Dog Sledding in Tromsø: 5 Best Husky Tours + 2024-2025 Tips

I’m a huge dog sledding fan…. like, actually huge. Since 2016 when I first went dog sledding, I’ve done it five times: once in Abisko, Sweden, once in Alta, Norway, once in Rovaniemi, Finland and twice in Tromso in the winter!

I’m pretty sure that qualifies as an excessive amount of dog sledding, but I love it so much that I’ll do it every time I’m back in the Arctic… which is usually at least once per year, since I’m so passionate about the region (and since I live in the tropics, I often crave a cold weather escape).

I don’t really know how to describe dog sledding, but I’ll try. There’s no more incredible feeling than bounding over powdery snow, powered by a team of enthusiastic huskies and your own steering.

It’s simultaneously an adrenaline rush and a feeling of deep connection with nature and human history, a celebration of the partnership between dogs and humans that has thrived in the Arctic region for centuries.

However, driving your own dog sled is not for the faint of heart — luckily, there are all sorts of husky tours in Tromsø, from self-driving to musher-led tours, as well as daytime and nighttime excursions so you can dog sled with a chance of the Northern lights dancing above!

This post will help you learn what dog sledding in Tromsø is like and also help you pick the right Tromsø husky tour for your adventure level and comfort!

Dog Sledding in Tromsø: Self Driving or Musher Led?

All the Tromsø husky tours vary in the levels of fitness, activity, and commitment they require.

Some tours are as simple as enjoying the scenery as you’re pulled around in a sled… others are overnight expeditions into the heart of the Arctic.

The main two kinds of dog sledding tours are self-driving (where you mush your own sled) and musher-led (where you sit in the sled as a guide mushes the huskies for you).

Here are the differences between the two and what to expect on each, as well as who the different kinds of tours are more suitable for.

Self-Drive Tromso Husky Safari Tours

On a self-drive dog sled tour, you and a fellow tour participant — either someone in your group or a fellow solo traveler in my case — are in charge of leading your dogs.

This is no passive activity, but rather, you work as a team with the dogs.  This means that you help the dogs run up hills, and you use your body weight to steer and also to brake as needed. 

You also have to keep your eye on the order of the dog sleds and not get out of order or race ahead of the line — this makes it an active mental activity as well as a physical one.

The exertion is worth it, though. You’ll bound through the landscape on a beautiful circuit, passing gorgeous Northern Norwegian landscapes like fjords and mountains. 

On a typical self-drive Tromsø husky tour, you’ll dog sled for about an hour in a team of two. You can opt to take turns halfway through, with one of you steering and the other sitting. 

While I love actively dog sledding, I prefer it this way as when you sit, you get a chance to take pictures. Plus, it’s actually a lot more hard work than it looks to steer the dog sled with your very own team of boisterous Alaskan huskies, so it’s nice to take a rest just to enjoy the views.

This is usually a daytime tour as it’s a bit tough to drive a dog-sled at night. However, during the polar night in Tromso (end of November to mid-January), you won’t have much daylight, but rather some soft pastel twilight.

I’ve done four self-drive dog sled tours and they are absolutely incredible. Personally, they are my favorite way to do a dog sledding tour, because it’s active and you develop a really cool bond with dogs as you work together. 

However, the con of doing a self-drive dog sled tour is that it is physically demanding, and it’s not suitable for people recovering from injuries, people with mobility concerns, or families with small children.

Musher-Driven Tours

I’ve done one musher-driven tour and it was also a super fun experience! I did a combination Northern lights tour with a dog-sledding tour and it was an Arctic adventure I’ll never forget. The lights never made an appearance due to cloudy skies, but it was still really special to speed through a dark forest, the only light coming from the headlamps of the mushers.

On a musher-driven tour, you’ll be guided by expert mushers who know exactly how to handle the dogs and make sure everything goes smoothly. 

You don’t have to worry about making sure the dogs don’t run ahead of their assigned order. The mushers ensure this won’t happen and have more of a relationship with the dogs because they’ve been working with them so long, so the dogs stay in line more and don’t test the waters!

Musher-driven tours are ideal for families, people with mobility or injury concerns, and people who are a little anxious about doing their own self-driving husky sledding adventure. 

I loved the experience and was glad I got to do it once. Personally, if I had to choose just one, I think a self-drive husky tour is more fun if it’s the right option for you!

