Half the emails we get about this tour aren't really about the reindeer at all — they're about the booking page. People land on it, see a calendar, a deposit box and a handful of add-ons, and want to know they're clicking the right thing before they hand over their card details on holiday wifi. Fair enough.

Joona has spent years around reindeer and aurora guides here in Rovaniemi, and Alla — who books most of our own family activities online — walked through this exact checkout again for this post. Here's what actually happens from the moment you land on the page to the confirmation email landing in your inbox, plus what you're really getting for your money.

What you're actually booking

The Northern Lights Tour Reindeer Safari pairs an evening reindeer sleigh ride — 2–3 km through Lappish forest — with the chance to see the aurora if conditions cooperate that night. It's built as an evening activity specifically because that's when the reindeer farm visit and any northern lights are both possible in the same outing, rather than as a "guaranteed aurora" tour (nothing genuinely guarantees a sighting; more on that in the FAQ). Check dates for the Reindeer Safari →

What makes this different from a straight aurora-hunting bus trip is the reindeer farm itself: you get proper time around the animals, a guide talking through how reindeer herding actually works in Lapland today (it's still a real, working part of the local economy, not just a photo prop), and a slower pace than a bus that drives for hours chasing clear sky. If your priority is specifically maximising the odds of a sighting rather than the reindeer, that's a different tour — see the aurora-hunting comparison in the section below.

The booking flow, step by step

Once you land on the tour's booking page5% off · HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY5, the flow is short: pick your date from the live calendar (it only shows genuinely available slots, so if a date looks greyed out, that departure is already full), choose adult and child ticket counts, and enter where you're staying in Rovaniemi — pickup is included within a 10 km radius of the city centre, so most hotels and cabins near town qualify. You'll then see the total with tax included, a box for a discount code (that's where HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY5 goes for 5% off), and a secure card payment step. Confirmation and your exact pickup time land in your inbox within a minute or two — no waiting on a callback or a "we'll email you tomorrow."

A couple of things worth double-checking before you hit pay: the accommodation field wants your actual street address or hotel name, not just "Rovaniemi," since that's what the driver's pickup list is built from, and the ticket counts should reflect ages accurately if there's a child rate, since misreporting ages is one of the more common reasons a booking needs correcting by email afterwards. If you're booking from a phone on patchy hotel wifi, it's worth waiting for the confirmation screen to fully load before closing the tab — a booking can occasionally go through on the backend even if the confirmation page itself stalls, so check your email before assuming it failed and trying again.

What's included once you're picked up

The listed inclusions are straightforward: an introduction to reindeer life, reindeer farming and herding in Lapland, the 2–3 km forest safari itself, warm berry juice and cookies afterwards, and pickup and drop-off within that 10 km radius. Thermal winter overalls, boots, beanies and mittens are provided in both adult and children's sizes, so you genuinely don't need your own snowsuit to do this comfortably at Lapland winter temperatures. Guiding is in English, with other languages available on request (Spanish, Portuguese and Finnish are listed, though availability for languages other than English is limited, so ask ahead if that matters to you).

Check dates & book the Reindeer Safari →

Bring a phone or camera that copes reasonably well in low light if you want your own aurora photos — most modern phones with a dedicated night mode do a surprisingly decent job propped against something still, though a proper camera on a small tripod will always do better. The guides are generally happy to help point cameras at the right patch of sky if something starts moving overhead, but it's still worth knowing your own phone's night mode before you're stood in a dark field trying to figure it out for the first time.

Timing and season

This is an evening tour, which matters for two reasons: aurora sightings depend on dark skies, so it only runs during Rovaniemi's dark season, and because it's after dark, plan your daytime around it rather than the other way round if you're stacking activities into one day. The booking cutoff is 4 hours before start time, so same-day booking is realistically possible if you check the calendar early in the day rather than at 5pm. If the tour is fully booked on your preferred night, our readers often shift a day earlier or later in their trip rather than switch tours entirely, since the format doesn't change much night to night.

