Feeding reindeer at Nutti Sami Siida on an Icehotel tour
Both guided Icehotel tours from Kiruna spend about an hour with reindeer at Nutti Sami Siida, an outdoor Sámi museum in Jukkasjärvi. One gives it 70 minutes with Sámi guides, the other an hour with a live guide in English or Spanish. Below, how the two stops differ and how to behave around the herd.
Who the Sámi are, briefly
The Sámi are the Indigenous people of the far north, at home in the north of Norway and Sweden as well as in Finnish Lapland and on Russia's Kola Peninsula. Their homeland, Sápmi, is far older than the borders that now cut through it.
Reindeer herding is part of Sámi culture and economy, and for many families it remains a working livelihood rather than a show for visitors. Much of the land around Kiruna is grazing land for the herds.
None of the tours on this site claim to show everyday herding work. What they offer is an hour at an outdoor museum with reindeer and someone to explain the background, which is a more modest thing.
Nutti Sami Siida, in the same village as the ice
Nutti Sami Siida is an outdoor Sámi museum in Jukkasjärvi, the village on the Torne River where the Icehotel stands. It keeps reindeer on site, which is why both guided tours from Kiruna build a stop around it.
The tour listings say little about the exhibits themselves, so we will not guess at them. On both tours the reindeer are the heart of the stop, and the guide's talk fills in the background.
Entry to the Sámi museum is included on both guided tours, along with the Icehotel ticket. If you buy only the Icehotel entrance ticket at ~$33, the museum is not part of it. Our tour or ticket comparison weighs that gap.
Seventy minutes with Sámi guides
Scandinavian Sami Photoadventures' 3-hour tour at ~$182 spends about 70 minutes at Nutti Sami Siida, the longer of the two reindeer stops. Its listing says the tour is led by local Sámi guides, so you hear about Sámi life from Sámi people.
Pickup is at 9:30 am at the Camp Ripan reception or 9:40 am outside the Kiruna tourist office, and the van takes about 20 minutes to the village. Groups stop at eight, which leaves room for questions while you stand among the animals.
After the museum the tour walks through the oldest part of Jukkasjärvi to its old church, whose oldest parts date from 1607. Then come about 70 minutes at the Icehotel. Its 66 reviewers on GetYourGuide average 4.7, and the 29 on Viator give it 4.9.
An hour at the camp with Lights of Vikings
Lights of Vikings' 4-hour day trip, at the same ~$182, calls the stop a Sámi reindeer camp. It gives the camp about 1 hour of reindeer feeding along with stories of Sámi life. Its listing promises a live guide in English or Spanish but says nothing about whether that guide is Sámi.
The day starts around 10:00 am, the time Viator gives, with pickup at one of six Kiruna hotels such as Scandic Kiruna and Camp Ripan. Wait outside the hotel rather than in the lobby, as the Viator pickup note asks.
The village and its wooden church get about 30 minutes and the Icehotel about 1.5 hours, so the ice gets more time here than on the shorter tour. Reviews are fewer but all top marks, with a 5.0 average from 43 on GetYourGuide and from 9 on Viator.
An hour with the herd, more time in the ice
Lights of Vikings collects you from your Kiruna hotel for a four-hour day. The reindeer get about an hour, and the Icehotel gets the longest share. Groups stay at eight or fewer.
Feeding reindeer by hand
Reviewers of both tours write about feeding the reindeer by hand, and many name it as the part they remember. Let the guide show you how to offer the food, and let the animals come to you.
Reindeer stay calm around people who keep still, yet they are not pets. They push and jostle for food, and antlers swing when a head turns, so keep your face out of range and hold the food low.
Thin gloves make feeding easier than thick mittens and still keep your fingers warm. Our guide to dressing for the cold covers which layers to bring for standing still in snow.
Manners around the herd and the people
Touch or feed the reindeer only when the guide says so, and never offer food you brought yourself. A snack from your pocket is not what reindeer eat, and the camp decides what they get.
Ask before you photograph a person, especially anyone in traditional dress. The Sámi gákti is clothing with meaning for the wearer rather than a costume, and a short question first is simple courtesy.
Listen more than you ask at the start. The guides talk about Sámi life and reindeer herding and how both tie into the land, and their stories often answer questions you had not thought to put.
Who needs extra care at the camp
Lights of Vikings lists its tour as not suitable for people with animal allergies. The Sami Photoadventures listing does not flag it, but you still stand close to the herd for over an hour, so the same caution applies.
The ground at the camp is packed snow, and the Sami Photoadventures listing says the day involves walking on snow. Wear warm boots with grip, since standing still among the reindeer chills your feet faster than walking.
The Sámi-guided tour is not for children under two or for wheelchair users. Older children usually love the feeding, though a jostling reindeer can startle a small one, so keep them close.
Choosing between the two for the reindeer
- Pick the Sámi-guided tour if the culture is the point, for its 70 minutes at the camp
- Pick the Lights of Vikings day for a hotel pickup and about 20 extra minutes inside the Icehotel
- Buy the ticket alone if the ice is all you came for, as our price breakdown shows
- Staying in Abisko? The coach day there has no reindeer stop, as our Abisko day-trip guide explains
Both tours cancel free up to 24 hours ahead, and both keep the group to eight. In the darkest weeks the camp visit happens in blue twilight, which our guide to the season describes.