DURATION
3 nights
LOCATION
Norway
ANNUAL LEAVE
2 days off work
SEASON
Jan-Apr
GROUP SIZE
Up to 12 people
MEETING POINT
Alta Airport, Norway
ACCOMMODATION
Comfort
Tipi · Mountain hut
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
All you need is a reasonable level of fitness as your host will teach you everything else you need to drive your pack.
Drive a husky pack across the snow-blanketed Finnmark Plateau - 22,000 km2 of untouched wilderness
Warm up in an outdoor hot tub, eyes to the sky - this is one of the best places on earth to see the aurora borealis
Sleep in a Sami 'Lavvo' tent with soft beds, a wood-burning stove and large windows so you can look at the stars as you fall asleep
Featured as one of the ‘Best Northern Lights Tours’ by The Times
Day 1
Become a musher
Dog Sledding
1hr · 10km
Head to a husky lodge near the fjord-side city of Alta, known for its views of the Northern Lights. Have fun with the puppies and then climb into a thermal suit and learn how to handle a dogsled before riding it through the evening air. Take a hot shower and sit down for a delicious dinner in a beautiful, renovated barn. If you’re feeling brave, take a dip in the outdoor jacuzzi and warm up in the sauna before settling into your cosy Lavvo (tipi-style tent) for the night. Watch the stars through the floor-to-ceiling window and if you’re lucky, get a glimpse of the aurora.
Day 2
Ride to a mountain cabin
Dog Sledding
3hrs · 30km
Load up the dogs and drive your pack onto the Finnmark Plateau - 22,000 square kilometres of untouched wilderness. Stop for lunch along the trail and then ride to a traditional mountain cabin. Tend to your pack, eat some dinner and then relax in the sauna. Keep a close eye on the sky, as the aurora might appear above you at any moment.
Day 3
Back to base camp
Dog Sledding
3hrs · 30km
Rise early, prepare your dogs and ride out of the wilderness and back to the husky lodge. Celebrate with a drink and another plunge in the outdoor hot tub, before spending a last night under the stars and a last search for the Northern Lights.
Day 4
Head for home
Enjoy the view from your window, followed by breakfast in the lodge before heading back to the airport or Alta city centre and home.
Included
Guides
Local, professional, English-speaking guide
Accommodation
2 nights in a tipi and 1 night in a mountain cabin
Meals
Dinners and breakfasts
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in-between
Equipment
All your dogsledding clothing and equipment
Not Included
Flights to and from the meeting point
Travel insurance
Personal expenses
Some meals as described
Visas where required
Day 1
Tipi · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Mountain hut · Mixed dorm
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3
Tipi · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Departure day
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
The Husky Lodge serves a variety of food, much of it made from local ingredients, including moose, reindeer and fish. Most dietary requirements including vegetarian and vegan, can be catered for, just let your host know in advance.
What is the accommodation like?
Husky Lodge
You'll stay in a twin-share Lavvo (a traditional Sami tent) with a wood-burning stove and heated blankets to keep you warm. Best of all, one section of the wall has been replaced with a floor-to-ceiling window that lets you look out over the night sky. The lodge also has a restaurant, bar, outdoor-jacuzzi and a sauna. There are no shower or toilet facilities in the Lavvo itself but there are modern toilet and shower facilities just a few meters away.
The Plateau
You'll stay in remote mountain cabins in the wilderness. These are basic and feature shared dorms and gorgeous views. There are no showers but there is a sauna.
Upgrades
If you are travelling as a pair then you can request an upgrade to the two-person luxurious Arctic Dome for Day 1 and Day 3 of your trip. The Dome comes equipped with its own private sauna and bathroom facilities. It also has a panoramic view of a nearby field and surrounding forest, as well as a skylight that covers most of the ceiling. There is only one Arctic Dome available so you'll have to be quick as they are very popular! See optional extras for prices.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Alta City Airport or Alta City Centre
14:30
Ends
Alta City Airport or Alta City Centre
10:00
Transfers
Your host will collect you on Day 1 at the airport and drop you off on Day 4 at the airport. If you would like to be collected (and dropped at) from Alta city centre please let your host know. Please arrive on Day 1 no later than 14:00 and you are free to book flights on Day 4 anytime after 12:00.
Travel options
There are no direct flights to Alta from the UK but connections are available from both Oslo and Tromsø. From Oslo, the flight time is just over 2 hours, while the flight time from Tromsø is 40 minutes.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
- Thermal suit
- Ski Goggles
- Mittens
- Hat
- Boots
- Headtorch
What do I need to bring?
