Snowmobile Safari, Ice Fishing & Open-Fire Lunch
One combined day: snowmobile safari, ice fishing on the lake, and lunch cooked over an open fire.
There is a moment about fifteen minutes in, once you have stopped thinking about the throttle, when you look up and realise the lake has no far edge. Just white, running out to a low grey line of pine, and a sun that never gets more than a hand's width above it. You are moving at forty on a surface a metre thick, and it feels less like driving than like being let loose in a place that has no roads and no rules.
Frozen lake, open fell, and almost nobody else all winter.
Then the engines stop, all at once, and the quiet is almost physical. Someone drills through the ice - a wet grinding noise, then a splash - and the day slows right down. You sit on a reindeer hide beside a black hole in the white, holding a stubby rod, doing nothing. Waiting. It is boring in the way that turns out to be the best part of the trip.
Drilling through the ice, then the slow business of waiting for a bite.
Lunch is a fire on the ice. You smell it before you get to it. Hot food off a grate, a mug of something warm held in both mittens, the light going pink and blue at two in the afternoon because that is what winter does up here. Fingers ache as they thaw. Nobody is in a hurry to leave.
Lunch cooked in front of you
Open fire on the ice, coffee in the pot, and something hot eaten outdoors with a horizon of nothing but white and pine.
The whole group back at the machines, somewhere out in the forest.
Why our Arctic day is different
Most operators sell the snowmobile safari, the ice fishing and the outdoor lunch as three separate bookings. We run them as one unhurried day, on one lake, with one guide who stays with you the whole time. That removes three transfers and a lot of standing around, and it lets the pace drop instead of racing a clock.
The routes are chosen for the group in front of us, not for a brochure. Confident riders get more open ground. Anyone who would rather sit behind a guide rides as a passenger, and that is a completely normal choice, not a fallback. Ice thickness is checked before every single outing.
This is one unhurried half day out on the ice rather than three separate outings. It begins with a guided snowmobile safari from Kiruna across frozen lakes and open fell - ground that would take days to reach on foot, and that sees almost nobody else all winter.
Out on the lake the engines go quiet. Guides drill holes through the ice, hand out rods, and the afternoon slows to the pace of ice fishing: reindeer hides on the snow, a low sun, and a horizon of nothing but white and pine.
Lunch is cooked in front of you over an open fire - hot, simple and eaten outdoors, usually with whatever came out of the lake alongside it. No experience is needed for any part of the day; you'll get a full briefing before setting out and guides ride sweep throughout.
- A safety briefing and a slow familiarisation lap before the group heads out, with guides riding front and sweep
- A guided snowmobile safari across frozen lakes and open fell, at a pace set by the least confident rider
- Drilling through the ice and fishing on the lake, with augers, rods, bait and reindeer hides all provided
- A hot lunch cooked in front of you over an open fire out on the ice, with coffee and something sweet after
- The option to ride as a passenger the whole day at no extra cost, or to swap halfway
- Full winter riding gear and helmet included; a valid car driving licence is required to drive yourself
- Duration
- Approx. 4 to 5 hours
- Difficulty
- Moderate - a valid driving licence is required to drive
- Season
- December to March
- Included in the Feel Good Week
Snowmobile Safari, Ice Fishing & Open-Fire Lunch in Kiruna - your questions answered
To drive one yourself in Sweden you need a valid car driving licence and you must be over eighteen, and you have to bring the physical licence with you on the day. Alcohol limits are the same as for a car, so no drinks at lunch if you are driving. If you do not have a licence or do not want to drive, you ride as a passenger and pay nothing extra.
Absolutely, and plenty of guests choose to. You can ride behind your partner or friend, or behind a guide, and there is always space - just tell us in advance so we bring the right number of machines. Passengers see more, frankly, because they are not concentrating on the track. You can also swap halfway if you want to try both.
Yes. By midwinter the lakes around Kiruna carry half a metre or more of ice, easily enough for snowmobiles, and this has been the local winter road network for generations. Our guides check thickness and conditions before every outing and use routes they know, and you stay on the marked line the guide rides. If conditions are not right on a given day, we go somewhere else or change the plan.
The whole day runs four to five hours door to door. Roughly half of that is riding, split into two legs, and the rest is ice fishing, lunch by the fire and the briefing at the start. It is designed to feel unhurried rather than packed, so there is time to sit in the quiet on the lake rather than being moved along.
A hot meal cooked in front of you over an open fire out on the ice, usually a stew or grilled food with bread, plus coffee, tea and something sweet after. If the fishing has gone well, the catch goes on the fire too. It is included in the Feel Good Week price. Tell us about allergies and dietary needs when you register your interest and the guides will cater for them.
None. You get a full briefing and a slow familiarisation lap before the group heads out, and a snowmobile is easier than a motorbike because you cannot fall over at low speed. Guides ride at the front and at the back the whole time, and the pace is set by the least confident rider, not the most.
This experience is included in The Feel Good Week, our four-night Kiruna package, along with every transfer and the full winter clothing set. Planning details such as flights, packing and weather are on the practical information page.
Every experience in the Feel Good Week
The Arctic is waiting.
Four nights in Kiruna, arranged end to end. You only book your flights.
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