Overnight Stay with Reindeer Sledding & Feeding

Posted By : The
One of those memorable bucket list comes true moment 👍 Did this with my teens and we all had a great fun.
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Posted On : 2024-03-15

Posted By : The
All the staffs (only know Neil and Beli’s names. Sorry) were so kind, friendly, and hospitable. We’re blessed by the unexpected chance to spot the Aurora Borealis despite of all the 0,3-1% possibility. It was a memorable experience for our family. Thank you.
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Posted On : 2024-03-15

Posted By : U7520RJcraigw
The veiws like every where in this part of Norway were amazing. Howevever the tour was very sub standard. The reindeer sleding was llike a kids pony ride ,a group of 6 to 8 sleds attached together with the lead reideer being led by the guide walking beside it holding the bridal around an oval open paddock lasting about 15mins 20 tops. Much of the time lagre groups were left to their own devices wondering what they were suppose to do next with not a lot of guidance. The staff seemed unenthusiastic and disinterested in the punters definitely not engageing.at all. The meal when compared to that on other tours was well below standard which consisted of what appeared to be diluted gravey with carrots meat (reindeer?) and potatoes. The talk on sami culture was quiet informative and entertaining. The tipping point was the pit toilets which were filled almost to the brim, dirty with faeces on the floor and seats in a number of the 6 cubicles (Absolutley disgusting) There were also no facilties to wash hands at all,merely a bottle of sanitizer. We stayed overnight in the tents, the bedding a type of button up sleeping bag that had multiple buttons missing it looked like it doesnt get washed between occupants? The tent was warm as long as you kept stoking the fire every 1 to 2 hrs. Breakfast was laid out when we arrived a 8.00am for 8.15 start hot componet bacon and fried eggs was already stone cold with no way of reheating it. I would say at $1200 au dollar for 2 people it was a churn and burn tourist trap one to definitly be avoided an opinion shared by the other guests that stayed overnight. Minor changes could have improved the experience dramaticlly but it seemed there was just an overall lack of effort. Dont be cecived by the pretty pics.
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Posted On : 2024-01-22

Posted By : VijayDeep_B
Fantastic place to experience and learn about the brave humble and joyful Sami folks. We stayed in overnight tent, outside was -25 degree Celcius, but thanks to wood stove, inside it was very cozy. The host asked us several times if all was okay and showed great care. We saw night light directly from inside the tent windows. Feeding the reindeer was another major experience. It's one thing to look at them for 5 minutes and another experience to wake up and watch them as first thing in morning. The host especially Nils is a great guy with fantastic sense of humor, and hospitality. If there is anything they can do for you, they will do. If you want you can also buy souvenir from them I hope it helps the Sami craftsmen/women, and not produced elsewhere. Please read up a bit about Sami culture way of life and be amazed to learn more on your visit. rest assured you will experience the nature as it is. Respect and appreciation for having us.
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Posted On : 2024-01-21

Posted By : Wendy_L
Amazing time on this excursion — fun, educational and seeing the reindeer in action was fantastic. Highly recommended ! We did see the Northern Lights (not a given) and they were spectacular!
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Posted On : 2024-01-04

Posted By : leahjwright
Such a beautiful place and the people are extremely welcoming. We were lucky enough to see the aurora from the moment we stepped off the bus and enjoyed them throughout sleigh ride across the tundra. A lovely evening meal with a vegan options for me provided too. We stayed in a lavvu overnight and were very warm with plenty of wood for the fire. You do have to add logs every hour so don’t expect a full night of unbroken sleep - so worth it for the experience though. The view in the morning was incredible with the mountains in the background. We particularly enjoyed learning all about the Sami traditions. Thank you for a lovely experience - would definitely recommend.
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Posted On : 2024-01-04

