One-day and Overnight Husky Tours in Kiruna (Sweden)

Tours are suitable for adults or families (recommended min. age 6 years) - children will drive their own sled, share with an adult or travel as a passenger depending on age/size/strength and the tour chosen. You will be provided with thermal outer suit, warm boots, hats and gloves.

The landscape of frozen lakes and forests which surrounds the Kiruna area is perfect for dog sledding, with even the shorter tours bringing to you out into scenic areas where you can feel the power of the surrounding winter wilderness.

Option 1: Musher for a Day

Drive your own dogsled with team of 3-4 huskies on a day tour into the wilderness. General good health required. Guests who prefer to may choose to share a sled one between two persons and take turns driving, changing after lunch break (5-6 dogs per sled are used in this case).

Children may drive own sled or share/travel as passenger depending on age/size/strength. Duration 4.5-5.5 hours including stop for hot lunch. Tours start with pick-up at local accommodation at 09.00 ending around 13.30-14.30.

The overnight tour option takes you a wilderness cabin for the night. Photo: M. Rullander.

Option 2: Dogsled Tour with Overnight in Wilderness Cabin

Drive your own dogsled with 3-4 huskies to your overnight accommodation at wilderness camp where sauna is included - a wonderful way to end a day's mushing, perhaps with the Northern Lights illuminating the night sky! General good health/fitness required. Guests can also opt to share a sled one per two persons (5-6 dogs per sled).

Dinner and breakfast is included. Children may drive own sled or share/travel as passenger depending on age/size/strength. Tour starts with pick-up at local accommodation at 13.00 ending around 09.00-10.00 the following day after early breakfast. Typical sledding duration first day around 1.5-2 hours, around 1 hour second day, depending on weather/trail conditions.

Snowmobiling

Snowmobile tours (daytime or evening) are available to add as optional extra activities on your arrival/departure days.

If you are doing the Overnight tour and would like an extra activity for your departure day, Reindeer Encounter and Sámi Experience in Lpaland is just nearby.

Getting Involved

As with all our dogsled tours, you will be involved in all aspects of the trip, and this is very much part of the experience. You will assist with caring for your dog team, including harnessing, feeding (and, yes, picking up poo!), as well as tasks around camp such as fetching water, chopping wood, preparing food, washing up, etc.

Arrival & Departure

Snowmobile activities are available to add as optional extras in connection with the start/end of your dogsled tour - see under "Prices > Optional extras" for details.

Reindeer Encounter and Sámi Experience in Lapland is just nearby and can also be a good option for an extra activity after the Overnight tour.

Musher for a Day:

Tour starts with pick-up at local accommodation at 09.00.

Tour ends around 13.30-14.30, after which you will be transferred to your local accommodation in Kiruna or to Kiruna train station/airport for departure.

Dogsled Tour with Overnight in Wilderness Cabin:

Guests normally overnight in Kiruna before the tour and this is the recommended option, though it is also possible to arrive in Kiruna in the morning by night train or flight. However, we do not recommend arriving in Kiruna close to the pick-up time of 13.00. If your travel is delayed, you may risk missing a significant proportion or even all of your tour.

Tour starts with pick-up at local accommodation (or Kiruna airport/train station) at 13.00.

Tour ends the following morning around 09.00-10.00. You will make an early start for short sled back to the kennels, after which you will be transferred to your local accommodation Kiruna or to Kiruna train station/airport for departure.

If doing an overnight tour, you should plan departure time from Kiruna no earlier than lunchtime (unless of course you are adding snowmobiling as an optional activity on your departure day, in which case departure time must be later in the day depending on the duration of your snowmobile tour).

Information for guests adding snowmobile tour as optional extra on departure day:

If you are doing a snowmobile tour in the morning of your departure day and leaving Kiruna that day, you must plan onward travel times appropriately:

• For guests doing Snowmobile morning tour 2.5 hours, flight departure time from Kiruna must be no earlier than 14.30 or train departure time no earlier than 14.00 (suitable for the earlier of the two daily night trains to Stockholm, which normally leaves just after 14.00). Transfer will leave from the kennels around 12.30.
• For guests doing Snowmobile morning tour 3.5-4 hours, flight departure time from Kiruna must be no earlier than 16.00 or train departure time no earlier than 15.30 (the later of the two daily night trains to Stockholm does not normally leave until around 18.00). Transfer will leave from the kennels around 14.00.

Dates 2024/25

Tours are offered daily between mid-November and late April*.

*The Northern Lights are visible from around September to early/mid April. The deep midwinter period of November-January offers the longest hours of darkness, which is of course required for the Northern Lights to be visible, while the "spring winter" of March and April offers longer hours of daylight and typically milder temperatures. The Northern Lights can be visible at any time during this period, including during March to mid-April. While March and April have shorter nights, on the other hand these months can also have a greater incidence of clear skies.

