Husky Dog Sledding Tromsø Compared

You want the most time driving your own team

If the point of the day is the dogs pulling, start with the Self-Drive Husky Dog Sledding Adventure on Kvaløya. It gives 70 to 80 minutes on the trail with your own team, the longest sled time of the half-day tours we compare, and it is 4.9 from 4,410 reviews. The Dog Sledding Adventure in Tamokdalen also buys you real trail time, but the group takes turns and part of your camp time is spent waiting while the other half sleds.

You want a proper lunch included

Two tours close the day with bidos, the Sámi reindeer stew, and one with reindeer soup. The Husky Sled Self-Drive with a Sámi Stew Lunch and the Guided Husky Sled Ride with Traditional Lunch both serve the stew with chocolate cake and coffee in a hut at the racing kennel on Kvaløya. The Private Husky Sledding at a Family Kennel in Målselv includes a warm Norwegian lunch, usually reindeer soup, cooked for your group alone.

You want the Lyngen Alps in the picture

The Fun and Easy Dog Sledding Adventure in Breivikeidet runs from a camp that faces the Lyngen Alps across the water. You sled on open fields and forest trails below the range, with about 2.5 hours at the camp in total and hot drinks and cake around the fire afterwards.

You want the lowest price for an actual sled ride

The cheapest way onto the runners is the Husky Experience with a Short Self-Drive Dog Sled Ride at $233. You drive a small team yourself for 10 to 15 minutes out and the same back, with a photo stop between, so the ride is 30 minutes at most. The rest of the four and a half hours is the bus, the dog yard and the panorama restaurant.

Know that trade-off before you book it.

You have children under seven

Most self-drive tours do not take children under 7. The answer is a guided ride: on the Guided Husky Sled Ride with Traditional Lunch all ages are welcome because a professional musher drives, and children ride with an adult. Bring your own child seat for small children, and tell the operator their age and weight when you book.

The Northern Lights Husky Visit also takes all ages, even infants in a pram, but it has no sled ride.

You want a full day in deeper inland snow

The Dog Sledding Adventure in Tamokdalen is the only full-day sled tour we compare, at seven hours. The bus ride inland takes about 95 minutes each way, and the reward is the Tamok valley, where the snow is usually deeper and colder than on the coast. A hot meal and drinks at the camp are included, and free cancellation runs to 24 hours before the start.

You want privacy, or dogs without sledding

For a small-group day, the Private Husky Sledding at a Family Kennel in Målselv hosts only your party at a kennel of 35 Alaskan huskies, and you choose between driving, sharing the driving or riding with the guide. In the evening, the Northern Lights Husky Visit has dinner, the dog yard and puppies but no sled ride. And when there is no snow at all, the Summer Puppy Training at a Husky Farm is the husky option in the warm months.

The first question on every Tromsø husky listing is who holds the sled. Five tours we compare put you on the runners yourself, the private kennel lets you choose, one puts a professional musher in charge and two have no sledding at all. The table shows where each format lands.

How a shared sled works

On most self-drive tours two guests share one sled. One stands on the runners and drives, the other sits in the basket, and you swap roles during the trail. On the Kvaløya half day you swap several times, on the Breivikeidet tours at the halfway mark or photo stop.

Before you set off the guide gives a safety briefing and shows how to brake and steer. No previous experience is needed on any tour we compare.

What the driver actually does

The dogs do the pulling. Your job as the driver is to keep the sled balanced behind them, brake on the downhills so it does not catch up with the team, and push on the uphills or in fresh snow where the runners drag. That is why the racing kennel's tours ask for normal fitness: you must be able to stand on one leg on a moving sled and lift the front of it.

It is not hard once you are moving, but it is more physical than sitting.

When a guided ride is the better answer, and whether it is worth it

On the Guided Husky Sled Ride with Traditional Lunch you sit in the basket while a professional musher drives. That is why it takes young children, older guests and anyone who cannot meet the self-drive fitness rules. It costs the same $360 as driving yourself, so you are trading the runners for comfort.

Is dog sledding in Tromsø worth it? Judge it by sled time, not total time. A four-hour trip with 70 to 80 minutes on the runners is a real working day with the dogs.

A four and a half hour trip with 30 minutes on the sled is mostly a bus and kennel visit, which can still be a good day if you book it knowing that.

Tromsø has no sled dogs in the city. Every husky kennel used by the tours we compare sits outside town, from 25 minutes away on the island of Kvaløya to 2 hours inland near Bardufoss. Where can I go husky sledding in Tromsø?

The answer is one of the four areas below, and the drive time is part of what you pay for.

The meeting points in town

No tour collects from every hotel. You meet the bus or minibus at a fixed point in central Tromsø: the entrance of Scandic Ishavshotel for the Kvaløya self-drive, Sjøgata 7 for the two racing kennel lunch tours, Samuel Arnesens gate 5 for both Breivikeidet trips and the Tamok day, and the Radisson Blu Hotel for the evening husky visit. Only the private Målselv kennel has no Tromsø meeting point at all, since you drive yourself or take the public bus to Bardufoss.

Arrive 15 minutes before departure, because on the racing kennel's tours a missed departure counts as a no-show with no refund.

Coast or inland

The coastal kennels on Kvaløya and at Breivikeidet are quick to reach and sit in sea-level snow that can be thin early and late in the season. One Breivikeidet listing says the ride moves to wheeled wagons when snow is short. The Tamok valley, inland behind the mountains, usually holds deeper and colder snow, at the cost of about three hours on the bus in total.