Posted By : JessicaaCoelho
I wanted to do something for my birthday and I started looking for experiences with reindeer and Sami culture. In this process I found Tromsø Lapland with the option to spend the night at Lavvo. Aleksandar was very nice throughout the contact, considering that on the 19th there were no spaces available and on the 18th they had had a problem with the system and I was unable to book through any website. So, he manually put me on the reservation and I paid at the bus met. The first part of the program, which was reindeer sledding, reindeer feeding and dinner, was held with the entire group, then only the people who would spend the night remained. Regarding this first part, I found the contact with the reindeer, the dinner and the contact with the Sami culture interesting. Food was really good and be so close to the reindeers was really nice. I don't think it's worth the sledding if you do it at night, it must be very beautiful to do it during the day because they are located in a beautiful valley. I also wondered the whole time whether this was good for the reindeer or not. They explained to me that it is a good training for them as they will start to migrate to the summer camps later. Obviously it's a very touristy thing, but at that moment I didn't know any other way of getting in touch with them. After everyone left, I was the only guest for the night. But at that point things started to get a little strange. They knew it was my birthday and of course, they congratulated me and were kind. But the guide Nils (I don't know if this is the right way to write it) started hugging me too much and touching his face to mine. I had the felling I smelled alcohol in him, but I can't confirm it. Then he took me to the Lavvo and explained how to heat the room with firewood and the precautions I had to take. He even told me that if I needed anything, they lived there and I had two beds in my lavvo (what he meant by that, I don't know). When I went to the bathroom I met other people and they started asking me questions about how old I was, whether I was single or married. Okay, “normal” questions. I went back to my lavvo, watched the northern lights, the stars, then decided to get ready for bed. Almost midnight I hear a voice screaming and calling my name. It was Nils. He said in 10 minutes it was my birthday and they wanted to give me a gift. It looked weird, but I accepted because I didn't want to be disrespectful to their culture. Nils picked me up on his snowmobile and I thought he was going for a ride or something. He stopped at another smaller hut, took a box and took me to the main hut where they welcomed tourists for their main meals. At that moment he started singing happy birthday in his language, handed me a box with some Sami crafts and said that I was supposed to choose a gift and then two more men entered the hut and I was there alone with the three of them. They offered me cider, showed me a plant, saying that it is common to make tea from this plant to drink, that I didn't have to worry because it is not hallucinogenic and the other two men who were together start drinking too. I was very uncomfortable this whole time. Nils and Per were sitting at the same table as me. There was another boy, wearing the team's uniform, sitting at a table further ahead. I could see that he was super uncomfortable with the situation too. I accepted the cider and drank it with great caution, but I didn't accept the tea from the plant as I said I wouldn't feel comfortable drinking something that I didn't know what effects it could have on my body. They offered me a barbecue, but I also said I was satisfied with dinner. At that moment Nils left and never came back. I stayed with Per, who I discovered is the owner of the farm, and with this other team member. At one point Per left and this guy apologized to me for the whole situation. I explained how scared I was. Soon after, Per came in asking what we were talking about and I told him what I was feeling. They apologized to me many times and said they had no intention of doing anything. They only called me because it was my birthday, I was alone and they thought I might want to celebrate. But at no point, when they called me saying they would give me a gift, did they ask me if I wanted to celebrate this way and with them. I found what they did completely unprofessional. I felt vulnerable, intimidated and very uncomfortable. I was the only guest, a woman, alone, and they called me for a “gift”, put me inside a hut with 3 men, offered me alcohol and started drinking too, and offered me tea from a plant that I don't know what effect it can have on me. I was being cautious and careful the whole time because I didn't want to disrespect anyone's culture and customs, but I think a very big professional boundary was crossed in this experience. When I felt safe leaving, I went to the bathroom and went back to the lavvo. But it took me a long time to sleep, scared and afraid. Apart from that, the entire team that attended to me while I was there: Lucca, Catarina, the two girls from the Czech Republic and the Polish man (I'm sorry I don't remember their names) who was driving the van to leave were very respectful and attentive. The experience of sleeping in the lavvo is really cool. I was “lucky” to sleep alone, I don’t know how many people maximum can sleep there, but I would say that more than 2 could be uncomfortable. It's cool to control the heat with fire, sleep in reindeer skin and wake up in such a beautiful valley. The breakfast is very tasty, I just thought the price was too high to have to leave at 9 am. I think it would be more worth it if I could stay until around 11am enjoying that beautiful nature for a bit. Ps.: I thought a lot before writing this report because I know that in these situations our word is always doubted, but I'm tired of going through uncomfortable situations and being silenced. I also thought about sending a complaint directly to the owner of the space, but as he was present, it wouldn't worth it or change anything.
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Posted On : 2023-11-26

Posted By : ann_l
Overall the experience was nice. The staff was really nice, but there is some things to improve and you should know. Very authentic experience, no frills, so the price was a little high. Note there will be no running water and you have to keep the tent warm yourself by putting fire logs in every 2/3 hours and the sleeping bags didn’t zip up, which is part of the experience. The reindeer sledding and feeding was fun! Things to improve: the dinner was just soup and bread so don’t come too hungry, and communication was lacking regarding morning pick up. We were told we would be picked up by 10am back to Tromso by 11am, but we were rushed out at 9am not leaving time for breakfast since we got up at 830am. The breakfast was great, so wake up early for it in case they rush you out. Also, the pictures of individual beds are false, our group of 4 was given a tent with 2 beds and 4 sleeping bags. You can BYO sleeping bag , warm clothing for sleeping, snacks, & charger. You can also just do the sledding/feeding and not stay the night, or book with a different company that’s cheaper.
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Posted On : 2023-11-15

Posted By : Jana M
we are so excited! we just came back from a sleepover, very pleasant people, personal and friendly. we rode in a reindeer sled, we fed the reindeer as long as we wanted 🥰 Ján introduced us to the Sami culture and we had reindeer stew for dinner! an amazing experience of sleeping in a laavo. beautiful nature, cute reindeer and very very pleasant people - willing to talk about their experiences and life wisdom from another part of the earth and another tradition, close to nature. once again - an excellent experience, I hope we will return one day.
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Posted On : 2023-11-15

Posted By : olgabrodzinska
Fantastic!! Lifetime experience! Everything very well organized. If you like adventure just its must ser in Tromso. Reindeer sledding at night- very romantic, feeding- cute, excellent contact with lovely animals, very good tasty food- and friendly staff, very friendly- told as a lot about life in Arctic and about Sami culture which was the most interesting. The best part- staying in lavoo overnight, you have to wake up every 3 hours to keep fire as is getting freezing without- but…. Its adventure ! Especially if you are from the city.. forget for 1 night about barhroom - you are just with wild beautiful nature… like a dream, really. And in the morning- Soooooo beautiful and calm outside- Just us from 3 lavoo - 7 of us and mighty nature… Everywhere! Really fantastic view after cloudy, windy and snowing arctic night, unfortunately without Northern Lights, but was soooooo exciting that we did not bother( and we were able to see them following night with Hartingruten see trip anyway). Mountains ,reindeers , snow- even furtherer fjord! What you need more to be happy? Calm , very calm and freezing, lovely morning.. If you love wild beautiful nature- the trip is for you. If you like adventure. Lavoo obviously is not hotel- but you can feel inside fantastic( even keeping fire-we did it with pleasure). Lot of space for sleeping, comfortable sleeping bags ,hot drinks - in lavoo, nice atmospheric light - and with wool socks on your feet you may have very unusual and lovely night you never ever forget. The best trip in Tromso.
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Posted On : 2023-04-09