A groomed winter trail close to town, rental snowshoes, and two places you should not walk.
The short answer
Yes, you can snowshoe in Rovaniemi on your own: the Ounasvaara winter trail is groomed for walkers, about 6 km long, and its nearest point is 1.6 km east of the city centre, and Santasport rents snowshoes in winter. Stay off the cross-country ski tracks, which the city reserves for skiing, and off the river ice in town, which Visit Rovaniemi calls dangerously thin. A guided tour adds transport into deeper forest, winter clothing on most tours and a fire.
Pick one day, or the first and last day of your stay in Rovaniemi. We look up the booking calendar of every snowshoe tour on this site and list the ones with places left.
Clothing: Bring warm layers
Clothing: Clothing, boots
Clothing: Overall, poles; own warm shoes
If you would rather not walk alone, these guided day tours keep the outing short and are at the lower end of the price range on this site. Two of them lend winter clothing; ToTheNorth asks you to dress in your own warm layers.
| Photo | Tour | Pickup | Total time | Clothing | Food | Price p.p. | Reviews | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilderness snowshoe trip in a group of 8 Wild about Lapland | Not in the centre | 3 h | Clothing, boots | Campfire snack | €89 | ★ 4.6 (119) | Book now |
| Snowshoe walk with lunch in a teepee ToTheNorth | Your hotel | 3 h | Bring warm layers | Lunch in a teepee | €75 | ★ 4.9 (65) | Book now |
| Vikaköngäs snowshoe walk with sausages Arctic GM | Your accommodation | 3 h | Overall, poles; own warm shoes | Sausages, hot drinks | €69 | ★ 4.7 (16) | Book now |
Each snowshoe price is per adult and is read from GetYourGuide or Viator when the page opens, so a listing with a hotel surcharge or a second option can cost more on the booking page.
Each card starts with pickup and clothing. Open it for the full list of what is included and who the operator turns away.
A forest about 30 km outside Rovaniemi and a lunch cooked over the fire in a teepee. Dress in your own warm layers.
After pickup, the van drives about 30 km out of Rovaniemi to a forest for the snowshoe walk. Afterwards the group gathers around a fire in a teepee for lunch, then drives back and is dropped at each accommodation.
Pickup, clothing, food and age limits as the operator lists them on the booking page.
Winter clothing and boots included, fire-making shown by the guide. No pickup in the city centre: from there you walk to the meeting point.
A relaxed snowshoe walk into the forest with an introduction to walking on snowshoes and some basic survival and fire-making skills. The guide lights a fire and serves a snack. The operator recommends bringing a camera.
Pickup, clothing, food and age limits as the operator lists them on the booking page.
Forest and frozen lakes at Vikaköngäs, north of Rovaniemi, with thermal overalls and poles. Groups of at most 8, from age 12.
The van drives from your accommodation to Vikaköngäs, north of Rovaniemi. The guide hands out snowshoes and poles and explains how to use them, then leads across snowy forest and frozen lakes. Halfway there is a fire with hot drinks and grilled sausages.
Pickup, clothing, food and age limits as the operator lists them on the booking page.
Visit Rovaniemi describes a year-round winter trail at Ounasvaara that is groomed by snowmobile for hikers, around 6 km in total, with its nearest point 1.6 km east of the city centre. The trail is the easy part. Off it the snow is deep and untracked, and in the short winter light it is easy to lose your bearings.
Santasport, the sports and leisure centre at Ounasvaara, rents snowshoes in the snowy season, together with touring skis. Check opening hours and availability with them before you go, and plan the walk for daylight: on 21 December the sun is up in Rovaniemi only from 11:08 to 13:22.
The cross-country ski tracks are for skiing only. The City of Rovaniemi asks walkers not to use them in winter. The river in the city freezes every year, but Visit Rovaniemi warns that the ice is dangerously thin and that walking on it can be life-threatening. Lakes and rivers are generally frozen from December to March, yet the timing and thickness of the ice vary, so never go onto ice you do not know to be safe.
The Arctic Circle Hiking Area north of Rovaniemi, which includes Vikaköngäs, is open to winter walkers on skis or snowshoes according to Luontoon.fi. It lies outside the city, so you need your own transport. Arctic GM runs its guided snowshoe tour in the same area, with transport, thermal overalls and poles included.
Without a car, with only city clothes in your suitcase or with children, a tour solves most of the practical problems: pickup, an overall and boots on most listings, a guide who shows you how to strap on the snowshoes, and a fire with something warm. It also takes you into untracked snow without the risk of losing the trail in the short winter light. What it does not guarantee is a long walk: on most tours the drive and the fire take a good share of the time. The full comparison shows the walking time where a listing gives one.
One critical reviewer felt the group could have done the hike alone in normal shoes, another did not see the point of the activity. Others write that the guide showed them spots they would not have found.
“If you have never seen deep snow before this would probably be cool, but it felt like we probably could’ve done this hike by ourselves with normal shoes. We thought we were going to go to a lookout like the first photo suggests, but we were just in the forest the whole time. It was cool to see a new area in Lapland, but we didn’t really feel like it was worth what we paid, especially when we had gone for a walk in a forest the day prior and it pretty much looked the same.”
“… He shared a lot of interesting information along the way and took the time to show us truly beautiful spots in the forest that we would never have found on our own. The tour felt relaxed, well-organized, and very personal. …”
“It was walking on the snowshoe in the forest nearby the resort. I didn't get the point of the activity and the price for the activity. But, generally speaking, it was better than staying at home.”
Reviews of snowshoe tours from Rovaniemi, quoted from GetYourGuide.
Yes. The Ounasvaara winter trail is groomed for walkers, about 6 km in total, with its nearest point 1.6 km east of the centre. Santasport at Ounasvaara rents snowshoes in winter.
No. The City of Rovaniemi reserves the cross-country ski tracks for skiing in winter and asks walkers to stay off them.
No. Visit Rovaniemi warns that the river in town freezes every year but that the ice is dangerously thin and walking on it can be life-threatening.
At Santasport, the sports centre at Ounasvaara, which rents snowshoes and touring skis in the snowy season.
