Guide · In the sleigh

Reindeer ride in Levi: what really happens on the day

A reindeer ride in Levi is quieter and slower than you might expect. Here is how the visit runs, what the sleigh feels like and how to stay warm while the reindeer walks.

Check availabilityfrom $130 · cancel without a fee

Editorial team, reindeerfarmlevi.comUpdated October 22, 2026Read time: 6 min16 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

In a nutshell

01Total time: From 1 hour to 2 hours with transfers; the ride is the shorter part.
02One example: Transfer, briefing, ride, snack by the fire, transfer back.
03The pace: Moderate, which suits all ages, by Visit Finland's account.¹
04This site's visit: Herders explain herding, then a short ride, hot juice and cookies.
05Dress for: Standing still: January in Levi averages a high of -8.3 °C.²

Pickup and the drive out of the village

A reindeer ride in Levi starts with a transfer: the animals live at farms and camps in the forest around the village, not in the centre. On this site's tour you meet your guide and are driven to the reindeer; pickup and drop-off from set locations are part of the price. Other listings name their meeting point outright: Levi Center at Hissitie 11 for the Polar Lights Tours ride, the Levi Tourist Office for Lovimainas, the main door of Design Hotel Levi for Polar Star Travel.

The drives are short. The Kermikkä ride lists 15 minutes by bus each way, the Lovimainas camp is 10 minutes away, and the Easy Travel farm 15 minutes by car. Sit by a window: the road out of Levi runs through forest and over open bog, and in winter light the snow on the spruces turns pink and blue within the space of a single transfer.

Be at the meeting point before the stated time. One operator, Keo Wilderness, asks guests to arrive 10 minutes early and does not refund or reschedule a late arrival. Whatever you book, check the listing for the exact place, have your booking confirmation on your phone, and keep the phone warm in an inside pocket; batteries drain quickly in Lapland's cold.

How the visit runs

The ride from start to finish

Meeting

Pickup or meeting point

Set locations on this site's tour; Levi Center or a hotel door on others.
First minutes

The drive out

15 minutes by bus on the Kermikkä ride.
At the farm

Briefing and herders

A 10-minute safety briefing, or the herders' talk on this site's tour.
The ride

In the sleigh

30 guided minutes on the Kermikkä ride, short on this site's tour.
Warming up

Fire and hot drinks

Hot juice and cookies, or snacks by the fire.
Back

Return to the village

The same transfer back to where you started.

The briefing and meeting the reindeer

At the farm you meet the people before the ride. On this site's visit, local reindeer herders and farmers explain the traditions of reindeer herding and answer questions about life in Lapland, including how herders know which reindeer belongs to them. The Kermikkä ride opens with a 10-minute safety briefing before anyone sits down.

Listen for the practical part: where to sit, what to hold, when to stay seated. Reindeer are semi-domesticated, half tame and half wild, and the Sámi Parliament's guidance for visitors describes the reindeer as an animal that scares easily and may rush away.³ ⁴ The same guidance says to get to know reindeer only with the guidance of their owner, which is exactly what a farm visit gives you.⁴

Give the animals a moment before reaching for your camera. Visit Finland points out that reindeer do not like loud noises, sudden movements or petting, and that Finnish law forbids disturbing or frightening them in any way.⁵ ⁶ Up close you may notice the soft clicking some reindeer make as they walk; it comes from their knees.⁷

Minutes per stage

Where the hour goes on the Kermikkä ride

min

From the itinerary of the Polar Lights Tours ride from Levi Center, which includes an optional photo stop.

Before and after the ride

What surrounds the sleigh on each visit

Visit	Getting there	Before	After
Herders' visit	Pickup included	Herders explain herding	Hot juice, cookies
Kermikkä ride	Bus from Levi Center	Safety briefing	Local snacks
Forest ride, kota	Shuttle from the tourist office	Guided tour	Hot drinks in a kota
Lappish sled ride	From Design Hotel Levi	A short drive to the farm	Feeding, hot drink, pastry

As each GetYourGuide listing states; the order inside a visit can change on the day.

Three styles of ride

Talk, forest or fire

Levi: Reindeer Experience with Sled Ride

Stories first

Herders' visit

This site's tour

Time: 1.5 hrs
After: Hot juice
From: Set locations

See the visit

Levi: Reindeer Sleigh Ride 1.5km In Magical Forest

Warm kota

Forest ride, kota

Lovimainas camp

Time: 1.5 hrs
Ride: 1.5 km
Cold rule: -30 °C

See the visit

Longest track

Lappish sled ride

Family-run farm

Time: 2 hrs
Ride: 3 km
After: Corral feeding

See the visit

Decision helper

Which kind of ride is right for you?

Start from the part of the visit you care about

I want to understand herding I feel the cold badly I want a long time in the sleigh I have an hour, no more

Herders' visit

Local herders and farmers explain the traditions and answer questions.

A ride with a kota

The Lovimainas rides include a log cabin to shelter from the cold.

Lappish sled ride

3 km through the forest, the longest ride bookable from Levi.

Kermikkä ride

1 hour in all, with 30 minutes of guided ride.

Reindeer herders monitor the calves and assesses their suitability for sleigh use. They prefer large calves that are bold, calm and curious.

Visit Finland (Business Finland's national tourism organisation)Source 8

In the sleigh: pace, sound and what you see

A reindeer sleigh is low, wooden and padded, and you sit close to the snow with your legs stretched out in front of you. The reindeer walks or trots at its own steady rhythm; Visit Finland describes speeds that stay moderate and calls the rides suitable for all ages.¹ There is no engine, no barking and no wind roar, only runners on snow, harness creak and the occasional word from the guide.

