Private Husky Sledding at a Family Kennel in Målselv: Drive or Ride

The listing price starts at $435.36 per person for a 4.5-hour private experience. The booking platform's checkout can add about $43 in charges, so compare the final total before you confirm. Free cancellation is available up to 24 hours before the start, and the operator may cancel in bad weather, offering another date or a refund.

The listing holds a 5.0 rating from 101 reviews.

Included in the price

• A completely private dogsledding experience, only your group and your guide
• Meet the huskies and watch the dog teams being prepared
• Choice to drive your own sled, share the driving, or ride with your guide
• Dogsledding and safety equipment
• Warm winter overalls, boots and gloves
• Warm Norwegian lunch, usually reindeer soup, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free alternatives when requested in advance
• Hot drinks and snacks
• Return transfer between Bardufoss sentrum and the husky farm for guests travelling by public bus

What is not included

• Public bus tickets between Tromsø and Bardufoss
• Hotel pickup in Tromsø: there is none, you meet at the kennel or at Bardufoss sentrum

Dietary needs are handled if you ask ahead. The kitchen can prepare vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free versions of the lunch when you request them in advance. If you have reduced mobility, specific accessibility needs or very young children, contact the operator before booking, since the private format makes it easier to adapt the day.

The kennel is at Evenmoveien 158, 9334 Øverbygd, near Bardufoss in Målselv, about 2 hours from Tromsø. This is the main thing to plan for. There is no hotel pickup and no group minibus from town, so the trip only works if you sort your own transport.

By car

Drive the E6 to Moen, then take road 854 through Rundhaug to Øverbygd. The operator advises against the winter route through Tamokdalen, the inland valley road that can be slow in deep winter. Parking at the kennel is free.

Renting a car for the day adds cost, but it gives you flexibility and the drive itself runs through real inland winter country.

By public bus

Take a public bus from Tromsø to Bardufoss. The listing includes a return transfer between Bardufoss sentrum and the farm for travellers arriving by public bus, so once you reach Bardufoss the kennel handles the last leg. What is not included is the bus ticket itself for the Tromsø to Bardufoss stretch, which you buy separately.

Check bus timetables carefully, because a 4.5-hour activity plus a long bus day needs connections that line up.

If that travel plan sounds like too much, the group tours that leave from central Tromsø meeting points are simpler. They run a bus from town on a fixed schedule, so you just show up at the meeting point. The trade-off is sharing the experience with other guests instead of having it to yourselves.

Most half-day husky tours near Tromsø put two strangers on one sled and have them swap halfway. This listing works differently because it is private. You discuss with your guide and pick the format that fits your group on the day.

• Drive your own team: you stand on the runners, steer and brake, with the guide along
• Share the driving: two of you take turns at the runners during the run
• Ride as a passenger: sit in the sled while the guide drives, the least demanding option

The route, pace and running time are always adapted to the conditions and how the dogs are feeling that day, so the sled time is not a fixed number of minutes. That flexibility is the point of the private format. Beginners do not need previous experience, and older guests or anyone who wants a less physically demanding way to enjoy sledding can simply ride.

Before you set off the guide gives a safety briefing and shows how to brake and steer, and warm overalls, boots and gloves are lent so you stay warm on the runners.

Visit Tromsø explains the self-drive and guided formats on its dog sledding page.

This is a small, family-run kennel with 35 Alaskan huskies in Målselv. The visit starts in the dog yard: you meet the dogs, learn their individual personalities and hear how animal welfare shapes everyday life at the kennel. Then you watch the teams being harnessed and prepared before it is your turn on the sled.

The operator is a certified Norwegian Ecotourism company, with a stated focus on small-scale experiences, responsible travel and local hospitality. The dogs are Alaskan huskies, the breed used widely around Tromsø because they are fast, resilient and suited to Arctic conditions. Because the group is only yours, there is time to ask questions and stand with the dogs rather than moving through the yard on a fixed schedule.

After sledding you get a warm Norwegian lunch, usually reindeer soup, with hot drinks and snacks. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free versions are available when requested in advance. It is a sit-down meal at the farm, not a cup of cake by a fire, which is one of the things that separates this listing from the cheaper half-day options in the catalog.

This is the pick for three kinds of traveller. First, families with young children: the private format and the passenger option mean nobody has to meet a fitness test, and the operator asks you to contact them before booking about very young children so they can adapt. Second, mixed-ability groups, where one person wants to drive and another wants to sit, which shared-sled group tours cannot easily do.

Third, anyone who values privacy and a small scale that most kennel operations near Tromsø cannot offer.

• Not recommended for travellers with spinal injuries
• Not recommended for pregnant travellers
• Not recommended for travellers with poor cardiovascular health
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels, with participation adapted to your group
• Contact the operator before booking about reduced mobility or very young children

If any of the exclusions apply to you, a guided ride in a sled driven by a professional musher is worth a look instead, or an evening visit with no sledding at all. The catalog lists both, and the comparison table below is the quickest way to weigh them.

This is the only fully private option in our catalog, and it is priced accordingly. The group tours below are cheaper, easier to reach and give you a fixed sled time, but they share the yard and the trail with other guests. The table puts the main differences side by side.

The table sets this listing against the closest alternatives in the catalog on price, sled time and kennel. Figures current for Q4 2026.

Two further options sit outside that table. The evening Northern Lights Husky Visit with Dinner at an Aurora Camp has dogs and dinner but no sled ride at all. In summer, the Summer Puppy Training at a Husky Farm in Tromsø with Lunch is the husky fix when there is no snow.