Reindeer Sled Ride in Finnish Lapland: Our Magical Family Experience in Levi

Reindeer Sled Ride in Finnish Lapland: Our Magical Family Experience in Levi

Some trips come with a mental checklist you write before your boots even touch the snow.

A husky safari.
Catching the Northern Lights.
Ripping through frozen pine trees on a snowmobile.
And a reindeer sled ride.

Because let’s be honest: can you really bring your kids all the way to Finnish Lapland and skip the reindeer?

We based ourselves in Levi, and for a family trip, it hit the sweet spot. The goal was to mix in plenty of skiing with the classic winter bucket-list stuff, all without spending half our holiday trapped in a rental car shuffling between towns.

Over the course of the week, we hit the slopes, tried snowshoeing, zipped out on snowmobiles, ran with huskies, and spent late nights stepping outside into the freezing air to scan the sky for green light.

Curious how we squeezed all of that into seven days? Pop over to our [1-Week Finnish Lapland Family Itinerary] for the full breakdown.

Still, one afternoon stood apart from the rest of the rush.

Our reindeer sled ride.

As it happened, the afternoon gave us so much more than just sitting on a wooden sleigh, bundled up behind a pair of antlers.

A Reindeer Sled Ride in Lapland

When I pictured a reindeer sled ride, I had a very specific image in my head. A classic wooden sled, a quiet forest thick with pine, a single reindeer leading the way, and white drifts stretching out as far as I could squint.

Turns out, that’s exactly what it was.

Unlike the snowmobiles we’d rented earlier, there was no engine sputtering fumes into the freezing air. And unlike our husky safari, nobody was barking or lunging into their harness. It was just slow, gentle, and remarkably quiet. I pulled the wool blanket up to my chin, leaned back against the wooden slats, and let the cold air hit my cheeks.

Honestly, that slower pace was heaven. Our Lapland trip had been a non-stop blur of cold-weather activities, and while I loved the adrenaline, having an hour to simply drift through the woods was pure magic. Just the steady crunch of hooves, heavy branches bowed under fresh powder, and that deep Arctic silence. Sitting there, watching our reindeer plod along, I felt like I’d stumbled straight onto the set of a vintage holiday film.

Ready to experience a reindeer sled ride yourself?

Planning your own family trip to Lapland? You [can explore and book reindeer sled experiences here →.] Just do yourself a favor and reserve your spots early. If you’re heading up over Christmas or New Year, the best family outings vanish before you know it.

Did You Know There Are More Reindeer Than People in Lapland?

Standing in the snow at the farm, the cold biting my cheeks, our guide dropped a stat on us that blew my mind.

Did you know reindeer actually outnumber humans in Finnish Lapland?

The math is wild. There are around 200,000 reindeer roaming the region, while the local human population sits closer to 176,000. That means from the moment you arrive, you’re officially in the minority. Trust me, after hearing that, every single yellow warning sign we passed on the icy highways started to make total sense.

Yet somehow, that wasn’t even the weirdest fact we picked up that afternoon.

Every Reindeer Has an Owner

I’d always pictured Lapland’s reindeer drifting through the snow as totally wild creatures, answering to no one. Turns out, that’s not true at all.

Even though they wander wherever they please trotting across fells, ducking through pine forests, or holding up traffic on icy roads every single reindeer belongs to someone. They’re private property, each marked with a distinct notch cut into its ear to identify the family who owns it. Next time you spot one calmly chewing moss on a gravel shoulder, don’t assume it’s a stray beast that got lost in the woods. Somewhere out there, a herder knows that animal by name and ear tag.

Honestly, that’s the kind of quiet detail you only pick up once you’re standing in a snowy corral, listening to a local farmer tell you how things actually work out here.

And Then We Met a Very Special Reindeer

The biggest surprise of the day wasn’t a cool piece of trivia or history. It was someone we met face-to-face: a baby reindeer, pure white from his fuzzy ears down to his tiny hooves. Our guide told us that finding one completely white is pretty rare, so seeing him felt like striking gold right off the bat.

