12 Arctic Wildlife Safaris in Finland to Plan a Day Around

1.Ranua Wildlife Park Day: Visit the Arctic Animals

★★★★★★★★★★4.1 · 189 reviews · 6 hours · from $154Our pick

Travel from Rovaniemi to Ranua Wildlife Park with an English-speaking guide, then follow a 2.5 km forest route past polar bears, Arctic foxes, wolverines, lynx, owls, wolves, and more. You get park admission, transport, and winter clothing, plus free time for lunch and shopping. Guide Aarni has led some departures, but names vary.

“I thought it was a guided tour with explanation during the walk. Perhaps the description can be clearer and explained that it is not included. There are 2 guides and they are polite and took care of us well throughout. The guides also booked the restaurant table for us as it’s too crowded. Lastly. We couldn’t see polar bear.”

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2.Arctic Animals Sleigh Rides and Wildlife Zoo

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 91 reviews · 7 hours · from $340

Travel from Rovaniemi to Ranua Wildlife Park for a full day of Arctic wildlife, a traditional Lappish buffet, and two short sleigh rides. Meet huskies and reindeer, see polar bears and more than 50 species, and learn about local life from an English-speaking guide. Rides depend on snow conditions.

“Great day out.. even though had a fall in the snow (my fault missed the footing .) they couldn’t help me enough. Both guides are awesome well spoken.”

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3.Bear watching evening

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 43 reviews · 4 hours · from $176

Spend four summer hours near Kuusamo watching wild bears from a safe forest hide. Guides speak Finnish and English and can help with camera settings, binoculars, and video heads. Coffee and tea are included, and the natural setting pairs close wildlife viewing with forest and mountain views.

“Once in a lifetime experience. guide was very knowledgeable.”

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4.Arctic Polar Bear Adventure with Lunch in Rovaniemi!

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 35 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $154

Travel from central Rovaniemi to Ranua Zoo with hotel pickup or meet at Rovakatu 25. You get about five hours, free time on a marked forest path, a zoo lunch, and chances to see polar bears, Arctic foxes, moose, musk ox, and snowy owls. Guides have included David, William, Aleksander, Allen, and Rafi.

“Rafi was a great driver and guide , professional and knowledgeable, long drive from Rovaniemi about an hour but truely worth it, middle of winter but had a great time , well marked one direction track around Zoo approx 3 km able to see a lot of arctic animals , including moose, wolverine, musk ox and best of all polar bears all out enjoying the cold even could see arctic fox, lunch was a very tasty modest buffet, highly recommend this tour”

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5.Santa Claus Village Guided Tour & Arctic Animals Adventure

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 22 reviews · 4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $274Top rated

Spend about 4 to 5 hours at Santa Claus Village, meet Santa, cross the Arctic Circle, ride 500 meters by reindeer sleigh, and take a 1 to 2 kilometer husky safari. An English-speaking guide such as Victor leads the small group, with pickup, admissions, hot berry juice, and return transport included.

“Wonderful tour guide and the day was way more fun than we expected. The dogs were ADORABLE. It would have been nice to mention we had a 1 hour break during the tour to shop / eat - which was lovely.”

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6.Ranua Wildlife Park Day : Visit the Arctic Animals!

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 11 reviews · from $151

Travel from Rovaniemi to Ranua Wildlife Park for a guided walk among Arctic animals, including polar bears, brown bears, Arctic foxes, and wild forest reindeer. The experience lasts about six hours, includes park admission and round-trip transport, and limits the group to 16 people for the guided visit. Seasonal closures can affect what you see.

“Terrible experience, most areas closed off for Winter! Animals look depressed; the few that are there!!!!! Food is appalling!”

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7.Arctic Animals Adventure with Lunch Buffet

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 9 reviews · 7 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $299

Spend a full day in Finnish Lapland with an 800-meter husky ride, a 500-meter reindeer sleigh ride, local cookies and blueberry juice in a Kota, then lunch and free time at Ranua Wildlife Park. English-speaking guides such as David, Giuseppe, and Lea lead the trip, with hotel pickup and winter clothing included.

