What reindeer sledding in Tromsø costs
About two hundred dollars buys you half a day at a reindeer camp near Tromsø, with a sled ride, the herd and usually a hot meal. A full day in a wilderness valley costs about a hundred dollars more. The difference is less about the reindeer than about the distance, the food and whether someone lends you a winter suit.
The five sled tours, cheapest first
These are the prices in the listings for a December date, in US dollars, for the option that includes a sled ride. The operators price in Norwegian kroner, so the dollar figure moves with the exchange rate as well as with the date. Treat them as a guide, not a price list.
| Tour | Price | Length | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closest camp, sled option | ~$190 | 3.5 h | Transfer, sled ride on a winter trail, Sami talk in the lavvu, guide-photographer and photos |
| Our pick, Tromsø Arctic Reindeer | ~$197 | 4 h | Bus from Prostneset, sled ride, feeding a herd of 300, hot lunch, coffee, joik |
| Evening sled and dinner | ~$218 | 4.5 h | Bus, night sled ride, feeding, three-course dinner in a turf hut, stories, chance of the aurora |
| Tromsø Lapland, longest ride | ~$229 | 4.5 h | Transport, up to 30 minutes in the sled, feeding, bidos lunch, snowsuit and boot covers |
| Camp Tamok | ~$333 | About 7 h | Bus 90 minutes each way, thermal suit, boots, mittens, hat, short ride, feeding, stew |
Why the cheapest is cheaper
The sled option from Reindeer Experience Tromsø at ~$190 keeps costs down with a shorter trip, three and a half hours, and no meal in the listing. In return it is the only tour that includes professional photos taken by your guide, which the others either do not offer or sell separately. The "from" price on its booking page, about $111, is for the feeding option at a different camp, without a sled.
What the extra seven dollars buys
For ~$197, our pick from Tromsø Arctic Reindeer adds a hot lunch in the lavvu, coffee and snacks, a herd of about three hundred and a joik by the fire, with a bus straight from the cruise terminal. That is why we rate it the best value of the five, and why its guests rate value for money 4.5 out of 5. The one thing it does not tell you is how long the ride lasts. What a ride is really like sets expectations.
A sled ride and lunch for under two hundred
Our pick costs ~$197 per person, leaves from the Prostneset terminal and can be cancelled for free until 24 hours before.
Paying for the ride, or for the evening
At ~$229, Tromsø Lapland is the most expensive half-day tour, and the only one that puts a number on the ride, up to 30 minutes. It also lends snowsuits and boot covers, which saves you a lot of discomfort if you packed light. Its guests rate value for money 4.3, the lowest here, mostly because the ride can be cut short when the snow is thin. The same company's evening sled train with dinner costs the same.
The evening sled from Tromsø Arctic Reindeer at ~$218 is really a dinner evening with a ride and a chance of the Northern Lights. You pay about twenty dollars more than for the day tour and get three courses in a candle-lit turf hut instead of a lunch. The evening tours are compared in their own guide.
Why Camp Tamok costs a hundred dollars more
At ~$333, Camp Tamok costs about a hundred dollars more than any half-day tour. You pay for distance and kit: three hours on the bus to a remote valley with deep snow, a full thermal suit, boots, mittens and a hat, and a hot stew. You do not pay for more reindeer. The camp keeps five or six, and the ride is described as short. It is a wilderness day with reindeer in it, not a bigger reindeer experience.
Somewhere in between sits Best Arctic's small-group camp at ~$249, five and a half hours, with a 10 to 15 minute ride, tobogganing and soup. It did not make our top five because it costs more than our pick for a shorter ride, but small groups of around twelve are its strength.
What is rarely in the price
- Getting to the start from Breivika. A shuttle or taxi into the center, both ways. Our cruise guide has the details.
- Winter clothes. Only Camp Tamok and Tromsø Lapland lend them. Buying a hat, gloves and ice cleats in town adds up fast.
- Photos. Included only at the camp closest to town. Elsewhere, your phone does the job.
- Souvenirs. Camps often sell crafts and reindeer hides; nobody pressures you.
- Tips. Never expected in Norway, though always appreciated by a guide who sang for you.
Cheaper than the ship's excursion?
Usually, and the camp may be the same. What you give up is the guarantee that the ship waits if the bus is late. On a full day in port, booking yourself is the better deal. On a short call, pay the difference and take the excursion. What happens to your money in bad weather is in its own guide.