The Best Dog Sledding Tours in Tromsø

Self-Drive Husky Dog Sledding Adventure – Book Here

Duration: 4 hours
Departure Time: 9 AM, 11 AM, and 1 PM
Ages: Children aged 7+ allowed
Type: Self-Driving
Inclusions: 90-minute sled experience, transfers, warm clothes, chocolate cake and coffee/tea
🐕‍🦺 Check Prices Here

On my Tromsø trip, this is the exact husky tour I did and it was incredible — truly one of my favorite travel experiences in over 70+ countries of travel!

You start by getting oriented to the husky farm and acquainted with what you’ll be doing on your half-day adventure. You’ll pick out your warm gear, put everything away that you won’t be taking with you in a locker, and then it’s time to meet the pups!

They give you a chance to cuddle the huskies who aren’t doing the run (and get to take a billion husky selfies) while they get all the husky sleds prepped and do the final safety checks.

Once they’re satisfied that the huskies are ready to run, your guide give you a quick demo of how the dog sledge works — how to steer, how to brake, how to help your team of huskies up the hill, that sort of thing. Don’t worry, it’s all very intuitive.

Then it’s off to the races!… though not quite, as the head mushers and other mushers dispersed throughout the line of husky teams will set the pace. To ensure everyone (and the dogs) are safe, you have to follow in one single-file line.

You’ll speed around the Arctic wilderness on the beautiful island of Kvaløya for about 90 minutes, stopping every so often for photo stops and changing the driver and passenger positions if desired.

When you stop, the mushers will check to ensure all the sleds are still in the correct order and that everyone is safe and comfortable. And of course, if you want them to take any pictures of you, they’re more than happy to oblige!

At the end, you’ll have some delicious chocolate cake and hot drinks of your choice — coffee, hot tea, or hot chocolate, while enjoying a meet-and-greet with one of the retired sled dogs, who greatly enjoy all the love and attention even though their running days are behind them.

This is a great tour for families with kids aged 7+ as several other tours in Tromsø require you to be 16+ in order to participate.

Self-Drive Dog Sled Tour in Kvaløya – Book Here

Duration: 4 Hours
Departure Time: 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM
Ages: 16+ to participate
Type: Self-Driving
Inclusions: 45-minute sled experience, transfers, warm clothes, lunch (reindeer stew or vegetarian option), coffee/tea
🐕‍🦺 Check Prices Here

This is another self-drive tour, and like the first one I listed, it’s also on the island of Kvaløya just a short ride from Tromsø.

I didn’t do this exact daytime tour, but it’s with Tromsø Villmarkssenter, who I booked the nighttime guided dog-sledding tour with, so I can vouch for the company being a wonderful and ethically run operation!

There are two morning tours daily, so you can make the most of Tromsø’s limited winter light: one that departs Tromso center at 9:30 AM and another 10:30 AM

You’ll meet the pups on the farm before getting all suited up for the ride before learning all the basics of dog-mushing before you go! 

Like the other self-drive tours, two people share a sled, and you have the option to swap between driver and passenger at the halfway mark. 

After the tour, you’ll enjoy a delicious meal of bidos, a traditional stew made from reindeer meat that is popular amongst the Sámi people; vegetarian options are also available. And of course, there’s warm drinks and chocolate cake to finish off your day.

In general, this tour is rather similar to the previous tour, but there are two key differences. For one, the dog sled portion of the tour is 90 minutes in the first one and only 45 minutes in this one. Keep in mind that you have to share the driving experience, so that means usually only half the time actually leading. 

If you just want a ‘taste’ of dog sledding or aren’t particularly physically fit, this may be a pro in this tour’s favor! However, for me, I absolutely love dog sledding and could do it all day, so I would personally prefer a longer tour.

An advantage of this tour is that it offers a full lunch, as opposed to the first tour which only offers cake and drinks. 

At the end of the day, I prefer the first tour to this one; however, dog sledding tours book up like crazy in Tromsø at the moment, so I wouldn’t hesitate to book this tour if the first tour I listed isn’t available for your dates. 

Tromso Ice Domes Tour and Dog Sledding Adventure – Book Here

Duration: 8 Hours
Departure Time: 8:45 AM
Ages: 16+ to participate
Type: Self-Driving
Inclusions: 90 minute sled experience, guided tour of the Ice Domes, soup lunch and warm drinks, reindeer visit, all transfers to Camp Tamok and the Ice Domes
🐕‍🦺 Check Prices Here

Want to combine two epic Tromso bucket list items into one excursion? Check out this Ice Domes visit and dog sledding tour combination. I didn’t do this exact tour, but I did enjoy a fantastic guided visit to the Tromso Ice Domes as a standalone activity and can highly recommend it to every traveler!

Since I had a full week in Tromsø, I chose to do these tours on difference days in order to fill up my itinerary. But if you were short for time and wanted to combine your activities, I’d suggest this combination tour.

