all included, so you ride warm and only step into the cold when the sky delivers. It suits older travelers, families with young children and anyone who finds a snowmobile uncomfortable.

Compare the two directly: a snowmobile puts you in control and covers more terrain per hour, while the sleigh costs noticeably less and asks nothing of you beyond sitting and watching. If your group is mixed, split the evenings rather than forcing everyone onto the same machine.

Aurora expedition on snowshoes

The Aurora Expedition on Snowshoes is a 2.5-hour walk through forest with drifts up to a metre deep, guided in English and lit by moonlight and stars. It is priced per adult, with child rates for ages 4 to 14, and with snowshoes, thermal clothing and warm berry juice included.

This is the quietest option and the slowest, so you cover little ground and rely on the guide's chosen forest clearing. It suits fit travelers who want stillness and a chance to photograph trees against the sky rather than a machine ride.

Aurora photography workshop

The one-hour Aurora Photography Workshop teaches camera settings for night-sky work so your images reflect what you actually saw. It is priced for adults and for children aged 4 to 14, with infants free.

Book it early in your stay rather than on your last night, so you can apply the settings during the rest of the trip. The workshop teaches technique; it does not travel to a dark site or guarantee a display.

Husky safaris as a night out

Husky safaris run over the fells around the resort on two-person sledges, with one guest driving at a time. The 5 km safari lasts about 1 hour 15 minutes; the 10 km version lasts about 1 hour 45 minutes.

Both include guiding in English, warm berry juice and thermal overalls, boots and mittens. In early winter or when snow is thin, guests may sit in a guide-driven sled instead of driving, so ask which format applies to your dates when you book.

Huskies are a daytime or evening experience rather than a dedicated aurora hunt, but a clear evening run puts you out on open ground with a wide sky. Treat it as a winter highlight that may coincide with a display, not as a substitute for a dark-sky camp.

Reindeer sleigh rides

Reindeer rides start and finish at the resort's own paddock, which makes them the easiest animal experience to fit around other plans. The 25-minute Reindeer Express, for adults and children aged 4 to 14, covers roughly 1.5 km by sleigh with thermal clothing included. The 1.5-hour version adds a meeting with a reindeer herder and feeding the animals before a 2 km ride, for adults and children. The longer Reindeer Day runs 2.5 to 3 hours and adds a soup lunch with rye bread and berry juice.

Reindeer travel is slow and close to the ground, which makes it atmospheric but limited for sky-watching. Choose it for the herding culture and the forest, and pair it with a separate aurora night if the lights are your main goal.

Minivan aurora chase from Saariselkä

Minivan hunts take a different approach: instead of a fixed camp, the guide drives to wherever the cloud forecast looks best, often toward Lake Inari or across open fell country. Listings describe roughly three-hour aurora hunts by minivan with an experienced guide, and around five-hour Lake Inari expeditions from Saariselkä.

These trips are usually the most flexible for adults who want distance without driving a machine, and they tend to be the best bet on a cloudy evening when a fixed camp would sit under the same cloud. Confirm the pickup point, group size and whether thermal suits are included, since these vary between listings.

Choosing between a camp, a chase and a safari

Pick a fixed camp if you are traveling with young children, want a fire and a guaranteed base, and prefer a shorter evening. The lake camp at three hours and the border camp at four hours both include transport and clothing, which keeps planning simple.

Pick a minivan chase if flexibility matters more than comfort and you want the guide to make the cloud decision for you. Pick a snowmobile or heated sleigh if you want to reach a fell top, and a snowshoe walk if you want silence over distance.

Husky and reindeer rides work best as daylight or early-evening additions rather than your only aurora plan. A common pattern is one camp night, one mobile hunt and one animal safari across three evenings, which spreads cost and gives you different terrain.

Group sizes, minimum ages and what is included

The resort's aurora tours include guiding in English, hot berry juice and snacks and thermal overalls, boots and mittens, and the snowmobile trips add a balaclava, helmet, fuel and insurance with a self-liability clause. Children aged 4 to 14 pay roughly half the adult rate on most tours, and infants aged 0 to 3 go free.

Kids' snowmobiles on a 200 m track are a separate add-on, with a minimum age of 6 and a maximum height of 155 cm. A parent or guardian stays responsible throughout the rental.

Because clothing is supplied, you can travel with lighter luggage and still join a snowmobile or camp night. Ask Northern Lights Village Saariselkä about group sizes when booking, since the resort publishes durations and inclusions but not a fixed maximum per departure.

How many nights to plan

Cloud cover decides most aurora nights, so a single evening in Saariselkä is a gamble whatever you book. Three to four nights gives you room for one camp, one mobile hunt and one rest evening, and lets you move a booking if the forecast turns.

Book the aurora-specific nights early in your stay and keep the last evening free, so you can rebook a chase if the first attempts sit under cloud. Snowmobile and sleigh tours are the easiest to swap.

Treat any sighting as a bonus rather than a scheduled event, and judge a tour by the night out it delivers: a fire by a lake, a husky run over the fells or a fell-top view of the stars. That way a cloudy evening still feels worth the money.

Where to watch near the village without a tour

Saariselkä is small enough that a short walk from the hotel area takes you away from the brightest lights, and the fell trails above the village open up the sky. Ski trails and forest tracks around the resort lead to darker clearings within a few minutes on foot.

If you want a base with dark-sky access, look at the fell hotels and resorts on the edge of the village, including the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort further along the road toward the national park. Staying outside the centre cuts light pollution but usually means relying on the hotel for transport.

Self-guided watching costs nothing and lets you wait as long as you like, but it depends on clear skies overhead and your own ability to read the cloud. A guided chase adds local knowledge and a vehicle; a camp adds a fire and a fixed viewpoint.

Self-guided chasing versus a guided tour

Driving yourself gives you the freedom to follow a clearing, but winter roads in eastern Lapland are icy, unlit and exposed, and reindeer on the road are a real hazard after dark. A hired guide carries the driving, the local weather reading and the gear, which is why most visitors pair one self-guided evening with two guided nights.

If you base yourself at the Northern Lights Village Saariselkä, you are already on the tour operator's doorstep, which simplifies pickups and late returns. Guests arriving via Ivalo Airport should allow for the transfer before booking an evening departure.

Guided tours do not buy clear skies, but they raise your odds by moving you away from cloud and light and by keeping you outside longer than you would stay alone. Weigh that against the cost of a minivan hunt or a snowmobile night and decide how many evenings you want to commit.

Plan Your Saariselkä Aurora Nights

Choose one fixed camp for an easy family evening, one mobile format such as a minivan chase or heated sleigh for flexibility, and one animal safari for the experience itself. That mix covers different weather and different energy levels without repeating the same night.

Book aurora nights early in your stay, keep a spare evening for a rebooking, and treat forecasts as a guide rather than a promise. The resort lists current rates, durations and inclusions on its experiences page, so compare those with the minivan listings before you commit.