Reindeer Sleigh Ride in Lapland: What You Need to Know

So you want to go riding with the reindeer? 

We’re not surprised, it sounds so magical, right?

But is the experience as romantic, as it looks on social media? And how much does a reindeer ride in Lapland cost? Oh, and what about animal welfare?

You’ll find answers to all these questions here.

We did a reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland, and share all the tips and tricks straight from our personal experience in this post.

So, hop into the sleigh and hold on tight. You never know, these might be Santa’s magical reindeer who can fly!

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please read our Disclaimer.

Here’s a little bit about our journey, if you are new here! If you know us, feel free to skip this part.

After leaving our old life in Scotland in March 2022 (it rains too much there), we travelled full-time for almost 2 years. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it was. If you think that carrying overpacked backpacks in 45°C heat around streets that aren’t even on Google Maps is fancy. And that’s just 1% of all the fun we had! 😆

During the 2 years we volunteered in Italy and Bulgaria (free travel while learning new skills, anyone?), explored other amazing European countries and backpacked Southeast Asia. Btw, even our secret wedding was more of an expedition than a wedding. 😅

And, of course, we researched and planned everything ourselves, because you gotta keep the budget low, right? If you are like us, you’ve come to the right place, because we want to share all the useful travel tips and info with you!

Excited? Good. Let’s get into it so you can go on your own epic adventures too!

Use this when planning your Lapland holiday

If this is the first Lapland post from us that you’ve come across, we’ve got good news.

We have many more!

Our Lapland holiday was so amazing and we discovered so many hacks and tricks during it, that we decided to write it all down on our site, to help other travellers like yourself.

Here are some posts that might help you:

• Lapland on a Budget – this is our main resource that details how we managed to have a magical Lapland holiday without breaking the bank.
• If you are concerned about what to wear in Lapland, this post tells you how to save money when buying your winter outfits and this one here shares how to dress when aurora watching (including extra tips you won’t find elsewhere!).
• Want to do Lapland without a car and without the hassle that comes with it? We’ve got you covered—we did our trip car-free and wrote all about it here.
• Curious how we did a totally secret, guest-free wedding at the start of our Lapland trip? Yup, that happened. 😄 You can see it all here.

Is your Lapland planning overwhelming you? Or maybe you just have questions you wish you could chat to someone who’s been there about? You can easily book a call with us here and we can help you!

Where did we do our reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland?

When we talk about “our reindeer ride” in this post, we mean the one we did at Northern Lights Village in Saariselkä, our northern lights resort.

Want all the details? We have a post about what the experience was really like here (COMING SOON).

Now, let’s look at why Santa Claus Village reindeer rides might not be what you imagine. (Spoiler alert: Santa might be pretty disappointing too, if you go see the fake one.)

Reindeer ride in Santa Claus Village

Does your Lapland holiday include visiting Santa Claus Village?

Maybe you’re taking the amazing Santa Claus Express train there?

And then meeting Santa Claus himself? (Btw, if this is your plan, make sure to meet the real one, as we said, and not get scammed!)

If this is your plan, you might have seen on the official website of the Santa Claus Village that you can do a reindeer sleigh ride there too!

Doesn’t that sound magical, going riding with the reindeer, right in Santa’s village?

It does. On paper (or a screen, in this case!). In reality, things are very different…

What do you need to know before booking a reindeer ride in Santa Claus Village?

#1 Compare the experiences

First, do some research. 

If you know us, you know we research a lot—we always want to make sure we have the best possible experience and get the best value for money. That’s why we write this blog and share travel tips on our Instagram, so you don’t have to do as much research yourself!

In this case though, we will suggest you research a bit.

For example, compare the reindeer ride options in the place you’ll be staying at, in Lapland, with the rides offered in Santa Claus Village (this is, of course, going on the assumption that you will be moving on from Santa’s village, maybe further up north, like we did).

When comparing reindeer ride experiences in Lapland, this is what you should check:

• The length of the experience – are you happy with a 20 minute ride? Or would you prefer something longer and with extra activities too?
  
