Tromso Wilderness Center - Dog sledding in Finnsnes

Fantastic staff, really well-organised experience, good food, excellent camping setup, we loved spending time with the dogs, and the walk was really fun too.Overall the experience is super professional and very high quality.However, whilst we’re grateful for the staff and food and beautiful overnight stay… dogs like these did not evolve to live in groups of hundreds. They evolved to live in groups reaching a maximum of around 30.The staff made a point of explaining on multiple occasions that the dogs have to be chained up in pairs or alone to prevent fights from occurring, and that the arrangement of the dogs is the solution to "a social puzzle".We humans are all very susceptible to accepting answers to things that seem logical, even if they don’t actually fully answer the right questions.These dogs spend the vast majority of their lives unable to pursue their basic instincts: exploring, interacting with one another as social animals, experimenting with their surroundings etc.Yes, they have their basics well met (food, shelter etc.), but a great body of research, not least Dr Harry Harlows monkey studies, clearly shows that this is by no means enough to keep intelligent, complex living things content. Would the same conditions keep any of us content?Chaining up hundreds of dogs in a huge yard like this, solving the "social puzzle" by isolating them in pairs or alone is, in fact, not a good solution. Its an inhumane solution to an inhumane and unnecessary problem.Imagine, if you will, a big industrial farming company from the USA telling the public that "in our factory farms, we have to give the cows a lot of antibiotics to prevent disease". Again, it sounds like a necessary solution to the problem.But the *root* problem is not the disease - its the factory farms themselves; scaling up milk and/or beef production to maximise profits.Yes, this arrangement at this dog centre in Norway seems as though it might be towards the better end of factory-style animal keeping operations in the world, and Im glad to know that the dogs are able to interact with people most days.But they cannot build relationships as they ought to be able to. Even the humans, loving as they may be, are mostly just ephemeral tourists.We are grateful of the kindness and enthusiasm we were shown by the guides and we loved meeting and walking the dogs.But who is it benefiting to have so many dogs?It takes a wilful blindness / suspension of our intuitive understanding of biology and love of life on Earth to consider this kind of operation as reasonable / okay / necessary.They dont need this many dogs by any means to run the tourist side of the operation.The only reason they need so many dogs, as far as I understand it, is so that they can breed them for sled-pulling races, so that the owners can attempt to win the annual 1,200km race with the best possible set of dogs.Perhaps a kinder, more futuristic way to run this operation would be to make it much smaller and less factory-like, and/or to make it more modular, so that dogs can exist in more natural sizes of “packs”, with much more freedom, closer to what they evolved to have.

Wonderful experience. Warm and friendly staff. Meeting the dogs was an experience I will not forget.

We had an impressive experience with the Huskies. Our guide Honsa was very kind and professional and gave us a lot of informations about the dogs and answered all our questions. During the hike we could enjoy the beautiful landscape and afterwards we could enjoy a homemade fish soup by the fire. It was an unforgettable experience.

An amazing centre that provides brilliant experiences. We went on a puppy training day and worked with dogs of various ages. This also included lunch around a bonfire! The staff are all very attentive and informative and they all clearly care very deeply for the dogs wellbeing. Highly recommend booking a visit there!

Signed up for the puppy training in September. Luckily had a beautiful day where we walked some puppies and played some training games. We also got to play with the younger puppies. One of the highlights of my trip! Will come back and highly recommend.

To be done at least once in your life !!!I worked at villmarkssenter 6 months during the winter of 2021/22, but after all, everyone can give their opinion.I recommend to everyone villmarkssenter, its a once in a lifetime experience! For my part, I know how much the guides are invested in their work, as much for the guests, as for the dogs. Oooooh the dogs, how can I not talk about the dogs when I talk about villmarkssenter. The dogs are all so nice, cuddly and friendly. All the dogs have their own personality, which makes them incredible to work with, but also to meet them. As a guide, my priority (and I think I can speak for all the guides, our prioritywas to make sure the dogs were doing well, eating well, and not having any problems or injuries. I can describe villmarkssenter in a thousand ways, but to finish I would say that what makes the beauty of the experience, is the connection you can feel with the dogs and the place. As if mother nature showed us all the beauty of the north in one place.