This tour picks you up in the city center and takes you far into the Tamok Valley, about an hour and a half away from downtown Tromsø. But the ride is in and of itself an absolutely gorgeous experience, as you pass all sorts of mountains and fjords along the way, including the beautiful Lyngen Alps. 

You’ll be greeted by a guide and start with a mushing demonstration and safety demo before embarking on a 90-minute self-drive husky ride, where you’ll take turns with the other person on the sled. After, you’ll return to camp for a soul-warming bowl of soup, then visit the Tromsø Ice Domes Snow Park and the reindeer who call it home.

The tour of the Ice Domes is incredible — a true winter wonderland — and it’s something I’ve done firsthand and loved. 

On our tour of the Ice Domes, we watched a brief video in the ice cinema that explains exactly how the ice park is built (from scratch!) each and every year, using massive blocks of ice from the nearby rivers. All in all, it takes about 6 weeks to build, all done in the depths of polar night.

Then you’ll get to tour the hotel in a small group, starting at the ice restaurant and all its incredible sculptures and themes, have a shot of lingonberry juice at the ice bar, and then get to tour the different rooms.

For a full recap of my visit to the Ice Domes, read here, although keep in mind I did not do a husky tour on my trip (I did get to meet the reindeer and feed them some lichen, though!).

This is another self-drive dog sled experience like how I described all the above husky tours, so you’ll man your own dog sled during your tour and take turns.

The thing that really sets it apart is the Ice Domes visit; the dog-sledding portion of the tour is similar to the others, and it lasts 90 minutes, so it’s good for those who want a good amount of time dog-sledding. If you want to combine two epic things in one go, it’s the perfect tour!

Aurora Camp Overnight and Dog Sledding Morning Tour – Book Here

Duration: Overnight
Departure Time: 6:30 PM
Ages: 16+ to self-drive; 3+ for a musher-led tour
Type: Self-Driving OR Musher-Led
Inclusions: 45-minute morning sled experience, aurora camp, overnight camping in a lavvu, transfers, warm clothes, dinner (cod stew or vegetarian option), breakfast, coffee/tea
🐕‍🦺 Check Prices Here

For an epic spin on the dog-sledding experience, you can do this overnight aurora camp with a husky tour in the morning. This tour brings you away from the bright city lights of Tromso and into the wilderness around Kvaløya at the Tromso Villmarkssenter (which I can vouch for), where there’s very little light pollution.

You’ll be suited up in a thermal expedition suit and waterproof boots so that you stay nice and toasty, and then you’ll get a chance to meet the 200 Alaskan huskies who call this farm their home!

Once you’ve met the pups, you’ll have dinner in the hut, where you can try a codfish stew or a vegetarian alternative (from personal experience, I can tell you the stew is delicious!) After dinner, you can sit around the bonfire and wait to see if the Northern lights make an appearance overhead! 

When you’re ready to sleep, there are lavvu aurora tents all ready for you, where you can sleep nestled up in with sleeping bags and warm reindeer skins.

The next day, you’ll finally go on your dog sledding tour (you can pick between self-driving or having a musher-led guided tour). After, it’s time for a lunch of bidos (a Sámi traditional reindeer stew) before you say goodbye to the dogs and head back to the city center.

If you want to combine the chance of seeing Northern lights in the countryside and a dog-sledding tour, this is a great choice. It’s also a budget-savvy way to combine two popular activities into one while also saving on a night’s accommodation cost, so I’d recommend doing this on either the first night or last night or your time in Tromsø.

This is also a good activity for younger kids, since for the musher tours, the ages are 3+, whereas on other tours, kids must be 7+ or 16+.

Northern Lights Camp with Dinner and Husky Visit – Book Here

Duration: 4 hours
Departure Time: 6:45 PM
Ages: All ages!
Type: Husky visit only (no sledding)
Inclusions: Husky meet-and-greet, transfers, warm clothes, dinner (cod stew or vegetarian option), dessert, coffee/tea, campfire and marshmallow roasting, chance to see the Northern lights
🐕‍🦺 Check Prices Here

Another option, also at Villmarkssenter, is the Northern lights and husky experience. 

This is similar to the tour I described above, but instead of doing a sled ride, you just get to meet and interact with the huskies. There is dinner and a campfire (complete with toasting marshmallows!), but an overnight stay is not included in the price.

It’s also a nice way to have a Northern lights tour and husky experience on a budget, as it’s about half the price of the dog-sledding tours and the same cost as doing a standard Northern lights tour. 

It’s also one of the only husky activities that you can do with kids of all ages, so if you have kids under the age of 3, this is the only option for youngsters.