  Pro tip: find out how long the actual reindeer ride takes. Just because an experience says 2.5hr, don’t assume that you’ll be in the sleigh for that length of time. The total time usually includes any intro instructions, transfers, hot drink and a chat by the fire after the ride etc.
• Speaking of extras, are there any bonus activities included? Do you get to speak to the reindeer herder and learn more about the reindeer? Do you get to feed them? Anything like that?
• The price, especially if doing Lapland on a budget.
• Any extras offered, such as a hotel pickup service, thermal clothing or a meal (if the experience runs over lunchtime, for example).
• Reviews – always always check what experience other travellers had (but take it all with a pinch of salt).
• How ethical the experience is. Are the reindeer well taken care of? What conditions do they live and work in? Does the experience include any animal-human contact?

Comparing the Santa Claus Village reindeer rides

When we were planning our Lapland trip, there were 3 options of reindeer sleigh rides offered at Santa Claus Village: 2 super short ones, which sounded rubbish, to be honest with you, and then one longer one, but it had to be prebooked.

We weren’t keen on that, since prebooking means you’re committing to a specific date and time, and we prefer to be flexible, because trains can be delayed, weather can turn awful etc. 

The best thing for you to do? 

• Read the rest of this post to see if the reindeer ride in the Santa Claus Village sounds good to you at all. 
• If yes, check out the official website to see what they are offering during the time of your visit.
• Compare with any other options you have, for example a reindeer ride offered by your hotel further up north in Lapland.

#2 Think about the vibe

The one reason we were leaning slightly towards doing the reindeer ride in Santa’s village?

The idea of riding with the reindeer IN SANTA CLAUS VILLAGE.

Yes, we know, we were 3 adults on this trip and what does it matter that it’s Santa’s Village?

Well, it matters to us and our inner children. That’s why we took the magical Santa Claus Express train and went to meet Santa too.

And it might matter to you too, if you’re travelling with your kids and want them to have the most Christmassy time ever.

The problem with Santa Claus Village reindeer rides

In the end, we decided we’d rather do a reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland in our northern lights resort.

Why?

Santa Claus Village is quite a commercial place. We talk about that here.

It does depend when you visit, but if you go around the Christmas holidays?

We imagine it all feels like a conveyor belt at the reindeer experience:

• Pay (a lot of money)
• Get into the sleigh
• Next customer

And that’s not the experience we wanted.

The solution

Compare that with time dedicated just to a small group of people, where the guide takes time to talk to you.

Where you feel like you have plenty of time to ask questions.

And then you don’t just join a conveyor belt of reindeer sleighs. You go on a ride through the untouched Arctic forest with just a few other people.

Again, keep the time of your visit in mind.

What we’re describing above was the start of April, in our northern lights resort.

But even in December? Literally during Christmas?

The reindeer ride we did at our Lapland hotel is only offered once a day.

It won’t ever feel like you’re just one in a line of hundreds of other people, waiting for the next sleigh to become available.

So consider the experience, but think about the atmosphere realistically.

Santa Claus Village is magical, but it is also very commercialised.

#3 The weather

Speaking of the time of the year.

Maybe you’re looking to avoid the madness of the festive season.

Good. It’s a great hack to save not just your sanity, but your wallet too.

The thing is, if you go earlier, say in November?

There is often no or very little snow in Lapland, in Santa’s village area.

(It’s also not the best time to see the Northern Lights, but that’s a chat for another day.)

And if you go towards the end of winter?

Sure, the snow conditions should be the best.

But they might not be.

For example, when we were getting ready for our Lapland trip?

There was a big panic among travellers, as all snow melted in Santa’s village and Rovaniemi in general, a couple weeks before we went.

When we got there, on the very last day of March, there was snow. 

But there wasn’t a lot. And it certainly wasn’t pristine anymore. 😬

The temperature at the Arctic Circle, which cuts through Santa’s village?

0°C.

And then it started to rain.