A very nice place to learn a lot about Huskys and their life. Thank you for the nice "dog-knuddeling" and showing us the puppies. It was a wonderful afternoon and a special thanks to the Cook for the excellent chocolate cake.Thank you for the Kind hospitality!!!

Just beautiful. The dogs are so happy to see you. Its a paradise if you like cuddling with dogs

Soo much fun. Over 200 dogs and puppies. A little physical activity involved for the sledging, but still a blast! The soup was a perfect end to the adventure. 10/10 would do again!

Nice arrangements friendly and well caring staff members . Take care of visitors for the entire duration you spend at the camp.

Absolutely incredible experience! Very accommodating to a wide range of ages, 5 year old and I did the overnight stay with a dog sled ride and had a blast. Would totally do it again in a heartbeat! All the staff was so friendly and warm I thought they were mistaking me for someone else, they have an unmatched level of customer service! (Even using the word customer feels wrong, there was nothing that felt transactional about conversations/interactions)

Wonderful experience, a sleigh with 9 huskies and a great area.

Dog sledding was the most amazing experience in our life! The dogs that are so friendly with people, was also something my children appreciate.Very nice and friendly staff. Excellent hospitality! We stayed in a lavo tent for one night and we really enjoyed the northern lights and the location. I definetely recommend this place. Anbefales!

Expensive trip from Tromso, but its worth every € cents. We had a chance with a sunny morning. Staff and also dogs are very very friendly. They offer a good winter clothes, it is important. The sledging is fantastic, we were with a young guide. You need glasses!!! After the ride and foto time, the center offered a lunch, reindeer gulash and cake, both was delicious. Many thanks for the hospitality.

Best Husky Sled Ride in Tromsø!I loved my experience with Tromsø Villmarksenter from start to finish! The mushers were incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. For this tour we booked the Husky Sled Ride that was driven by a musher.Why I Loved Tromsø VillmarksenterYou’re not rushed! After your dog sled trip you have plenty of time to visit and play with the other dogs! You have visits to the younger puppies and the race dogs. I loved having plenty of time after my trip to take pictures of the dogs and spend time with themThe sled ride was the perfect amount of time! I went on a husky sled tour in Finland that was around 10 minutes, but at Tromsø Villmarksenter our tour was around 45-60 minutes! It was the perfect amount of time.Your tour includes a delicious reindeer stew, hot drinks, and the most amazing chocolate cake!At Tromsø Villmarksenter you’ll see how much care and love goes into their dogs. All the animals are treated so well. You can see just how much these dogs love to run and how excited they get when they see the mushers.Unlike other companies Tromsø Villmarksenter specializes in dog sledding and husky experiences. All of their time and energy is devoted to the dogs - which is so important when choosing a dog sledding trip. There’s nowhere else in Tromsø that offers the range of dog sledding trips that Tromsø Villmarksenter does! You can even opt to be your own musher!If you’re looking for the best dog sledding in Tromsø it’s definitely at Tromsø Villmarksenter.

We chose the self drive option in sledding. The dogs seem excited to run and the scenery was stunning.However the lead made us go at so slow pace that the dogs were barely walking instead of running. It made the ride frustrating as whenever the dogs wanted to run, they kept bumping into the sleds ahead of us. It seemed that dogs were annoyed of that too.The staff who gave instructions and who took us to dog-kenels were friendly and pleasant. The huts where the food was served was cosy. .Food quality can be improved as the soup and the bread wasnt the best.Transport from and back to Tromso was in a bus that was comfortable

Brilliant day out. The young tour guide (male, short black hairand the sleigh driver (female, brown hair, owner of Stormwere very friendly. The dogs are great and the food was also good.