- Sunglasses
- Wool thermals (100% merino wool is best)
- Wool or fleece sweater
- Neckwarmer/facemask
- Thermo water bottle (can be purchased on site)
- Thin winter gloves
- Camera
- Suncream
- Small backpack
- Spare clothing
Upgrade to Arctic Dome (For 2 people)
Payable Before Departure
Upgrade to Arctic Dome (For 2 people)
… Per Night
Additional Night Lavvo (Tipi) Accommodation - Double
Payable Before Departure
Additional Night Lavvo (Tipi) Accommodation - Double
… Per Night
Additional Night Lavvo (Tipi) Accommodation - Single
Payable Before Departure
Additional Night Lavvo (Tipi) Accommodation - Single
… Per Night
Truly unforgettable experience! We loved every minute of our time on this adventure. From the moment we were picked up in Alta and for the duration of our stay, the team at the Husky Lodge made us feel really welcome. Our guides Trine & Phil were fantastic - they know their stuff and we felt like we were in safe hands. Their love of what they do is evident and they were great fun throughout - lots of laughs were had. We had a tiny group (3 of us plus the guides) which worked brilliantly and felt like a really personal experience.
The dogs are amazing - they can't wait to get hooked up to the sleds and run! They are clearly well cared for - the team know all the dogs by name, age and personality and were able to share stories about them all. We were able to spend lots of time with the dogs and they were well socialised and very cuddly! We all fell for our favourites.
The overnight at the lodge was great - fab food and comfy room with our own bathroom. Seeing the northern lights was a massive highlight too. The Dome accommodation, breakfasts/meals, hot-tub & sauna area - all excellent. Our hosts went over and above and were outstanding. 100% recommend you add this adventure to your list - you will not regret it!
This was a trip to remember! I really enjoyed every moment of it. Both of the guides were just perfect, accommodating and funny as hell! My highlight was handling the dogs and simply being with them...CUDDLES! We had such luck with the weather and saw the Northern Lights two nights in a row!
The trip was AMAZING. A perfect blend of adventure and activity with special luxury treats likes drinks around the fire and sauna/ hot tub after a day with the dogs. Trina and Phil were really friendly and knowledgeable; everyone was so nice and the group dynamic was wonderful. Kit was high quality and the dogs were clearly very happy and very well looked after. Vegetarian food was delicious!
What a fabulous trip. Beautiful scenery, incredible dogs, knowledgeable guides and a genuinely lovely group of fellow adventurers. Special thanks to Phil, Rasmus, Trine (and the Hartlepool massive) for all their efforts. The weather threw us a few curve balls but the group adapted wonderfully. If you're reading this, you're seriously considering booking. Just do it. Cosy accommodation, great and plentiful grub, loads of time with the amazing dogs and stunning scenery. We'd go again tomorrow (and it's definitely better than a weekend in Portsmouth) ;-)
We had a wonderful time on this husky sledding adventure. Phil and Karro were absolutely fantastic hosts/guides and went above and beyond to make sure everyone had a good time. The trip was a blast with 3 husky rides through beautiful scenery (a shorter one on the first day to learn the basics and then 2 longer ones to a mountain lodge and back on the next days). The trip was very hands on and you got to get the dogs out of their kennels, put harnesses on them, attach them to the sleds and feed them. Basically you got to do everything, and Phil and Carro were always on hand to help with anything you were finding difficult. The dogs were so friendly and we had so many cuddles with them. The food was excellent, big hearty meals after a long day adventuring. We even saw the northern lights! Can’t recommend this enough.
Trip was incredible. Food, accommodation, activities and staff were all perfect. Saw northern lights. Did lots of mushing. Ate lots of local specialities. Experienced a blizzard. Warmed up by a fire in a tent and also out in the snow. Guides were endlessly cheerful and energetic and adapted the trip based on our needs and late arrival. Highlight of the trip was using my lead sled dog to deliver and engagement ring tor my proposal.
This adventure is wild and wonderful. From the second you arrive, you know you're in for a treat. The Tepee accommodation is warm and cosy, all their kits' in great nick, and the location is totally fairytale.
However, it's the hounds that instantly grab your attention. There are 120 dogs, each with a distinct personality and look that you'll get to know and appreciate over the next three days. And, before you've dropped your bags, you'll be on a sled driving a team of eight crazy keen huskies around a local loop.