It’s great, if you’re forever cold, like Mirka, and worried about freezing your bum off when visiting Santa and Lapland.

But it’s not great if you’re imagining a romantic snowy sleigh ride, but get a rainy muddy one instead.

Do you now see why we didn’t want to prebook the reindeer ride, btw?

Which vibe do you want? Sad and muddy (Santa Claus Village – left) or snowy and magical (Northern Lights Village Saariselkä – right)

#4 How ethical is the reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland?

If you care about animal welfare and the ethical implications of the reindeer rides, you have two main options:

1. Agreeing with the no-entertainment opinion

This means agreeing with the opinion that animals should be left in the wild, in their natural habitat, and not used for human entertainment in any way. In that case, no reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland will be ethical for you. 

What you can hope for is that you see reindeer in the wild, for example, as you travel through Lapland. This happened to us—when we were travelling by bus from Santa Claus Village to our northern lights resort (because car-free travel!), the bus had to break unexpectedly twice, as reindeer jumped right in front of it from the surrounding forest!

The thing is, even if this is what you believe and support, the reality (for now), won’t change. (That is not to say it therefore doesn’t matter, it’s just to point out what is currently really happening.)

2. Checking your chosen reindeer ride experience as much as you can

We’ve already mentioned how commercial Santa Claus Village is.

What we didn’t expect was how the reindeer seemed to be living there.

What we saw when we visited the village were sad-looking reindeer, tied to a fence in a small area, waiting for someone to pay for a ride with them.

It looked heartbreaking, instead of magical, and made us feel even more glad that we decided against doing the reindeer ride in Santa Claus Village.

When checking reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland experiences:

• Check the conditions the reindeer are kept in.
• Can you find out how many rides per day the reindeer do? We talked more about that here.
• What is the policy for human contact? Our reindeer experience had a strict no-touch rule, despite the fact we could feed the reindeer.
• Ask questions prior to booking. Is it easy to contact someone to ask more about the reindeer wellbeing? Do you get genuine answers or just a vague, PR-safe blurb?
• Again, make sure to check the reviews, to see what the experience is really like, outside of the picture-perfect marketing content. This is why we share our personal experience on this blog and always encourage you to speak to us and other travellers, so you get the real info.

Did you know this about reindeer?

Whether reindeer sleigh rides in Lapland (or any animal experiences) are ethical is, of course, a complex issue, and it’s not our area of expertise.

Here is what we learned from the reindeer herder who led our reindeer ride, though:

• No reindeer in Finland is wild. This really surprised us—did you know that? All reindeer have to be accounted for and registered with a herder. So there is no such a thing as wild reindeer, even if it might seem so (for example, like the ones that jumped in front of our bus! They also belong to someone.)
• There are strict rules when it comes to who can become a reindeer herder in Finland—it’s a profession (and really a lifestyle) that is mostly kept in families. Our reindeer guide, for example, married into a herder family.
• The local herders carefully look after the reindeer, deciding which ones take part in rides, which are bred, and which are raised for meat—ensuring the herd stays healthy and balanced. 
• The biggest threat humans pose to reindeer? It’s roads, with thousands of animals killed in traffic each year. We mentioned reindeer jumping in front of our bus—the driver had to react fast, keeping the reindeer and us, the passengers, safe. It’s something worth considering when deciding whether you want to hire a car or do Lapland using public transport, like we did.

How much does a reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland cost?

This, of course, depends on your chosen provider, but we’ll share how much we paid.

What you should keep in mind is that Lapland is expensive.

That’s why we keep going on about the amazing hotel we stayed at in Lapland—because it was so cheap (and even included meals, so we saved more on food too!). You can find all info on how we did our Lapland holiday on a low budget here.

Now, the actual price we paid for the reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland.

We did the 1.5hr reindeer experience at our northern lights resort and it cost us €139, per person.

