Drive your own husky team or ride along near Rovaniemi
Most husky safaris around Rovaniemi hand you the sled: you stand on the runners and work the brake while the dogs run. The other option is the basket, where you watch the forest go by while a musher drives. Which suits you depends mostly on your fitness and on each operator's rules about who may drive.
Two ways to travel on a sled
On a self-drive safari you stand at the back of the sled with a foot on each runner, holding the handlebar. The dogs set the pace and follow the sled ahead, so your job is to stay balanced and brake when the team bunches up.
On a passenger ride a musher drives and you sit low in the basket, wrapped up against the wind. You see more of the trail and do less, which makes it the easier choice for small children or anyone unsteady on their feet.
What driving involves
The brake is a bar or claw you press into the snow with one foot. Most of the skill lies in using it gently, since the dogs pull hard and a sudden stop jolts the whole sled.
A guide leads the convoy, and Apukka's reviewers describe guides riding ahead on snowmobiles. Your team follows the sled in front, so steering is mostly a matter of shifting your weight and keeping a steady gap.
On a downhill, ride the brake lightly so the sled never runs into the dogs. Lean into each bend and keep your knees soft; each operator teaches its own method at the start, and the guide's word beats ours.
Falls happen, usually at low speed on a bend. The usual rule is to keep hold of the sled whatever happens, because a team without a driver tends to keep running.
Who may drive on each tour
Apukka's listing says guides do not drive the sleds, so every adult on the tour must have the fitness and body control to act as a musher. The tour is not offered to pregnant travelers or people with mobility impairments.
Two adults share each Apukka sled and swap halfway, according to reviews. A sled carries at most two adults plus 1–3 children, with a 250 kg (550 lb) limit in total, and our family guide covers the child rules.
A Day In Lapland lets only adults aged 18 or over drive. Two guests share a sled and swap at the halfway point of a 6–10 km (3.7–6.2 miles) run, with one driving while the other rides.
Safartica puts two adults on each team, with children riding in the sleigh. Before you set off, the musher gives a short driving lesson, which helps if you have never stood on runners before.
Learning first with Safartica
Safartica's daytime safari from ~$211 suits a first-timer who wants to drive without giving up a whole day. At the resort reception a musher collects you and leads the way to a kennel of Alaskan huskies.
After a steering lesson, the team pulls you 5 km (3.1 miles) in roughly 20–30 minutes. The safari scores 4.6 from 1,000+ reviews on GetYourGuide.
Its weak points are the shortest self-drive ride of the group and strict timing. Late arrivals miss the safari and get no refund, so build in a margin.
A driving lesson before your first 5 km
Safartica's 1.5-hour safari includes transfers and winter clothing. After a steering lesson from the musher, two adults take each team while children travel in the sleigh.
Taking turns on a shared sled
On the shared sleds the swap usually comes at a stop halfway, so both of you get a turn on the runners and a turn in the sled. Agree beforehand who goes first, since the second half tends to come after the nerves have settled.
The person in the sled has a job too. Sitting still and low keeps the sled steady on bends, and calling out when the team ahead slows gives the driver more time to brake.
Weight matters as well. Apukka's 250 kg limit per sled covers everyone on board, children included, so check the sums before you book as a family.
When the basket is the better seat
Bearhill Husky's ride at Santa Claus Village, from ~$70, suits anyone who would rather sit than steer. A musher drives a 2.5 km loop of 7–12 minutes inside a 30-minute slot, and the listing marks it as wheelchair accessible.
It scores 4.7 from 1,500+ reviews on GetYourGuide. You never drive, though. The ride is a taster rather than a safari, as our Santa Claus Village guide explains.
The basket also makes sense if anyone in your party has a bad back or weak knees. Self-drive operators expect every driver to stand for the whole run and react when the sled lurches.
Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park's combo day from ~$221 includes a 500 m husky sleigh ride, too short to learn much about the dogs. The machine you may steer that day is the snowmobile, which needs a valid physical category B driving licence.
How to choose your seat
- Drive if you are an adult in reasonable shape and want to feel the team pull through the handlebar
- Ride if you are traveling with small children or cannot stand for half an hour
- Share a sled if one of you is nervous, since the second driver gets to watch the first half
- For the longest drive, A Day In Lapland lists 30–50 minutes (see ride lengths)
Whichever seat you take, dress for wind as well as cold, because the sled's speed sharpens the chill. The clothing guide has the layers, and the price comparison shows what each seat costs.
Before the start, look at the dogs as well as the sled. Our guide to a well-run husky farm lists the signs of a team in good shape.