The private kennel in Målselv is furthest out, but the operator adjusts the route and pace to the conditions on the day.

How much does dog sledding cost in Tromsø? The half-day sled tours we compare run from $233 to $360 per person, the full-day Tamok trip is $360, the private kennel day is $435.36, and the two no-sled visits are cheaper. Here is the full price list with what each price buys.

Price per minute on the sled

The clearest way to compare these prices is per minute on the runners. The short Breivikeidet ride costs $233 for up to 30 minutes of sledding, which works out to roughly $7.77 per sled minute. The Kvaløya half day costs $356 for 70 to 80 minutes, which is roughly $4.45 to $5.09 per minute.

So the tour that looks cheaper per booking costs nearly twice as much per minute of actual mushing.

What the meal means

Five tours include a real meal. The two racing kennel lunch trips serve bidos, a Sámi reindeer stew, with chocolate cake, coffee and hot drinks, with a vegetarian version on request. The private Målselv kennel serves a warm Norwegian lunch, usually reindeer soup, and adapts it for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free guests.

On the other winter tours the meal line means cake and hot drinks by the fire in a lavvo, except the Tamok day, which includes a hot meal at the camp, and the evening visit, which includes dinner. Hot drinks and cake are pleasant, but do not mistake them for lunch. Check the meal column before you book a 4-hour trip around a midday start.

The snow season

Dog sledding on snow in Tromsø is usually available from November to April, depending on snow conditions, according to Visit Tromsø, which you can read at their dog sledding page. Average daily highs sit around -1°C (30°F) in January and February, 0.6°C (33°F) in March and 4.1°C (39°F) in April, with average lows of about -5°C (23°F) in midwinter, from the met.no 1991-2020 normals recorded at Tromsø's climate data. Inland valleys such as Tamok run colder than the city, which is exactly why their snow holds up.

Polar night and blue twilight

The sun stays below the horizon in Tromsø from about 26 November to 15 January, and the mountains hide it from about 21 November to 21 January. That does not mean darkness around the clock. Days still have a few hours of blue twilight around midday, and morning and midday sled tours run in that low pink and blue light.

Late winter light in February and March

Sunshine climbs from 3 hours in January to 111 hours in March. February and March sledding comes with real daylight on the mountains, longer days on the trail and temperatures still cold enough for good snow. If you want the classic bright-blue-sky sled pictures rather than twilight, this is the stretch to aim for.

April works too, with the highest average high of the season at 4.1°C (39°F), though coastal snow softens first.

Summer and autumn

From about 18 May to 26 July the midnight sun rules, and there is no snow sledding anywhere near Tromsø. Before the snow returns, some kennels run husky tours with wheeled carts, but only when it is cold enough for the dogs, and one compared Breivikeidet listing says its ride switches to wheeled wagons when snow is short. The year-round husky option in the warm months is the Summer Puppy Training at a Husky Farm in Tromsø, where you help handlers train the youngest dogs in teamwork, followed by lunch.

It is a kennel visit and puppy session, not a sled ride, and the kennel lends rain clothes and rubber boots.

No one can promise the lights

The northern lights can appear over the kennels on dark evenings in the season. But no tour we compare guarantees them, and none runs a proper aurora chase.

The evening husky visit has no sled ride

The tour in our catalog that pairs huskies with the aurora is the Northern Lights Husky Visit with Dinner at an Aurora Camp. It includes the dog yard, a puppy visit, dinner and hot drinks, and a vantage point at the camp to watch the sky. It has no dog sledding and no northern lights chase.

Book it for the dogs and the evening, not for mushing.

How to combine sledding and aurora properly

The practical route is two separate bookings on the same or different days: a daytime sled tour for the dogs, then a dedicated aurora trip for the lights. Daytime sledding in the polar night already runs in blue twilight, so morning and midday tours are the ones that show the landscape best. Keep your evening free after a sled day, because a clear night can put the lights over town with no extra driving on your part.

The age rules split the catalog more sharply than price does. Three tours take all ages and the private kennel welcomes families, one starts at 4, three at 7 and one at 16, and several carry weight caps per sled or per person. Check this table before booking for a family.

Two practical points for families. On the guided ride, small children need their own child seat brought from home or arranged separately, since the kennel cannot guarantee one. And whatever tour you choose, tell the operator each child's age and weight when you book, because it decides where the child sits and who drives.

The private Målselv kennel asks families to contact it first for exactly this reason.

Every winter tour we compare lends a thermal suit and winter boots, and most also lend mittens and hats, so you do not need Arctic gear of your own. What matters is what goes under the suit. Visit Tromsø advises warm woollen base layers and several layers on top of them.

Bring a hat, a scarf or buff and warm socks, and remember that a phone battery drains fast in the cold, so keep it in an inner pocket. There is little room on the sled for camera gear, and one kennel asks guests to leave tripods in the equipment room.

• Woollen base layers, top and bottom
• A mid layer of fleece or wool over the base
• Warm socks, ideally wool, plus a spare pair
• A hat and a buff or scarf for your neck
• Your own gloves to wear under the lent mittens
• Sunglasses for bright late-winter snow and low sun
• Your phone kept warm in an inner pocket with a power bank
• Little camera gear, one lens, leave the tripod at the kennel
• Arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes early, a missed departure is a no-show on the racing kennel's tours
• Cash or card for tips