Fantastic experience, arrived with plenty of time from the transfer provided to have a walk through before the sledding. Sledding was great fun also the light was perfect around this time of year for the early session we booked 8.30.All the dogs were great and seemed super happy and looked after etc, we had plenty of time to give as many attention as we desired!

An amazing centre, I had an excellent time here! The husky sledding is an activity that you must ensure that you do when visiting Tromsø. The guides are all super friendly and clearly enjoy their jobs. The dogs are all super playful and ready to jump all over you.

This was an experience like no other. The experts are just that but also friendly, helpful and clearly passionate about what they do. Running the sled takes a certain level of fitness as everyone gets a go of driving and its not as easy as it looks but it is truly fantasic. The panorama is stunning, the dogs are well trained and beautifully socialised so you can meet them after the run before youre shown to a cosy and comfortable lavvu where you are served hot drinks, stew, cake and looked after like youre one of the family. The team even walk you back to the bus and wave you off. If you get the chance, go here!

Wow what an experience ! Definitely worth the price ! The dogs are so nice the ride was fantastic ! The place was very well organized. Definitely a worthy experience

We had the most amazing experience there! Me and my husband booked in advance dog sledding, which includes bus pick up, lunch, puppy time and sledding. The dogs are super friendly and we stayed to pet them- could not pet all though - too many :( The sledding was real fun and Mica was a great musher. EVERYBODY was super nice and we did not want to leave..ever!!

Great place to try dog sledding! The people was very nice and welcoming the whole time. I spent the night in here in one of their Sami houses and they had a lit of nice details and made sure you are always comfortable. Really a place to go for dog sledding or spent the night when in Tromsø.

Absolutely loved this place. OMG the dogs were gorgeous and all wanted a cuddle. Amazing time on the Sled and a long one at that. Great staff

No snow so they were not open for husky tours. We arrived unexpectedly and were welcomed with open arms. The elderly lady and her daughter who own the place were really lovely and invited us to have a walk at the back where all of the dogs are kept. They are well looked after and were very friendly. Just as excited seeing us as we were to see them. Weather was wet and cold and we did not bat an eyelid when the dogs jumped up on us to greet us. A wonderful experience that we will cherish for years. We will most definitely return and fo the tours.

Amazing , beautiful and wonderful experience. Must must visit when you are in Tromsø . All huskies are very very friendly and will come to us voluntarily, so that we can pet them. All our sorrows, tension will disappear on seeing the beautiful huskies. The sledging experience was outstanding, splendidly beautiful covering amazing landscapes . There is no words to describe the happiness I got after visiting the huskies and sledging . I was amazed to witness the power and stamina of huskies . Do not miss out this amazing experience. Must, must, should do activity you are in Tromsø. Fully satisfied with my experience.

Incredible !!! We had the best time - everybody was nice and friendly - they took the time to explain everything - we helped prepare the dogs, had an amazing time on the sled - the dogs are so nice and cuddly! Lunch and diner was really good, and we also had the opportunity to play with the puppies 😍We will be back !!!!

This was my daughters highlight of our trip to Tromso. A comfortable coach transfer from Tromso took us to the wilderness centre. There we were met by our guides and given boots and warm outer clothing. We spent some time meeting the puppies before heading off on a great sled ride over the snow. We opted for the guided ride as my daughter is not old enough to self-drive. We were plenty warm enough with the extra outer clothes and wrapped under the blankets, although my hands got cold as I took so many photos!Back at the centre we met with the dogs again while waiting for our delicious lunch (veggie options availableand hot chocolate.An excellent visit with very friendly staff (and dogs!)

Awesome experience! We did the self driving dog sledding tour and it was so great! Very fun to drive it on our own. Not too difficult, just follow the guides (and push the sled a little sometimesl. The dogs are super friendly and you have plenty of time to cuddle them! Even the younglings. The food is very good, but keep some space for the dessert. Many thanks to our guides Frederique and Alan, they were very nice and professional, they were always there when needed. Highly recommended tour. We would definitely go again!