Cost and how it compares

From €179 per adult, the Reindeer Safari sits above the shorter Kuoksa Reindeer Adventure (from €159, a similar forest safari without the evening/aurora framing) Check dates for Kuoksa Reindeer Adventure → and above the Northern Lights Tour Sleigh Ride (from €109, a snowmobile-pulled sleigh format over about 4 hours rather than reindeer). Check dates for the Sleigh Ride version → If reindeer specifically are the draw, the €179 option is the one to book; if you'd rather save money and don't mind swapping the animal for a snowmobile-pulled sleigh, the €109 version covers similar ground for less. All three carry the same 5% reader discount with code HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY5.

Worth noting on value: none of these three list prices include gratuity, and none of them are a "guaranteed aurora or your money back" product — those exist in Rovaniemi too (professional hunting departures that drive to clearer skies specifically), but they sit in a different price bracket entirely and trade the reindeer-farm experience for pure sky-chasing. If you're deciding purely on cost per hour of activity, the Kuoksa Reindeer Adventure at €159 for a 3-hour format is the tightest, while the €179 reindeer safari's extra length and evening/aurora framing is where the difference in price goes.

The practical small print

Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the activity, with a 100% charge inside that window — standard across StayLapland's evening tours. If weather rules out the sleigh ride specifically, the operator runs it as a reindeer walk instead of cancelling outright, so you'll still get time with the animals even on an unusually mild or icy evening. At least two people are generally required for the tour to run on weekdays and Saturdays, which is worth knowing if you're travelling solo and booking close to a quiet date — check current availability on the live calendar before you commit to non-refundable flights around it.

Dress warmer than you think you need to, even with the provided overalls: you'll be standing outdoors for stretches of the evening rather than moving constantly, and Rovaniemi evenings in the dark season regularly sit well below freezing. A hat that covers your ears under the provided beanie, and your own warm socks inside the provided boots, make a noticeably bigger difference than most first-time visitors expect. If you or anyone in your group has mobility limitations, mention it when you book — getting on and off a reindeer sleigh in snow is manageable for most people but isn't entirely step-free.

If you want to maximise your aurora odds

Because this tour is not sold as a guaranteed sighting, some readers pair it with a dedicated aurora-hunting departure later in their trip for a second chance under genuinely dark, wide-open sky conditions rather than a farm setting with some ambient light. We've written in detail about how the guaranteed northern lights hunting tour actually works, including what "guaranteed" means in practice. Others prefer to keep things simple with a second, cheaper aurora evening — read our full review of the reindeer safari itself for what a real night on this tour looked like for us.

If you only have one night free in Rovaniemi and want to give yourself the best realistic shot, checking the aurora forecast and cloud cover for that specific evening before you book — rather than assuming any winter night will do — genuinely helps. Guides watch the same forecasts and will be honest with you about a low-odds night if you ask directly; it's a fair question to put to StayLapland's booking team by email or WhatsApp before you commit if the forecast looks poor.

Frequently asked questions

How long does booking actually take?
About three minutes if you already know your date and where you're staying — the form only asks for a date, ticket counts, your accommodation, and payment.

Is seeing the northern lights guaranteed?
No. This tour includes a reindeer safari with a chance of aurora if the sky and solar activity cooperate that night; nothing in Lapland can honestly guarantee a sighting on any single evening.

Does pickup work from any hotel in Rovaniemi?
Pickup and drop-off are included within a 10 km radius of Rovaniemi city centre, which covers most central hotels and cabins — enter your exact address at booking to confirm.

Do I need my own winter clothing?
No — thermal overalls, boots, beanies and mittens are provided in adult and children's sizes, so normal warm layers underneath are enough.

What happens if the weather is bad?
If conditions don't allow the sleigh ride, the operator runs it as a reindeer walk instead of cancelling, so the activity still goes ahead in a modified form.

Can I cancel or change my date after booking?
Yes, free of charge up to 24 hours before the start time; inside that window a 100% cancellation fee applies, so try to confirm your date as firmly as you can before booking.

Our final pick

For most readers asking specifically about the reindeer version, we point them to the Northern Lights Tour Reindeer Safari5% off · HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY5 at €179 — it's the right balance of a proper reindeer experience with a genuine (if unguaranteed) shot at the aurora, and the online booking really does take a few minutes once you know your date. If budget matters more than the reindeer specifically, the €109 sleigh ride version covers similar ground for less. Either way, book on the live calendar above and use code HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY5 for 5% off.