Husky Safari in Rovaniemi: A Complete Guide

Short answer: a husky safari in Rovaniemi is a half-day trip to a kennel outside the city, where you learn to drive a dog sled and then drive your own team on a forest trail. Our two safaris take about 5 hours each, with warm clothing and a kota break: 5 km (about 10-15 minutes on the sled) from 179€, or 10 km (about 25-45 minutes) from 209€.

What happens on a husky safari in Rovaniemi?

Most of a husky safari is preparation and time with the dogs: on our tours you drive for 10 to 45 minutes of a day that lasts about 5 hours. The order of the day on both safaris:

1. Meet and dress up at Korkalonkatu 36 in central Rovaniemi. The 5 km safari has no pickup; on the 10 km safari, pickup from your accommodation "is included in the price".
2. Transfer. The 10 km safari drives "about 45 minutes through snowy forests to the husky kennel in Jokela"; the 5 km safari drives to its husky farm, with no restroom on board.
3. Driving lesson: "a short tutorial on handling the sled and the commands".
4. Drive and kota. Half the group drives the trail and swaps drivers at halfway, while the other half warms up in the kota, a traditional Lappish hut, with coffee, tea or berry juice, gingerbread and chocolates. Then the halves switch.
5. Time with the huskies to pet and photograph them. On the 10 km safari you also see where the dogs live and train.
6. Back to Rovaniemi, with drop-off at your accommodation or the meeting point.

How do you drive a husky sled?

You drive standing up, one foot on each runner and both hands on the handlebar, and you control the team with your balance and the brake while the dogs pull.

• Brake early. The brake is a metal bar or claw between the runners that digs into the snow when you step on it. Use it gently, before downhills and when you close in on the sled ahead. Mushing magazine advises beginners to brake enough to keep the line to the dogs from sagging and tangling.
• Set the snow anchor. At a stop, brake to a halt, then stamp the snow hook, a metal anchor on a rope, into hard-packed snow. A sled must be anchored or held at every stop.
• Lean into curves, shifting your weight to the inside as on a bicycle, and slow down before the bend, not in it.
• Never let go of the handlebar, even if you fall: a team without a driver can run on.
• The passenger seat. Two adults share each of our sleds: one drives, the other sits in the sled with any small children. At halfway you stop and swap.

There are no reins. The lead dogs follow the trail, so your work is balance, speed and a safe gap to the team ahead.

5 km or 10 km: which husky safari should you choose?

Choose our 10 km husky safari for real time on the runners and pickup from your accommodation, and our 5 km husky safari for a shorter, lower-priced first taste with departures between 09:00 and 14:00.

Both last about 5 hours, include thermal winter clothing, the lesson and the kota break, are guided in English and Spanish, and can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before. The 10 km safari is "long enough to settle into the rhythm of the team instead of a short photo ride", at a kennel built in 2025 and run with "long-time racing mushers who live on site with the dogs". For 30€ more, you get roughly two to three times as long on the sled.

When is husky safari season, and how cold is it?

Our husky safaris run on snow from November to April, and an average midwinter day in Rovaniemi stays between about −5 °C and −14 °C, before the wind chill of the moving sled. The season starts once permanent snow settles, normally during November.

According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute's 1991-2020 normals for Rovaniemi airport, the average daily high is −4.9 °C in December, −7.3 °C in January and February and −1.9 °C in March, and the January average low is −13.5 °C.

Our trail times mean an average speed of roughly 13 to 30 km/h. On Environment and Climate Change Canada's wind chill chart, a 20 km/h wind at −15 °C feels like −24 °C, and at −20 °C it feels like −30 °C, when exposed skin can freeze in 10 to 30 minutes.

Rovaniemi has no polar night, but in December the sun barely rises above the horizon. Deep snow and real daylight make February and March the easiest months for snow activities.

What should you wear on a husky safari?

Wear thermal base layers, a warm mid layer, wool socks, a beanie and a face cover; our husky safaris provide the outer layer: boots, an insulated jacket and trousers, and gloves.

• Base: merino or synthetic thermals, top and bottom. No cotton.
• Mid: a fleece or wool top and warm leggings.
• Face: a buff or neck gaiter against the wind chill.
• Hands: thin liner gloves under the provided gloves, and your phone in an inside pocket, as batteries drain fast in the cold.

Our packing list for Lapland has the full checklist. For warm outer clothes on other days, such as an aurora hunt, rent a winter clothing set in Rovaniemi from 39€ a day.

Can children join, and how fit do you need to be?

Yes, children can ride in the sled with two adults on both of our husky safaris, and both are graded easy. Children aged 3-12 pay 159€ (5 km) or 189€ (10 km). The two adults share the driving; if older children hope to drive, ask us before you book.

Drivers stand on the runners for their half of the trail. The 10 km page says the tour "is not wheelchair accessible, and it is not recommended for pregnant travellers or for people with back problems or heart conditions". With very young children, the long reindeer sleigh ride (infants on your lap, strollers fine) or the family snowmobile safari (heated children's sleigh) may suit better.

How do you choose a responsible husky kennel?

Choose a kennel that answers questions about its dogs openly and lets you see where they live. SEY, a Finnish animal welfare organisation, has raised concerns about some kennels, including dogs that spend months in outdoor cages without proper exercise. Its checklist for travellers also asks whether the animals can behave naturally and whether there is a valid welfare certificate. Ask any kennel, including ours:

• How many dogs live here, and how many people care for them?
• How many runs does one dog do in a day, and how long are they?
• How do the dogs rest between runs and in summer?
• What happens when a dog is too old to run?
• Can we see where the dogs live?

Our 10 km safari runs at the kennel we co-own in Jokela, where long-time racing mushers live on site, and you see where the dogs live and train. On the 5 km safari you can talk with the handlers about how the dogs are trained.

Husky safari, reindeer sleigh ride or snowmobile?

Pick huskies if you want to drive and feel the dogs work, reindeer if you want a quiet ride that suits small children, and a snowmobile if you want engine power.

More in our snowmobile safari guide and on the winter activities page.

A husky safari and an aurora hunt fit into one day; rest in between, because the hunt can run past midnight. Our group Northern Lights tour costs 59€ (was 109€) and the small-group tour 149€ (was 199€). On all three Northern Lights tours from Rovaniemi, if the guide cannot photograph you with the Northern Lights during the hunt, the tour is refunded in full. See our 3-day winter itinerary, or choose activities and dates in Build your trip for a day-by-day plan with one price.

Sources: Finnish Meteorological Institute, temperature statistics 1991-2020 (Rovaniemi airport), as tabulated in Rovaniemi on Wikipedia; Environment and Climate Change Canada, Wind Chill Index; Mushing magazine, Beginner Basics: Training for First Runs; Mushing on Wikipedia; SEY Finnish Animal Welfare, advice on animal visits in Lapland; Polar Lapland tour pages. Figures checked October 2026.

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