Guide · Best month

Reindeer farm in Lapland in winter: the best month in Levi

A reindeer farm in Lapland in winter means snow, sleighs and short days; summer brings calves, growing antlers and the midnight sun. Here is how the months compare in Levi.

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Editorial team, reindeerfarmlevi.comUpdated October 22, 2026Read time: 6 min22 sources

The tour behind this guide Levi reindeer farm visit with a short sleigh ride 4.1 (503 reviews) 1.5 hoursLocal herders explain reindeer herdingShort sleigh ride, hot juice and cookies from$130per person Check availabilityNo charge to cancel until 24 hrs before the farm visit

Month in brief

01Sleigh season: Samiland's reindeer are in Levi from November to April.¹
02Darkest: Mid-December: no sun above the horizon in Levi.²
03Coldest: January: average low -17 °C, high -8.3 °C.²
04Light and snow: March: 11.5 hours of daylight, high -2.1 °C.²
05Summer: Calves born in May; farm visits are possible in summer too.³ ⁴

The sleigh season: November to April

Picture a reindeer farm in Lapland in winter and you see sleighs on snow; around Levi that season is long. Samiland's paddock reindeer arrive in Levi in November after the first snow has fallen and can be seen until April.¹ That window is a fair guide to when reindeer sleigh rides make sense here.

The edges of the season are less certain. Easy Travel's reindeer and husky safari warns that in November, for lack of snow, the outing can be switched to a farm visit, with a new date, a reduced price or a full refund offered. Its reindeer-only safari also offers a farm visit without the ride when the snow is too thin.

Winter is also Levi's busiest time. Visit Levi calls winter the peak season for tourism in Kittilä, with Levi its main attraction.⁵ Book reindeer visits early for the Christmas and New Year weeks and for the February holidays, and keep the free cancellation window in mind if your plans may change.

A year at the farm

What each season brings

November

Sleigh season opens

Samiland's reindeer arrive after the first snow.¹
Dec to Jan

Polar night

No sun at mid-December; blue twilight.² ⁶
Feb to March

Light returns

7.8 then 11.5 hours of daylight.²
April

Season ends

The last month of Samiland's reindeer.¹
May to Aug

Calves and antlers

Calves born in May; antlers grow fast.³ ⁷
Sept to Oct

Rut and roundups

Bulls unpredictable; roundups begin.⁸ ⁹

December and January: the dark months

Levi lies about 170 km north of the Arctic Circle, and that shows in midwinter.¹⁰ Around mid-December Levi gets no sunrise, and the January midpoint has 3.2 hours of daylight.² The polar night is longer the further north you go: Finland's foreign ministry gives four days in Sodankylä and almost two months in Utsjoki.¹¹

Darkness here is rarely black. Blue twilight is typical of the polar night in northern Finland, and the snow reflects every scrap of light.⁶ A sleigh ride in that blue hour, with lanterns at the farm and frost on the reindeer's coat, is a deeply atmospheric way to spend a Lapland afternoon. Bring a head torch for the walk from the car to the farm, and let your eyes adjust before the ride; the forest reveals more than you would think.

It is also the coldest stretch. January's averages at the station swing between a low of -17 °C and a high of -8.3 °C; December peaks at -5.6 °C.² On the Lovimainas rides a frost of -30 °C or worse means a new date or your money back; check your own listing's cold-weather rule.

Month by month

Darkness and wet days in Levi

Hours without sunDays with precipitationSeason

Bars: dark hours on the 15th of each month. Line: wet days, counted from 2.5 mm of precipitation. NOAA, Kittilä Airport and the village gauge, 1991 to 2020.²

Climate and the herding year

Levi month by month for a reindeer visit

Month	Daylight (h)	Darkness (h)	High / low	Wet days	Herding year
Jan	3.2	20.8	-8 / -17 °C	5	winter grazing
Feb	7.8	16.2	-7 / -16 °C	5	winter grazing
Mar	11.5	12.5	-2 / -12 °C	4
Apr	15.6	8.4	4 / -5 °C	4
May	20	4	11 / 1 °C	6	calves born
Jun	24	0	16 / 7 °C	7	earmarking
Jul	24	0	20 / 10 °C	9	earmarking
Aug	17.6	6.4	17 / 8 °C	7
Sep	13.4	10.6	11 / 4 °C	7	rut begins
Oct	9.6	14.4	3 / -3 °C	6	rut, roundups
Nov	5.3	18.7	-3 / -9 °C	7	roundups
Dec	0	24	-6 / -14 °C	7	roundups

Herding months beside the weather: our averages of NOAA records for 1991 to 2020, with highs and lows from Kittilä Airport, wet days of 2.5 mm or more from Kittilä village, and daylight on the 15th worked out for Levi.² Season according to Visit Levi.¹

Three ways to time it

Dark, bright or green

Atmosphere

Midwinter

December and January

Daylight: 0 to 3.2 hrs
Jan low: -17 °C
Sleighs: Yes

See the visit

Light and snow

Late winter

February and March

Daylight: 7.8 to 11.5 hrs
March high: -2.1 °C
Sleighs: Yes

See the visit

Calves

Summer

June to August

Daylight: 24 hrs in June
July high: 19.6 °C
Sleighs: No

See the visit

Decision helper

Which month suits your reindeer visit?