What really stuck with me, though, was catching him right in the middle of his first interactions with people. He was still so little, and his handler was quietly helping him get used to human voices and curious hands, gently nudging him toward small groups of visitors. And honestly…

he was adorable.

He was ridiculously soft, impossibly fluffy, and didn’t make a sound. You couldn’t help wanting to wrap your arms right around him. As we buried our hands in his wool, he stood as still as a statue, soaking up every bit of the fuss without batting an eye. The girls were beside themselves with excitement. But between you and me? I might have been even more smitten than they were.

Mommy was just as excited.

Really, how often do you get the chance to hug an all-white, ridiculously fluffy baby reindeer in Finnish Lapland?

Right then, any thought of snapping the perfect blog shot just vanished. My phone stayed in my pocket because all I wanted was to stand in the snow and hold him close. His mother hovered nearby, just as thrilled as I was, keeping a watchful eye while I buried my cold hands in that soft coat. I know calling a reindeer “cute” won’t win me any serious journalism awards. But honestly, look at that face and tell me you wouldn’t say the exact same thing.

He was ridiculously cute.

And Then We Learned Something About Santa’s Reindeer

While we were hanging out at the farm, we stumbled onto a little fact that completely rewrote my childhood holiday lore. I had always assumed those massive, sweeping racks belonged exclusively to the boy reindeer. As it turns out, the females grow them, too. They’re actually the only deer species on the planet where both sexes carry full sets of antlers. Here’s the fun catch, though: males drop theirs in late autumn right after the mating season wraps up, while the females hang onto theirs all through the dead of winter. So, if Santa’s fleet is cruising across the sky on Christmas Eve sporting full sets of antlers… well, you do the math.

there’s a pretty good chance Santa’s sleigh team is made up of girls!

I honestly hadn’t considered that before our trip. There is one little catch, though: castrated males can hang onto their antlers straight through winter too. So no, I can’t say for sure that Rudolph is a girl. Still, standing there in the cold snow, the whole idea cracked me up. Suddenly, that classic holiday postcard scene looked completely different to me.

Reindeer Sled Ride vs. Husky Safari

If you’re putting together a Lapland trip and torn between booking the reindeer sled or the husky safari, do both if your wallet can swing it.

They couldn’t be further apart in terms of vibe.

Our [Husky Safari in Lapland] was pure, chaotic joy loud, fast, and wild in the best way. The dogs were practically vibrating with excitement, howling at the top of their lungs before taking off, and the whole run through the snowy pine trees felt like a proper backcountry adventure.

The reindeer ride? Total flip side.

Quiet.

Slow.

Completely peaceful.

To sum up the difference:

The huskies are the Arctic adventure.

The reindeer are the Arctic fairytale.

Traveling with the kids, I found that each of these outings had its own brand of magic.

What Should You Wear for a Reindeer Ride?

Whatever you do, don’t underestimate the bite of that Arctic air. Sitting dead-still in a wooden sled for an hour is a whole different beast than walking or skiing; without your body generating heat, the chill creeps right into your bones surprisingly fast.

The good news? Most tour outfits hand out heavy-duty thermal outer gear, which saved us from having to spend a small fortune on sub-zero clothing before leaving home. We relied heavily on smart layering underneath, renting the bulky outer stuff on the ground. (If you’re mapping out your own suitcase space, my [Complete Lapland Packing List] breaks down what kept us toasty and what was just dead weight).

For the ride itself, you’ll want solid thermal base layers, a thick fleece, snow pants, a heavy winter coat, insulated boots, wool socks, mittens, a beanie, and a snug neck gaiter. One last practical tip: keep your phone or camera tucked in an inside pocket close to your chest. Trust me, the second an all-white reindeer calf trots past your sled, you won’t want to be digging through a frozen backpack with stiff fingers.

Don’t Try to Do Everything in Lapland

If there’s one big lesson we took away from our trip, it’s that you really don’t need to book every single tour on offer.