100% worth the visit. From the moment you arrive and get kitted out in a warm snow suit you know you are going to have fun.We did the husky self drive and spent an hour sledging through some amazing scenery before returning for reindeer soup and coffee to warm up (chocolate cake included).There were around 300 husky that you can stroke and play with including an area were the puppies are kept. All the dogs are well looked after and you can tell how happy they are.Just book it and enjoy a truly magical experience.

Magical night of sledding! Dogs, snow, beautiful scenery what’s not to love? From start to finish everything is well thought out and you are taken on a beautiful snowy sled ride led by a musher and his pack of dogs. Perfect scenery, perfect weather gear to keep warm, musher who is knowledgeable and keen to give you the greatest experience you can have. One of the highlights is of course getting to meet the puppies and play with them and learn about their lives as sled dogs. Topping off the evening you are seated around a lovely fireplace and served a dinner that will warm your heart and soul. Would definitely recommend and if ever in Norway would return and do tours excursion again. Thank you Lauris, Gregor and the whole crew for a fantastic experience and of course thank you to all the magnificent dogs that make up the dog sled teams.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Amazing experience, very nice people and a dog lovers paradise. They provide you with full suits and boots if you want along with goggles and gloves if you need them. Bus provides transport to and from the site.

What an amazing experience. Unforgettable.Pablo was the best instructor ever.We got the chance to meet with the dogs and then drive our own sled. The tour was definitely long enough. And perfectly concluded by a delicious meal.I highly recommend !

Undoubtfully the best experience on Tromso.After being picked up on the city center, we were driven about 25 minutes to the wilderness center. Our guides were Gina and Alan, and they were really kind and helpful.We were given thermal suits and boots and then introduced to the dog sledding and how to "drive" them.The experience of driving the dogs is amazing. One of us was sitting on the sled while the other one was driving, turning, breaking (importantand pushing. It was not very physically demanding, but some coordination was needed.After almost one hour, we returned back, and we were able to cuddle all the dogs and even the small puppies.Later on, we got into the center to have some hot drinks, hot meal and some chat with the other people there, before we were returned to Tromso.Definitely an experience to repeat.

What a wonderful experience.Beautiful location, not far from Tromso city centre (approx 30mins drive in snow.)The tracks were great, the changing facilities and restaurant type area all great.The staff were brilliant, very friendly and enthusiastic--in particular Charlotte and Jules who were our tour guides.The dogs and puppies just melt your hearts. They loved all the fuss and cuddles.The actual experience on the sleigh and lunch was great.I would highly recommend.

I had an incredible time here! I was traveling solo on my last leg of my journey through Norway, and ended up booking a New Years Day aurora camp and dog-sledding adventure the next morning. You get many opportunities to play with the huskies, hold the puppies, and get to know the teams. It is a dog wonderland! The lavvu overnight was fun, and the sleeping bags are warm- just beware that you dont know who youll be sharing the space with, so there might be a heavy snorer in there! It is very cozy, but there are no windows, so you wont be able to see the northern lights unless you go outside. The breakfast was one of the highlights- cinnamon pancakes and a great spread of smoked salmon, cheeses, and meats. Finally, the dogsledding was breathtaking. I opted to ride and I was put in the first sled by myself with a pro musher at the helm. It was a delightful last day- one I will remember for a long time.

We visited Tromsø in November 2019 and really wanted to try dog sledding. We were a bit anxious about finding an organisation that treated the animals with the highest standard of care. We really enjoyed our trip to the Wilderness Center. Lovely staff, a fantastic activity and plenty of time to cuddle the dogs afterwards! We went for the option with a driver and we had a lovely lady who clearly cared deeply about the dogs. The sledding can be quite bumpy as the dogs pick up speed but the views are incredible and the experience is one I would really recommend.