What you see depends on the route. The Kermikkä ride follows a forest track of about 1.5 kilometres, the Lovimainas rides run 600 metres or 1.5 km through the forest near its camp, and the Polar Star Travel ride covers 3 km. On this site's tour the sleigh ride is short, and the listing gives no length.

The sleigh ride has deep roots here. Visit Levi calls it the most traditional way of transport in Lapland, and Visit Finland notes that it is not a tourism invention but an ancient Sámi way of getting around.⁹ ¹⁰ Sitting behind a reindeer at walking pace, it is easy to imagine a whole winter journey made this way, one fell and one forest at a time.

Checklist

Dress for an hour of sitting still

Layers

Merino or synthetic base layer, never cotton next to the skin
A fleece mid-layer and a windproof outer jacket with a hood
A fur or wool hat that covers the ears

Hands and feet

Thick mittens, thin gloves underneath for photos
Warm boots a size roomy, two pairs of socks
Hand warmers in a pocket

Small things

Booking confirmation, saved offline
Arrive early at the meeting point

Video

Magical sleigh ride in Finland from Reindeer family and me

Nothing loads until you tap play.

Why a sleigh reindeer stays calm

The reindeer in front of your sleigh did not learn the job in a season. Visit Finland says training takes 2 to 4 years, that the animals are chosen mainly from reindeer grazing in the herds, and that herders watch the calves for the right temperament: they prefer large calves that are bold, calm and curious.⁸

That patience shows on the trail. On the trail the reindeer keeps to the track and the guide sets the course; how the guide does it differs from farm to farm. Do not try to steer, call or hurry the animal yourself; your job is to sit still, keep your hands inside and enjoy the forest going past.

Visit Rovaniemi puts the standard for responsible animal tours in one sentence: the animals are never forced to run or pull a sled, and activities are based on their natural characteristics and needs.¹¹ A ride that feels slow is the system working as it should. If a reindeer stops to look around, wait with it; it is part of the experience, not a fault.

After the ride: the fire, the drink and the questions

Much of the warmth of these visits comes after the sleigh. This site's tour serves hot juice and cookies, the Kermikkä ride ends with 10 minutes of local snacks, the Lovimainas rides have a kota, a log cabin to shelter from the cold, and Polar Star Travel finishes with hot drinks and a pastry.

This is the moment for questions. Ask how a herder tells one reindeer from another, what the animals eat when the snow is deep, or what happens at the autumn roundup. Visit Finland notes that reindeer mainly eat lichens in winter, and the earmark cut into each calf's ear shows who owns it, as Metsähallitus explains.¹² ¹³

Some visits add feeding. On the Easy Travel safari reindeer feeding is part of the program, and on the 3 km ride you meet and feed young reindeer in their corral. Hold your hand flat, let the reindeer come to you, and step back when the bag is empty: a hungry reindeer can be insistent.

Staying warm in a sleigh

Sitting still is colder than skiing or walking, and the ride is the stillest part of the day. Levi's winter is properly cold: January in the Kittilä Airport records means highs around -8.3 °C and lows around -17 °C.² Both Lovimainas rides, among others, are rescheduled or fully refunded when the temperature falls to -30 °C or below.

Visit Levi's own dressing advice is a good starting point. Visit Levi rates merino wool the top base layer for freezing weather for anyone who sweats little, and it keeps warmth even when moist.¹⁴ A fur hat is its choice for the head in a deep freeze, and your outer jacket needs a hood that fits over a hat.¹⁵ ¹⁶

Add thick mittens rather than gloves, two pairs of socks inside boots a size roomy, and a scarf to wrap over mouth and nose. The sleigh blankets help, but they cover your legs, not your hands. Keep a spare phone battery in an inside pocket, and pull your mittens back on between photos.

Getting the photos you want

Good pictures of a reindeer ride come from the sleigh looking forward, with the reindeer's back and antlers framed by the trail ahead. Sit slightly to one side, hold the phone low and steady, and shoot a short burst rather than single frames: the sleigh rocks gently, and a burst gives you a sharp frame or two.

Portraits are easier at the farm before or after the ride. Ask the guide where to stand, keep a respectful distance, and remember Visit Finland's warning that approaching an animal for a photograph might startle it.⁶ Low winter light is soft and flattering, and a reindeer's frosted muzzle against dark spruce is worth waiting for.

Do not chase the shot at the animal's expense. If a reindeer turns away or lowers its head, give it space and try again later. The herders know which animals are relaxed around visitors, and a quick question often brings you to the one that will stand still in front of the snowy forest.

Pick your date

The herders and their reindeer are waiting.

Pickup in Levi, a short sleigh ride, hot juice, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

See datesfrom $130 · cancel without a fee 4.1 · 503 verified reviews

You ask,we answer.

How long is the actual ride?

It depends on the listing. From a short ride on this site's tour to 30 guided minutes on the Kermikkä ride.

Do I steer the reindeer myself?

Not on these Levi rides. The reindeer follows the track and its guide; none of the Levi listings here asks you to drive. Sit still and keep your hands inside.

Is the ride fast or bumpy?

Neither, as a rule. Visit Finland describes moderate speeds that make the rides suitable for all ages.¹

Can I pet the reindeer?

Ask the guide first. Visit Finland notes that reindeer do not like loud noises, sudden movements or petting.⁵

What do I get to eat or drink?

Hot juice and cookies here. Other rides serve snacks, hot drinks in a kota or a pastry, as each listing states.

What happens in extreme cold?

Some rides are moved. The Lovimainas rides are rescheduled or refunded at -30 °C or below.

Where do I meet the guide?

It varies by listing. This site's tour includes pickup from set locations; others meet at Levi Center or a hotel door.

Sources