Trust me, I get the urge. You finally make it to Lapland and suddenly want to do it all. Husky sledding? Yes, please. Feeding reindeer? Sign us up. Snowmobiles, snowshoes, chasing the Northern Lights until 1 AM? Before long, you’ve built a frantic schedule that runs from dawn to midnight.

We forced ourselves to pump the brakes and find some balance. We stuck to half-days on the ski slopes, booked a few guided outings, and left huge chunks of our days wide open just to exist in the cold, quiet woods.

If you’re bringing kids, I can’t recommend this enough. The last thing you want is for them to look back and remember the Arctic as a blur of rigid time slots. Give them room to collapse into fresh snowdrifts, thaw out in the sauna, and just mess around together without anywhere to rush off to.

Our Snowmobile Adventure

If the reindeer ride was peaceful, our snowmobile trip was the exact opposite loud, fast, and pure adrenaline.

We tore through miles of fresh snow before pulling up to a massive traditional kota right at the edge of a frozen lake. Step inside, thaw out, and grab something hot to eat and drink that was the plan. Just outside, a few locals were hunched over the ice, fishing. I ended up standing there in the cold, totally hooked watching them drill a hand auger straight down into the thick blue ice. Did they pull anything out while we watched? Not a chance. But just seeing the effort that goes into making that single hole was something I won’t forget.

You can read the full story of our snowmobile trip through Finnish Lapland right here.

Searching for the Northern Lights

I’ll admit it: hunting down the Northern Lights turned into a full-blown obsession. Every single evening started the same way, hunched over an Aurora forecast app on our phones, trying to figure out if freezing our toes off was going to pay off.

That very first night, we bundled up and trudged out of Levi toward a frozen lake. We ended up squinting at this pale, faint bluish smudge in the dark, whispering to each other, “Wait, is that it? Or are we just looking at weird clouds?” We honestly couldn’t tell.

Thankfully, the trip delivered later on. We finally caught those unmistakable green ribbons we’d been dreaming about. Then came Boxing Day hands down the peak of the whole journey when emerald lights danced right across the open sky above us.

I wrote down the whole frozen saga over in [Chasing the Northern Lights in Finnish Lapland.]

Is a Reindeer Sled Ride Worth It?

For us?

Absolutely.

It was far from the fastest thing we did out in the snow, nor was it the biggest thrill. But honestly? That was the whole point.

Tucking into that wooden sleigh gave us space to breathe and see a quieter, gentler side of Lapland. We picked up all sorts of trivia along the way, too. Did you know reindeer actually outnumber the human population up there? Or that even though they wander wherever they please through the pines, every single one belongs to a local herder? I had no idea the females grew antlers just like the males, either.

The highlight, though, was meeting this tiny, pure-white calf who trotted right up to us. The girls lost their minds over how sweet it was, completely smitten within seconds.

And me?

Let’s just say I wasn’t far behind them.

let’s just say I wasn’t exactly disappointed to get some cuddles with a fluffy baby reindeer either.

A Little Moment We’ll Never Forget

Years from now, we’ll still talk about the headline moments from Lapland: chasing the green ribbons of the Northern Lights, throttling snowmobiles across frozen ground, the dogs pulling hard through fresh powder, and skiing down runs cut through miles of white.

Funny enough, though, what sticks with me just as much are the quieter bits. I keep picturing us shivering by the fence at the reindeer farm, watching my girls’ eyes go huge as this tiny, snow-white calf trotted over to sniff their mittens. You spend months planning these big itineraries, but you can’t actually schedule that kind of wonder. It just catches you off guard. That quiet hour out in the woods, wrapped in wool blankets on a wooden sled, ended up stealing the whole show. If you’re heading north with your family, trust me there’s so much more waiting out there than just Santa.

Come for the reindeer, too.

You might just fall in love with one.

Read our Finnish Lapland Travel Guide for more tips and inspiration.

Read our Snowshoe Walking in Finnish for more tips and inspiration.

Read our Santa Claus Village Rovaniemi for more tips and inspiration.