Book Your Winter Activities 2026–2027 – Save 10% with code WINTER10 01.11.2026–31.03.2027 (Excludes husky & reindeer tours)

Ensilumi · October – November

First Snow

October and November in Lapland: the first snow, freezing lakes, long dark evenings and the start of the winter season.

The colours of autumn are gone and the forest waits. One morning it is white. The first snow often melts again, sometimes more than once, before the frost sets the ground hard and the snow stays. Finns have a name for those dark weeks before it settles: mustalumi, black snow.

For us this is the season of getting ready. The huskies go from wheeled carts to sleds as soon as the trails allow it, the reindeer come down from their summer pastures, and our winter tours open one by one as the snow and the ice let them.

At a glance

	First Snow
When	October – November
Daylight in Rovaniemi	About 9 hours in October, about 5 hours by the end of November
In Inari	The polar night begins in late November
Typical temperatures	0 to +10 °C in October, −10 to +5 °C in November
Snow	First snow usually in November, sometimes already in October
Northern Lights	Yes. Long dark nights, and before the lakes freeze the auroras reflect in the water

What we do in this season

Huskies

From carts to sleds

In October and early November the dogs train with wheeled carts, and you can join them. When the snow comes, the sleds come out.

Husky tours

Northern Lights

Aurora evenings

The nights are long again. Our guides choose the place according to the sky each evening.

Northern Lights tours

Winter tours

Opening with the snow

Reindeer sleighs, snowmobiles and ice fishing start when conditions allow. The booking calendar on each tour page shows the first day it runs.

All activities

Good to know

Bring shoes with good grip. Pavements are icy before the snow covers them.
The winter code WINTER10 applies to travel dates from 1 November. See our offers.
It is a quiet time in Rovaniemi, with far fewer visitors than in December.