Reindeer Sleigh Rides at the Arctic Circle

Facts checked for the 2026–2027 season against the operators' own pages (Santa Claus Village, Snowman World, SantaPark, VR, Finavia). Hours and prices change by season: the booking page has the final word.

The reindeer are the oldest business in Santa Claus Village: the sleigh ride through the forest behind the square has been sold since the village opened and still starts from the same yard, Santa Claus Reindeer on Joulumaantie, a hundred metres from the Arctic Circle line. It is the slowest of the winter rides and the one that suits the youngest and the oldest visitors, and in Lapland it comes with a story that the husky does not have: these animals belong to a herder, and reindeer husbandry is a living trade. Prices, lengths, seasons and the alternatives for winter 2026–2027.

Rides in the village

Ride	Where	Length	Price	Who
Short loop around the yard	Santa Claus Reindeer, in the village	400 m, about 10 min	about 20–35 € per person	the first reindeer for toddlers and grandparents
Forest ride	same yard, trail into the forest	1 km, about 20 min	about 60 €	families; two adults or one adult and two children per sleigh
Longer forest ride	same yard	2 km, about 30–40 min	about 100 €	photographers, couples
Forest ride with hotel transfer	pick-up at Rovaniemi hotels	2 km plus the drive	about 179 €	visitors staying in town
Reindeer farm visit with a short ride	farms 10–25 km from the village, transfer included	2–3 hours	about 70–120 €	anyone who wants the herder's story and a sleigh

Each sleigh is pulled by one reindeer led by a herder on foot or driven by the passengers along a marked trail, at walking pace; the longer rides give you the reins and a «reindeer driving licence» at the end. The yard is open every day from 30 November to the end of April, 10:00 to 17:00 in the Christmas season, shorter hours in spring. The reindeer rest in the summer yard next to the post office from June to September, when the farm rides are replaced by feeding visits.

Reindeer sleigh rides from Santa Claus Village All village activities

At a reindeer farm

The farms around Rovaniemi, Sinettä and Vikajärvi are family businesses where a herder keeps a few hundred animals on free range in summer and in fenced winter pastures from December. A visit takes two or three hours: the herder explains the yearly cycle, the round-ups in autumn, the ear-marks that show who owns which animal and why Finland's 200,000 reindeer are counted in a register; you feed the animals lichen, take a sleigh ride on the farm trail and drink coffee by the fire in a kota hut. Some farms combine it with a short snowmobile transfer or a lunch of sautéed reindeer; vegetarians should say so when booking. The farm visit is the right choice for anyone who wants the culture rather than just the ride, and it is the version that sells best to families with children of six to twelve.

Reindeer, husky or snowmobile?

Ride	Pace	Age	Length	Price
Reindeer sleigh	walking	from birth, with an adult	10–40 min	20–100 €
Husky sled	fast	from about 4	30 min to 3 hours	63–190 €
Snowmobile	up to 60 km/h	driver 18+ with licence, kids in a sleigh	2–6 hours	100–280 €

The reindeer sleigh is quiet, slow and short, and that is the point: a two-year-old sits on your lap under the hide, a camera gets the forest and the antlers in focus, and nobody needs an overall. For teenagers it is the one to skip in favour of the huskies; for the day with grandparents it is the one to book.

Weather and clothing

Ten minutes at walking pace do not need special clothing beyond what you wear in the village: a warm coat, boots and mittens. The longer rides and the farm visits mean half an hour sitting still at −20 °C, so wear a wool base layer and take the reindeer hide the herder offers; the farm tours include overalls when they are longer than an hour. The reindeer walk in any weather short of a storm; rides are cancelled below about −30 °C for the animals' sake.

Reindeer in Lapland: what to know

Finnish reindeer are semi-domesticated: every animal has an owner, but they graze free for most of the year and are gathered in autumn and winter. The herding area covers the northern third of the country, the Sámi cooperatives in the far north and Finnish cooperatives around Rovaniemi. Both sexes grow antlers, the males shed theirs after the autumn rut and the females keep theirs through the winter, which is why Santa's sleigh team, with antlers in December, is female by the rules of biology. A reindeer pulling a sleigh covers 5 to 10 km/h and prefers to walk; the racing reindeer of the Lapland championships reach 60 km/h but are not the ones in the village yard.

Booking

The yard sells rides on the spot and the short loop rarely needs a booking outside the Christmas weeks; the 1 km and 2 km rides and the farm visits with transfer are sold with a time slot and sell out between 20 December and 6 January. GetYourGuide lists the village rides and the farm visits with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Late morning has the best light for photos in December; in March the forest is bright until 17:00 and the snow on the trail is at its best.

Book a reindeer sleigh ride Husky rides

Questions about reindeer rides