This is a really great place. My daughter thought it was amazing and the best part of the holiday (me too, and Im a cat person... ). The dogs were very well looked after and great fun to interact with, and the team was very friendly and gave lots of interesting information. The sleigh ride was great, too, with absolutely stunning views on the return leg approaching the centre. 100% recommended!

Quite an unique experience. A place for husky lover, although I question the ethics of breeding huskies just for tourist sledding, somewhat akin to Thai elephants ride.Place looks a bit unhygienic with a slew of poop, snow, and possible period of female dogs all over.Dogs are very cute and adorable though.

Absolutely loved my time here. My first experience mushing and its a brilliant experience both driving and as a passenger. After you get to spend time with the dogs and puppies before a nice soup for lunch followed by an amazi g chocolate cake. I didnt want to leave and would definitely return!

The tour was a fantastic experience, you get to spend time with huskies and the Sami. You learn about them and the scenery is picturesque. Almost any pictures taken can become a postcard.The deer soup is a bit gamey for me and therefore it depends on how much you love wild meat.But definitely recommend you to come and meet the puppies and enjoy spending the day with them.

Best place to experience meet adorable hiskies with variety of breeds. There are many dog sledging ride offered at some cost around 1000 kr(approx ). There are bonfire cabin available for grilling your own meat sausage 😋.

It was awesome. Never experienced something like that before. The guides where cool and explained everything regarding the training. Dogs were friendly and felt like they know us before. There were hundreds of huskies there. We tried reindeer soup at the restaurant/kitchen. That was good too. I like the big puppies more they like us when we are in there cage.

Amazing! We hired the self-drive dog sledding visit. They picked us up in a bus in Tromso and after arriving, provided us with overall thermal suits and boots. A quick explanation about the ride followed, and also a bit of free time to play and cuddle with the more than 200 (really friendlydogs they have in there, who are trained for professional sled racing. The ride itself was beautiful - although a bit demanding if youre in bad shape. It had just snowed the day before and the landscape and the views were astounding. And after it, we could warm up with a fire and a couple of bowls of homemade bidos - sami reindeer soup (delicious!and homemade chocolate and coconut cake (really tasty!). Thanks as well to our guide and instructor Tadas, and also to the mushers who guided and helped us on the ride!

Gorgeous pooches that are very well cared for, lovely and attentive staff, incredible views. My partner and I camped out and were lucky enough to see the majestic northern lights. In the morning we went dog sledding through the beautiful Norwegian countryside. We had dinner, breakfast and lunch on site, all were very tasty. I highly recommend all to book this once in a lifetime experience.

My partner and I camped over and if I could rate higher than a 5 I would!! 100% recommended! Gorgeous pooches, wonderful staff and amazing views of the Northern Lights and Norwegian countryside. Really is a once in a lifetime experience.

Love this place. Huskies are so adorable and friendly. Did the dog sledding. Guides are friendly. Lovely place. Stayed in the sami tent. Was probably -10c in the night. Petty bad weather so cant see aurora. Will certainly visit again.

Really good staff, who takes care of the dogs very well. This is a must visit place to see the aurora(if you are luckyand to do dog sledding.Make sure you cuddle the dogs, they love it.

An incredible experience from the moment we arrived. Each and every staff member that we met was so welcoming & friendly. Our Musher was a great guy from Ghent, Belgium, who explained everything to us and made us feel so relaxed. The Dogs obviously loved to run & it was great to see how friendly and affectionate they are. Seeing the puppies was super too. We loved the fish stew & chocolate cake in the new conference centre - I would recommend this experience to anyone. Thanks to Tromsø Wilderness Centre for providing such a wonderful, multicultural, calm environment. We hope to return.

Good fun dog sledding with friendly knowledgeable staff that clearly care about the hounds. Wrap up warm in winter and remember these are animals, and they dont stop for anything so you might want to bring face coverings and be prepared for the smells that might literally be kicked up in your direction!After the sledding you retire to a heated hut for hot drinks and tasty cake.