Now keep in mind that:

• That’s a price for an adult
• We visited outside of the main festive season, at the end of March/start of April
• The price is from 2025

Lapland is not cheap. That’s why it’s important that you plan your trip there well:

• Check out how we did Lapland on a budget here
• Read our other Lapland posts – they are packed with useful tips to make sure you have the best time
• If in doubt, book a call with us and we can chat through things together

What was our reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland like?

We mention many things about our reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland throughout this post, but we know you might want the full story.

In that case, here it is (COMING SOON). 

Go read the post if you:

• Are interested in doing the reindeer experience at the Northern Lights Village Saariselkä 
• Want to know what riding with the reindeer is really like (because social media often lies, as we learned during the husky experience 😬)

Any questions, make sure to give us a shout in the comments below or on our Instagram!

Can we do a reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland if there is an odd number of us in a group?

Maybe you’re doing your Lapland trip as 5 people.

Naturally, you might be wondering, how will you be able to do the reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland?

Best advice?

Check with your chosen provider.

For us, we travelled to Lapland as 3 adults—the two of us and Mirka’s sister who was, unknowingly, our wedding witness and photographer (and a make up and hair artist, and the only guest, of course 😄).

The reindeer ride we did at our northern lights resort had 2-person sleighs.

But, unlike the disastrous husky ride, if you were a solo rider, you didn’t get paired up with some weirdo, sorry, we mean a stranger! 😆

You got the sleigh all to yourself!

For us, it meant Daniel was in a sleigh solo, leading the whole convoy, while Mirka and her sister were in the sleigh just behind his.

VIP reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland, anyone?

It’s definitely something worth thinking about, if you care about the kind of experience you will have, so find out about the setup at your chosen provider before you book.

Now, let’s address that whole husky horror we mentioned.

Should I also book a husky ride?

If you are thinking about going on a reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland, you might be considering a husky ride too.

In that case, do go read this first.

It’s our experience of the husky ride we did in Lapland, and let us tell you, it was not pretty.

And we even picked well, not a crappy provider.

Still, huskies, unlike reindeer sleigh rides, are very different in reality than what it looks like in pictures or videos.

And nobody talks about it, so we feel responsible for spreading the word.

Don’t book a husky ride without reading this.

Save yourself the money and spend it on something other than adding another traumatising experience to your life.

And remember, any questions, you can reach out in the comments below, directly on our Instagram or book a call with us.

Travel insurance for Lapland

When doing any winter activity (even walking to hotel’s restaurant from your glass-roof cabin counts as a winter activity in Lapland btw, because you might be battling snow, icy paths, deep snowbanks and more!), make sure you’re covered for any accidents.

When we travel, we trust True Traveller to keep us safe.

And we mean that—we researched 23 different travel insurance providers before we went full-time travelling to find the best one, and True Traveller is who we decided on.

If you want to know more about their travel insurance, we wrote a full review here.

We also wrote about the time we had to make a claim with True Traveller, because it was such a mindblowing experience—you’ve got to read this before you buy.

Remember: this is the Arctic. It’s important to be prepared and stay safe. (If you are concerned about safety, btw, we have a whole section on our blog full of travel safety hacks, because we are also anxious travellers! [Admittedly, more Mirka, than Daniel 😄])

Was the reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland worth it?

Is going for a ride with the reindeer worth the cost?

For us?

Absolutely.

We had such a wonderful time, we left the experience bouncing off the walls with excitement—we just rode with reindeer through the Arctic forest—even fed them!

Shame the same can’t be said about the husky ride experience. 😬

As you can tell, we did a ton of homework planning our reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland.

The best part? You don’t have to do the same yourself. Just reading this post already gives you a head start—but if you peek at our other Lapland posts and use the tips we gave you, your own adventure will be even smoother (and way less stressful).

And remember, we’re just a call away, if you need us!

These are our tips for choosing a great reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland. Our experience was definitely at the top of the things we did there—together with getting married and seeing the Northern Lights for the first time!

Are you dreaming of going on a reindeer sleigh ride in Lapland? And do you have a favourite reindeer from Santa’s Famous 9? Let us know in the comments below!