Is Tromso Dog Sledding Ethical?

The ethics of dog sledding is understandably a concern, and it was a subject I researched in depth before first deciding to do a dog sledding tour in Abisko in 2016. 

Before I did another two dog sledding tours on my 2020 trip to Tromso, I dove deep into the research again to ensure that I was still operating with good information and that my initial assessment that dog sledding can be ethical with the right company still stands.

As I update this in 2024, I still stand behind my assessments that dog sledding in Norway and particularly in Tromsø is ethical as long as you go with the right operator. I think it’s far more ethical than, say, horseback riding. The dogs definitely enjoy running and sledding more than horses seem to enjoy people riding on them! 

At the two Tromso tour companies I visited as well as the ones in Abisko, Rovaniemi, and Alta, I have always strongly felt the dog sledding companies truly had their dogs’ health and happiness at the heart of everything they did.

My conclusion was that these are ethically run husky sledding tours and that I felt comfortable with everything I saw.

The reality of these tours is that Alaskan huskies are, quite simply, born and bred to do this after hundreds of generations of sled running in their bloodlines. They’re lively, hardy, outdoorsy dogs that would go insane as pets kept in an apartment.

They need to run for several hours a day to let off all their energy, and you can see just how much they love to run when they start howling as a team as they get suited up and ready to pull the sleds.

One thing I will say, though, is that the dogs are kept chained up when not running. This is due to Norwegian laws. This can be a little off-putting at first, so I asked about why this was. I learned that the chaining is done to prevent fights from breaking out between the dogs, which can happen as dogs are pack animals and form different little “cliques.” 

This also helps ensure no unwanted puppy accidents happen and that the husky farms only breed exactly as many puppies as they can care for and take care of.

I should note that the husky babies are bred in small numbers, usually just one or two litters at a time so as not to be overwhelmed by puppies. The husky mom gets to live in a giant suite with all her puppies, kept away from the other dogs. 

All the dogs have their own little homes and live next to a dog they are friendly with so they can socialize. Sometimes, if a particular dog has trouble living and sharing a close space with other dogs, it will have its own cage, with a box to keep warm and snuggle in, as well.

Their boxes are filled with straw, cleaned multiple times daily, and provide plenty of space for the dog (I saw two particularly friendly pups spooning and sharing a box instead of enjoying their own rooms!).

About the temperatures: huskies are happy out in the cold and can withstand temperatures as low as -50° C (-60° F). Their favorite temperature is around -20° C, or about 5° F, which is when they have the most energy to run around without getting overheated.

Due to the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream, it rarely gets below -5° C (-20° F) in Tromsø, and if it does, they have their dog houses with plenty of warm insulating straw for them to keep warm in.

The dogs get exercise daily with one or two days of rest per week, depending on their age and preferences. With so many different husky tours running at all hours of the day, every dog gets a chance to rest and run in balance with their schedule.

At the husky sled center I visited, they never run more than 50 miles in a week, and never if they are sick or injured. Compare this to the Iditarod, where dogs sometimes run 100 miles in a single day, and you’ll see that these dogs live relatively relaxed lives.

The dogs are checked frequently by vets and the kennels are inspected by Norwegian government inspectors to ensure the dogs are enjoying high-quality shelter, care, medical attention, and food.

But my favorite thing was seeing that the retired dogs get to live a good life, too! On my husky tour with Arctic Adventures, they brought out a retired sled dog at the end to meet and greet all of us while we enjoyed our dessert.

They explained how every dog is part of the family, and that often those who work at the husky farm end up adopting the retirees!

Sometimes, the retired sled dogs end up enjoying a comfortable part-time ‘job’ as a representative of the elder sled dogs, getting loved on by visitors to the farm.

What to Wear When Dog Sledding in Tromsø

On your dog-sledding tour, they will provide you with a warm suit and boots to ensure that you don’t get too cold on your tour. I strongly suggest you wear what they offer you, as you’ll be so nice and toasty!

This is expedition-strength gear and will likely be warmer but more breathable than whatever you brought. Remember, you’re above the Arctic Circle, and it gets cold! Make sure that you come equipped with thermal base layers, waterproof gloves, and a hat that tightly covers your ears.

Here’s what you should bring:

• Winter hat
• Gloves
• Scarf
• Base layers
• Wool socks
• Your everyday winter clothing (sweaters & jeans/pants)

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016, visiting 75+ countries in total. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. As a former educator, she merges her writing and educational experience to encourage ethical, sustainable travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and TBEX. Her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. When she’s not on the road, she lives in Bangkok, Thailand.