Then over the next two days, you'll really get hands-on with dogs, harnessing and clipping them on the line, mushing them across stunning snow deserts and then putting them to bed as the Norwegian sets around mid-afternoon.
As incredible as the dogs are, the real stars of this trip are the humans. Our guides, Phill and Romain, were outstanding and made this trip truly first-class. They showed us how to handle the dogs, drive the sleds and keep ourselves warm in sub-zero temperatures. They were incredibly knowledgeable but, most of all, immensely considerate. Phill would sprint up and down the line fixing problems and taking endless shots of us all. Romain expertly drove the lead team, ensuring no sled was left behind. And they were both stars in the kitchens, producing a succession of locally sourced and delicious meals, including reindeer stew and possibly the best carrot cake in Scandinavia. However, perhaps their greatest skill was getting nine strangers to gel as a team and work together to complete this one-of-kind adventure.
An absolutely fantastic trip. It is such a welcoming and lovely place to stay. The fantastic guides, Phil and Romain, really made us feel at home and did everything to make sure everyone was involved and having a good time. The accommodation was super comfortable and the food delicious. But of course the dogs were the real highlight - just gorgeous, so sociable, so well cared for, and so eager to run! A truly magical experience I would recommend to anyone who’s considering it.
100% recommend this trip. Incredible experience that you will never forget. Make sure to book flights from outside the UK a day early as the weather can cancel flights. Cancelled flights are absolutely worth it once you arrive :)
Thank you so much to Phill, Ramon, and Eric for taking such good care of us!
I loved this trip! The team are so warm and welcoming from the minute you arrive. We were off on a sled around the local forest a couple of hours after arriving. The dogs are so friendly and well cared for, the scenery crossing over the Finnmark plateau is breath-taking. We learnt how to get the dogs ready for sledding and set up ready to go, each pair of us had a team for the whole trip and got to learn more about each of their personalities and why they had particular positions in the sled pack. To top it off, we saw the Northern lights dancing overhead on two nights! A brilliant few days I can't recommend highly enough.
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 50kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
Once your guide has given you sufficient instruction, you'll drive for around 5-6 hours per day, with two people per sled. You will also learn to take care of your pack by putting on their harnesses, feeding them and most importantly, keeping them motivated.
Unfortunately, the Northern Lights are notoriously unpredictable so it's impossible to say for certain whether you will see them as the chances are highly dependent on weather and visibility, with clear skies needed to view them properly. However, this trip will increase your chances as you will be staying in a remote location, far from any light pollution and in a tipi bungalow where you can watch the sky all night if you wish.
No previous dog-sledding experience is needed, just a reasonable level of fitness to handle the sled. Your host will ensure that you learn all the skills you need throughout the trip.
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
The cold season in Alta lasts for over four months, from mid-November to mid-March, with temperatures reaching lows of -10°C, however, you can expect an average temperature of 0°C
Absolutely. Our host uses a local family outfit called Tristi & Trina who have a lot of experience looking after the dogs and running a small scale sledding business in the local area. The dog's welfare has been and always will be their top priority. The breed of dog they work with is a polar type of dog called the Alaskan Husky. They are born outside, and are happy to live outside all their life - but of course, they are provided with insulated huts full of warm straw and hay to sleep and retreat into.
As this breed was bred to run, they need to have a lot of activity to stay happy and healthy. This is why your host ensures that every dog has enough possibility to move every day, depending on the dog's individual age and state of health. Young dogs, veterans or disabled dogs have reduced running. They will do a run on 5-20km running 4 to 5 days a week, with 2-3 days of rest. Normal dogs can run up to 40-50 km per day, depending on the day and conditions.
To make sure that every dog needs the care and attention they need, our hosts have a daily staff of dedicated employees tending to them. Every morning and afternoon they are trained in and provide the medical care of the dogs. They also work closely with local veterinaries in Alta, who take over where their medical expertise comes to an end.
Any excess luggage can be safely left at the Husky Lodge at the start of your trip.
For current advice about travelling in Norway, have a read of the UK Foreign Office pages here.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory on all of our adventures. Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure.
Your insurance policy should also include specific Covid-19 cover, including cancellation and curtailment cover if you, your travel companion or a close relative are diagnosed with Covid-19.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
Pay In Installments
You can choose to pay for this trip in as many installments as you like, with no interest or fees.
Full Financial Protection
Your money is safe. Every booking is fully financially protected.
