Dog Sledding in Tromsø: My Experience & Tips (2026-2027)

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 Tromsø 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.

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. 

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?

Right now, most Tromsø husky tours are self-driving, requiring at least one person in a pair to drive a sled. It’s a thrilling experience — but I’m aware that everyone’s physical ability levels are different, and it’s not always the most sensible option.

Unfortunately due to the overall high demand for dog sledding in Tromsø, there aren’t as many options are there used to be. This one is a musher-led tour, but almost all the others are self-driving.

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 Tours

On a self-drive dog sled tour, you and a partner are in charge of leading your own team of huskies. This isn’t a passive ride — you’ll be helping the dogs up hills with physically assisting (running in the snow uphill!), steering with your body weight, braking, and keeping pace with the rest of the sleds. 

It’s both a physical and mental challenge, but the payoff is an ultra-rewarding experience. Most tours last maximum 90 minutes, with two people per sled who can switch between steering and sitting. Steering is fun, but being the passenger lets you take photos, so it’s good to get to do both!

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 showed up, but it was still great fun, especially since on a musher-led tour you can just sit back and enjoy, safely in the hands of guides who know exactly how to handle the dogs and make sure everything goes smoothly. 

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 in order to tell you what the experience is like. But 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

My #1 Pick: Self-Drive Husky Dog Sledding Adventure – Book Here

• Duration: 4 hours
• Departure Time: 9 AM, 11 AM, and 1 PM
• Rating: 4.9/5 stars with over 4,500 reviews
• Ages: Children aged 7+ allowed
• Inclusions: 70-90-minute sled experience, transfers, warm clothes, chocolate cake and coffee/tea
• 🐕‍🦺 Check 2026-2027 prices here

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

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.

Book your self-driving tour here!

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. 

The sled ride on Kvaløya lasts about an hour and a half, with stops for photo stops (the guides will help you with pictures if you want) and you can also change driver and passenger at any of these stops so that everyone gets a turn.

At the end, you’ll be given some chocolate cake and hot drinks of your choice combined with a meet-and-greet with one of the retired sled dogs.

Best Musher-Led Tour: Book Here

• Duration: 4.5 hours
• Departure Time: 9:30, 10:30 AM
• Rating: 4.9/5 stars out of 750+ reviews
• Ages: All ages, as long as parents accompany children and bring appropriate childseats/etc. for the transit
• Inclusions: 45 minute sled experience led by a guide, transfers, warm clothes, coffee/tea, traditional lunch with vegetarian option
• 🐕‍🦺 Check Prices Hxere

If you prefer to do a guided sledding experience, there is an excellent tour where the mushers will guide your sled for you.

This sled experience is a little shorter — about 45 minutes — as opposed to a sled ride that’s up to 90 minutes in the option above. Still, I think it’s a great value considering that you are also hiring someone to man the sled for you.

You’ll meet the pups on the farm before getting all suited up for the ride and enjoying the beautiful views while an expert leads the way.

Check availability and more details here!

The shortness of the tour can be a pro if you just want a ‘taste’ of dog sledding or have some mobility and physical challenges!

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, or if you’re on a strict budget.

Aurora Camp Overnight and Dog Sledding Morning Tour – Book Here

• Duration: Overnight
• Departure Time: 6:15 PM
• Ages: 16+ for self-driving, 3+ for musher-led
• 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 as a great organization), 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).

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 as there is a musher-led option suitable for kids aged 3+

Book your overnight husky farm stay here!

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.

Before I did another two dog sledding tours on my 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 2026 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. These are no puppy mills; dogs are only bred in very small numbers, and strictly for the husky farm. 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.