Prices 2024/25

Included

• Option 1: Musher for a Day: Guests drive own sled or share one per two persons. Hot lunch.
• Option 2: Dogsled Tour with Overnight in Wilderness Cabin: Guests drive own sled or share one per two persons. Dinner, breakfast, sauna and shared sleeping accommodation. Standard of accommodation is simple (no running water or electricity) but cosy and comfortable. Cabins will typically have one or two sleeping rooms, each with bunk beds. The cabins are heated by wood-burning stoves and lit by candles, and water is drawn from nearby rivers and lakes. Everyone assists with camp duties such as chopping wood, fetching water and washing/tidying up. There may also be other persons staying at the overnight accommodation used during the overnight tour.

Typical cabin accommodation used during the overnight tour

Equipment and Clothing:

• All necessary equipment during dog sledding tour.
• Warm winter clothing for all activities: snowscooter overalls, winter boots, hat, mittens.
• For Overnight tour: Sleeping bag, sleeping sheet, pillow case and towel.

(additional items such as long-johns may be available on request - please ask if there is a particular item of clothing or equipment you require)

Winter clothing provided

Guide:

• Instruction in harnessing and sled handling (for tours driving/sharing own sled).
• Services of local guide.

Transfers:

• Return transfer between Kiruna station, Kiruna airport or local accommodation in connection with the start/end of your tour.

Not Included

• Travel: We do not arrange flights or domestic travel, but are happy to advise on suitable connections and assist you with any aspect of planning your journey. See under "Getting There" for general travel information.
• Alcoholic drinks.

Required

Health requirements/experience:

You should have a general good level of health and enjoy the outdoors. Suitable for adults and families. Day and overnight tours will typically be suitable for children aged 6 and over.

All participants who wish to drive own sled must be aged 16 or over and weigh more than 50kg. It is not permitted for children under 16 to have own sled regardless of size/strength. See under "Prices > Dog Sledding for Families" for more information.

No previous dog sledding experience is required.

If weight >95kg, please contact us to discuss suitability.

What makes this "Easy"?

As short tours, the level of challenge will be lower than multi-day tours in similar terrain and are suitable for wide range of participants, including families. As with any winter experience, weather/temperature/trail conditions can considerably influence the level of challenge. Choosing option to share sled will reduce overall level of challenge slightly compared to driving own sled.

NB: Perception of difficulty is very subjective. What is hard to one person may be easy for another and vice versa, depending on factors including level of fitness, age and previous experience. Weather conditions/temperatures can also dramatically affect the actual level of challenge encountered.

Equipment/clothes needed:

For information on any equipment and/or clothing included as standard for this experience, please see under "What's Included".

A detailed recommended packing list for personal items to bring will be sent with your booking documentation.

NB: We advise you not to buy equipment or clothes for your trip or to incur other non-refundable expenses such as flights until you have received confirmation of your booking from us in writing. Note of course that the most appropriate clothing to use as well as the level of challenge experienced during any outdoor activity may vary significantly depending on factors such as the time of year and the particular weather/temperature conditions during your trip.

Preparing for your trip:

For further reading, we also have a number of general information articles to get you ready for your trip, covering a wide variety of topics from what to do on a city break before/after your tour, advice on packing, eyewear for winter and considerations for female travellers.

Minimum number:

A total of minimum 2 persons is required for scheduled tours to run. You are of course welcome to book as a solo traveller.

Combine This With

This experience makes a good combination with the following:

• Aurora Lodge Escape in Lapland (4 or more days, one hour by transfer)
• Lapland Sámi Retreat at the Reindeer Camp (15 mins by transfer, ideal for extra night(s) locally before and/or after your tour)
• Reindeer Encounter and Sámi Experience in Lapland (afternoon activity for Day 2 if doing Overnight tour, 15 mins by transfer)

Groups

• Option 1: Musher for a Day: Max. six sleds + guide, i.e. 12 persons if all persons sharing sled or 6 persons if all driving own sled.
• Option 2: Dogsled Tour with Overnight in Wilderness Cabin: max. 6 persons + guide.

This experience is also available as a private experience for groups. For private tours, larger groups can be accommodated. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Eco Info

This provider has a detailed environmental policy and has received Swedish Tour Quality certification.

The sleds are made in a local workshop just 100m from the kennels, while many of the dogs' harnesses are sewn by a local family.

"This was just out of this world incredible. Our tour guide was amazing and really made it special, and we were hands on with the dogs more than we expected." Emma, January 2024

"I had an AMAZING time, thank you so much :) Looking forward to coming back for a longer sledding session. Best part of the trip was playing with the huskies and experiencing the full sledding experience. It was fun, hard work but fun! I had a great trip, thank you so much. [I chose Nature Travels because] I found it to be the most informative website in my searches. Niki was a great help in booking the tour." Kelly, December 2023