Lake Inari Ice Fishing & Reindeer Safari from Ivalo

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.95 (22 reviews) 95% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/12

Duration4h

GroupUp to 10

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Catch Arctic Fish by Snowmobile on Finland's Third Largest Lake

You're picked up from your Ivalo hotel and driven to Koppelo, where you board a snowmobile-pulled sleigh across Lake Inari to a secret fishing spot. Your guide teaches you ice fishing basics, you catch what you can, then travel by snowmobile to an island to meet and feed two reindeer. Lunch and hot drinks arrive in a heated teepee with an open fire. Thermal clothes and boots are provided, and you return to your hotel by late afternoon.

Step-by-step itinerary

Ice fishing and reindeer visit

Get warm thermal clothing
Travel to Koppelo village
Ride snowmobile-pulled sleigh
Receive ice fishing instructions
Fish using worm or maggot
Visit island to feed reindeers
Have lunch and hot drinks

The Experience

The snowmobile engine cuts through the silence as you leave Koppelo village behind, runners hissing across the frozen surface of Lake Inari. Your guide sits ahead, and the landscape opens up in all directions—white, empty, and somehow alive. This is the 4-hour ice fishing safari from Ivalo, and it starts the moment you step out of the heated office in thermal clothes and boots that actually fit, which matters more than you'd think when the air temperature is what it is.

The fishing itself is simple and absorbing. Your guide walks you through the basics—how to cut the hole, how to hold the rod, whether to use worm or maggot—and then you're standing on the ice with your own line, waiting. Lake Inari is the third largest lake in Finland and holds over 3,000 islands, so there's a lot of water beneath you, but the guide knows the secret spots. People who come here worried they'd be bored if they didn't catch anything always seem surprised by how much they don't mind. The cold sharpens everything. The light changes. You notice things.

After fishing, the snowmobile pulls you across to a small island where two reindeer are waiting. They're calm and used to visitors, and you feed them by hand—another moment that lands differently than you expect. Then comes the part everyone talks about afterward: lunch in a traditional Lappish teepee with an open fire burning in the center. Hot drinks, proper food, warmth seeping back into your fingers. The guide sits with you, and the day settles into something you'll remember in the specific way you remember cold and firelight together.

Hotel pickup and drop-off from Ivalo are included, so you don't arrange transport or worry about timing. Vegetarian options are available if you mention dietary needs when you book. The whole thing runs 4 hours, which is long enough to feel like a real day but short enough to fit into a winter itinerary without eating the whole schedule.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off from Ivalo.
warm thermal clothing and insulated shoes.
local experienced guide.
snowmobile and sleigh transport across Lake Inari.
ice fishing instruction and equipment.
reindeer encounter on a small island.
lunch and hot drinks served in a traditional Lappish teepee with open fire.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Ivalo Safaris / Lenje Avoin YhtiÃ¶

Is this one for you?Book this if you want a full Arctic experience without arranging separate activities—the guide, transport, clothes and meals are all handled, so you show up at your hotel and step out into the day ready to go.