By snowmobile or on foot: choosing your Rovaniemi ice fishing trip
Every ice fishing trip from Rovaniemi ends the same way, on a stool next to a hole in a frozen lake. How you get there changes the whole day. Two of our three tours put you on a snowmobile, and one walks you through the forest in silence.
One lake, two very different days
The fishing part is much the same on all three trips. You get a guide and a hand auger, then a short rod over a hole in the ice. What differs is the hour or two around it.
On a snowmobile day the ride takes up much of the time and most of the memories. On the walk-in trip the fishing is the event, and the forest path is only a few minutes long.
The choice also shapes the group around you. Engine days run with up to 20 or even 50 guests on the listings, while the walk-in trip stops at eight. That changes how much of the guide you get, and how busy the lake feels when you arrive.
What a snowmobile day involves
Safartica's day from ~$211 spends two to three hours driving along frozen rivers and through forest to a quiet fishing spot. Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park's combo from ~$181 rides about 20 km (12 miles), part of it among the trees and part out on open lake ice.
On both, two adults share one machine. One drives while the other sits behind, and you usually swap halfway so both of you get a turn at the handlebars.
A snowmobile is loud and fast for a forest track. The guide sets the pace at the front, and you follow in a line, so stopping for a photo whenever you like is not part of the deal.
Licences and the rules for drivers
To drive you need a valid driving licence, and both operators check it. Safartica asks drivers to be 18 or older, which also covers most car-licence holders anyway.
Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park goes further in its small print. It refuses provisional licences, and a photo of your licence on your phone does not count either, so bring the card itself along with a passport or ID.
Without a licence you can still go, as the passenger. Children ride in a sled pulled behind the guide's snowmobile on both engine tours, a set-up our family guide covers in detail.
Wind chill and engine noise
Speed turns cold air into wind on your face. At −20 °C (−4 °F), even a moderate pace on an open lake bites at any skin left bare, and the passenger, who sits still, often feels it most.
Engines also fill the forest with sound and exhaust smell. If you come to Lapland for the silence, a convoy of sleds gives you plenty of thrill and very little quiet until the motors stop at the lake.
GetYourGuide's summary of Safartica's reviews says a few guests wanted clearer expectations about speed limits and the pace. Expect to go at the guide's speed, which can feel slow to a confident driver and fast to a nervous one.
Snowmobile days are not recommended in pregnancy or for people with a fragile back or joints, according to Safartica's listing. The bumps on a forest track are real, even at a calm speed.
What the walk-in trip gives you instead
Wild About Lapland's walk-in trip from ~$99 has no engines at all. You walk five to ten minutes through an old forest to a wide frozen lake. Boots and winter clothing come from the operator.
The group is eight people at most, so the guide has time for each hole. You drill your own hole and hear how locals net fish under the winter ice, with more minutes left for your line in the water.
The trade-off is a shorter, simpler day of three to four hours, with none of the speed. You get a campfire snack and hot drinks instead of lunch. Its GetYourGuide rating is 4.5 from 400+ reviews, with 4.7 from 34 on Viator.
No engines, a small group, more time at the hole
Wild About Lapland walks you through old forest to a frozen lake and hands you the auger, with the group kept to eight. Clothing and boots are included, as is the fishing gear.
Comparing the two on cost
The walk-in trip costs about half of a snowmobile day. On top of that, the engine tours carry a damage liability per sled, which most drivers reduce with a small insurance on the day.
The full breakdown, with the euro amounts for each operator, sits in our ice fishing price guide. For a couple, the gap between the two kinds of day can pay for a good dinner in town.
Time is a cost as well. A snowmobile day fills most of a morning and the early afternoon, while the walk-in trip leaves room for another activity the same day. Our three-day plan for Rovaniemi shows how each one fits around the rest of a short stay.
Who should pick which
Neither is the better trip in general. It depends on what you want to bring home, and who comes with you.
- Pick a snowmobile day if you want the ride as much as the fishing, and one of you holds a full licence
- Pick Safartica if you want a proper hot lunch out on the ice
- Pick Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park if you stay near Santa Claus Village or want hotel pickup included
- Pick the walk-in trip if you want quiet in a small group at the lowest fare
- Pick the walk-in trip for a back that dislikes bumps, or if nobody in your party drives
Whichever you choose, the time on the lake follows the same rhythm. Our guide to three hours on the ice walks through it, and the clothing guide covers the layers under the overalls.