“It was a marvellous experience. We had enough time to go through the zoo und to eat at the buffet. The day was clear and sunny, so we enjoyed the trip a lot. Our guide, David was unbelievable friendly, attentive and helpful. An awesome day. Completely recommend!”

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8.Wildlife safari with campfire dinner from Helsinki

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 8 reviews

Join an English-speaking nature guide for a five-hour wildlife trip from central Helsinki to Porkkala Peninsula. After a campfire with Finnish snacks and homemade berry juice, you will search for moose, roe deer, foxes, and white-tailed eagles from a small van, using provided binoculars. Wildlife sightings are likely but never guaranteed.

“The magic of those few hours spent in the magnificent, wild countryside, accompanied by our very friendly and knowledgeable guide who took great care of us from start to finish! We ate delicious Finnish specialities cooked over a fire by the sea, then after a short walk through the forest we set off in a van to see moose, and we saw more than a dozen! Thank you for this experience and for organizing everything so perfectly!”

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9.Wild Moose Safari

★★★★★★★★★★3.1 · 7 reviews · from $146

Ride into the forests around Rovaniemi with an English-speaking moose guide, looking for Finland’s largest deer at its most active time of day. You stay in the vehicle to keep noise low, then pause for gingerbread, blueberry juice, a frozen lake, and sunset views. Moose sightings are possible but never guaranteed.

“The safari vehicle was dirty, inside and especially the windows. The windows were broken and couldn't be opened. Unfortunately, the guide drove so fast (45-60) km/h that it was impossible to see any animals. We took a break standing in the middle of the road. Finally, he drove home on the main road at excessive speed, sometimes with his cell phone in his hand. This trip is not worth the money; we drove for 4.5 hours. At least the guide saw a female moose shortly before the end. And we were able to look at her for 10 seconds before she ran off into the forest.Read more”

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10.Bear and Arctic Animals 2 Day Trip from Rovaniemi

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $939

From Rovaniemi, your guide takes you to a reindeer farm, a family-run kennel with about 45 polar dogs, and Ranua Wildlife Park. The highlight is a 10-hour overnight bear-watch in a wilderness hut near Kuusamo, with sleeping bags, meals, breakfast, and transport included. Guide Justine has been praised for explaining Finnish culture and wildlife along the way.

“This was an amazing experience! We were able to see 5 bears, including a mom with two young cubs, that were super cute!!! The whole trip was a great experience since we stopped at a reindeer farm and a dog (Greenland dogs) farm, anRead more”

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11.Small-Group Moose Wild Safari from Rovaniemi

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 3 reviews · from $103Best value

Travel from central Rovaniemi into the Lappish forests with a moose guide, searching quietly from inside a vehicle for Finland’s largest deer. The evening outing lasts about 3.5 hours and may also reveal wild reindeer, lakes, forests, and a misty sunset. Finish with blueberry juice and gingerbread before returning to the meeting point.

“Our guide Gigi was very informative both about the wildlife and the environment…went the extra mile to try and show us all that nature had to offer including a lifetime experience of seeing the midnight sun set over a misty lake saw a few wild reindeer and a family of reindeer with their young ones… a sight to behold”

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12.Winter highlights: Snowmobile, Arctic Animals And Santa`s Village

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 3 reviews · from $291

Spend about seven hours exploring Arctic Circle attractions from Rovaniemi. Share a snowmobile for a one-hour forest ride, take short reindeer and husky sleigh rides, eat traditional soup at the farm, then visit Santa Claus Village with time for Santa, the post office, shopping, and children’s mini-snowmobiling.

“We enjoyed the trip but didn’t get lunch as stated. For a family travelling with 3 children this was a bit of a nightmare and considering we paid close to £700 for the day trip was very disappointing. We also I’d to ask for the kids to get their snoRead more”

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