A snowmobile tour in Rovaniemi includes pickup, suiting up, the safety briefing and breaks, and two people usually share one snowmobile. That is why we judge the tours by the driving time each listing states, and by the rules that decide who can come along.
Time on the snowmobile
The stated driving times run from 30 to 40 minutes on Wild Nordic’s easy safari to about six hours on its full day. Most tours of two to four hours have about one to one and a half hours of driving, and several three-hour tours have about an hour. Wild Nordic’s forest safari fits about an hour and a half of driving into a two-hour trip, which is why we pick it first. The driving-time comparison lists every tour that states its time.
Sharing a snowmobile or riding solo
Two people per snowmobile is the standard, and with a driver swap each of you drives about half of the stated time. Many tours, the forest safari among them, offer a solo snowmobile for a supplement. Wild Nordic’s full day is single-driving only, so everyone has a snowmobile of their own for about six hours and around 120 km. Long and full-day safaris.
Licence, deductible and minimum age
Every driver needs a valid category B car licence, and several operators accept only the physical card, not a photo or a digital version. Where a listing states a minimum age for drivers, it is 18, and one small-group tour asks for 20. The driver is liable for damage up to a deductible, which an optional waiver can lower. Licence and deductible in detail.
Children on the tour
Children never drive. They ride in a sled behind the guide, from age 4 on the forest safari. Snowride Lapland’s family tour carries children under 1.40 m in a heated sleigh, which keeps a passenger who sits still warmer on cold days. Some tours are for adults only, and the long safaris start at 12 or 14. Snowmobiling with children.
Day or evening
Day tours show you the forest and the frozen lakes in daylight. Evening tours drive in the dark, often with a campfire break, and the northern lights are possible but never guaranteed. Apukka Resort’s night tour has the most driving of the evening tours, two hours to two and a quarter, and takes teenagers from 15 as passengers. Evening and northern lights tours.
Season
The snowmobile season runs from around December to April, depending on the snow cover. In November only a few early-winter tours run, among them Apukka Resort’s early winter safari on trails made from stored snow and snow cannons. The best time to go.