Start from what you want to see

A sleigh ride in daylight The blue polar light Calves The mildest sleigh weather

February or March

7.8 to 11.5 hours of daylight at mid-month.²

December

No sun above the horizon at mid-December.²

May

The first calves arrive around May Day.³

April

A daily high of 4.1 °C on average.²

The inhabitants of the Samiland reindeer paddock arrive in Levi in November, after the first snow has fallen. The reindeer can be seen from November to April.

Visit Levi (the official site of the Levi resort)Source 1

February to April: light returns

Late winter is the comfortable middle ground. Mid-February already has 7.8 hours of daylight at the station and mid-March 11.5 hours, while the snow stays deep.² The days lengthen fast, which gives you time for a longer farm visit and a drive out to a wilderness farm in daylight.

The cold eases too. March averages a daily high of -2.1 °C and April 4.1 °C, with a low of -4.8 °C in April.² For families and anyone who feels the cold, these are the gentlest months for a sleigh ride.

Samiland's paddock reindeer stay until April, the end of its season.¹ By then the bulls have long dropped their antlers, while many cows still carry theirs: female reindeer keep their antlers until they calve.¹² A late-winter visit is a good time to see the difference side by side.

Checklist

Season by season

Winter

Layers for the deep January cold
Book Christmas and February weeks early
A head torch for the dark afternoons

Summer

Insect repellent
Sunglasses for the midnight sun
Walking shoes instead of snow boots

Video

Seven days in Finnish Lapland in winter with northern lights, huskies and reindeer

Nothing loads until you tap play.

The herders' calendar and your visit

Your visit sits inside the herders' working year. The roundups start at the end of September or beginning of October and continue until the early part of the new year, the busiest period of a herder's calendar, as Metsähallitus describes.⁹ Early winter is when the herds are counted and some animals are separated for slaughter.¹³

Siida writes that after the roundup season the reindeer are tended on their winter pastures to make sure they find food under the snow, and guarded from predators.¹⁴ Through the winter the reindeer mainly eat lichens.¹⁵

Spring opens a new herding year. Calves are born in May, the first around May Day, the month North Sámi calls miessemánnu, the calf month.³ A visit in late April or May can show you the herd at that turning point, though the snow and the sleigh season are then ending.

Visiting a reindeer farm in Lapland in summer

A reindeer farm in Lapland in summer is a different experience. Visit Rovaniemi notes that reindeer farm visits are possible in summer too, and in summer around Levi the reindeer wander freely in the forests and can turn up on the fells and along the roads in Levi Centre.⁴ ¹⁶

Summer is the season of growth. The calves follow their mothers, and antlers grow up to 2 cm a day.⁷ Earmarking falls in summer; Siida notes that the insect season helps herders gather the reindeer for it.¹⁷ At the station mid-June and mid-July have 24 hours of daylight, and July averages a daily high of 19.6 °C.²

The trade-off is clear: no snow, no sleigh. The Levi listings compared on this site are built around winter sleigh rides; for a summer reindeer visit, check each operator's own summer program before you travel. Bring insect repellent and expect to meet reindeer on foot, not from a sleigh.

Autumn: the rut

Autumn is the reindeer's mating season. Reindeer mate from late September to early November, and October is golggotmánnu in North Sámi, the rut month.¹⁸ ¹⁹ The reindeer have new winter fur and full antlers then, and adult bulls carry the biggest racks.²⁰

That makes autumn striking but also a time for caution. Visit Finland warns that during the rut male reindeer may act in unpredictable ways.⁸ If you drive around Kittilä in October, slow down for reindeer on the road and keep well back if you stop to watch.

Weather in autumn is changeable: October at the station averages a daily high of 3 °C and has 9.6 hours of daylight, and November drops to a high of -2.8 °C.² It is the season between seasons, before the sleighs come out in earnest.

So which month should you choose?

For a classic sleigh ride with reliable snow and some daylight, aim for February or March. You get 7.8 to 11.5 hours of daylight at mid-month and the coldest weather behind you.² This site's 1.5-hour herders' visit with a short sleigh ride fits easily into a late-winter afternoon.

For atmosphere, choose December or early January, when the blue light of the polar night lies over the forest.⁶ Dress for real cold, and pick a visit with a warm hut or kota afterwards. December averages a daily low of -14 °C at the station, and the lights of the farm, a fire in the kota and hot juice afterwards turn the cold into part of the story.²

For calves and growing antlers, think about late spring or summer, accepting that you will meet reindeer on foot. Whatever the month, the reindeer will be there: Visit Levi counts 12,000 of them in Kittilä.²¹ And whenever you come, give the animals the same respect: Visit Finland reminds visitors that reindeer do not like loud noises, sudden movements or petting.²²

Pick your date