Guide · Ice fishing

Ice fishing in Levi, Lapland: drill a hole, drop a line, wait by the fire

Ice fishing in Levi, Lapland, is sold as half-day trips by car, on foot and by snowmobile. Here is how the six guided trips compare, what Finland's rules say about fishing through the ice, and what the lakes beside the village hold.

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Editorial team, iceskatinglevi.comUpdated October 22, 20266 min read23 sources

The tour for this guide Levi: Ice Fishing on a Frozen Lake with BBQ and Photos 4.6 (77 reviews) 3.5 hours from$121per person Check availabilityCancel for free up to 24 hrs ahead

The quick answer

01Our pick: The small-group trip with a campfire BBQ, 3.5 hours, from $121.
02Do I need a permit?: Ice fishing with one rod is an everyman's right in Finland, with local exceptions.¹ ²
03What you catch: The lakes by Levi hold perch, pike and whitefish.³
04How long: The trips run 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
05Season: One Levi trip runs from 1 December to 15 April.

What an ice fishing trip near Levi involves

Every guided trip follows the same core. A guide takes you out onto a frozen lake, shows you how to drill a hole through the ice and how to rig a short ice rod, and then you sit and wait for a bite. The trip this page recommends limits the group to 8, collects you in Sirkka, drives about 30 minutes to a campsite on the lake and spends 2.5 hours there with fishing, camp activities and a BBQ.

The fishing itself is quiet work. You sit on a small stool beside your hole, jig the line now and then, and watch the tip of the rod. Photos from these trips show wide white lakes under a pale sky, augers standing upright in the snow and anglers bent over holes no wider than a dinner plate. If a fish comes up, it comes up fast and flapping onto the snow.

The fire is the other half of the day. On the recommended trip the guide sets up a campfire with hot drinks and snacks, and fries the catch if it is big enough to eat. Other trips follow the same idea in their own way: one cooks a caught fish over the fire, another serves salmon soup for lunch.

On the day

The recommended trip, step by step

Start

Pickup in Sirkka

You are collected in Sirkka.
Drive

About 30 minutes

By car to the campsite on the lake.
On the ice

Learn the basics

Drill, rig the rod and start fishing.
Fire

Hot drinks, snacks

The guide sets up a campfire and a BBQ.
Back

About 30 minutes

The drive back to Sirkka.

Six guided trips side by side

Several listings near Levi are ice fishing at heart. The recommended small-group trip runs 3.5 hours with a BBQ. Safartica's trip goes by warm car to a frozen lake or river, lends winter and thermal clothing, and runs 2.5 hours, with transfers not counted in that time. A private trip takes only your own group, 15 minutes by car to a lake in Levi and a short walk to the spot.

Three smaller listings complete the set. Polar Star Travel's trip drives north from Levi to a small village for a 3-hour trip, with guides in Finnish and English. Wild Nordic Levi meets outside the Levi Tourist Information Centre, drives 15 minutes each way and spends 2.5 hours on the lake. A third trip limits the group to 8 and serves salmon soup, tea and homemade sweets by the fire.

The table below sets them side by side. The differences that matter are group size, how you reach the lake, and what you eat. Prices sit close together for most of them, while the private trip costs more and buys you a lake without strangers.

How long

Hours each guided ice fishing trip lasts

hrs

Durations as the listings state them; Safartica counts transfers outside its 2.5 hours.

Compared

Guided ice fishing trips near Levi

Trip	Duration	Getting there	By the fire	From
Frozen lake with BBQ	3.5 hrs	30 min by car	BBQ, hot drinks	from $121
Safartica by car	2.5 hrs	Warm car	Hot drink	from $126
Private trip	2.5 hrs	15 min by car	Not stated	from $172
Polar Star Travel	3 hrs	Drive north	Hot drinks, snacks	from $131
Wild Nordic Levi	3 hrs	15 min by car	Warm drinks	from $119
Bonfire and lunch	2.5 hrs	Pickup	Salmon soup	from $126

From each listing's own terms; prices are from-prices that GetYourGuide updates live.

Three styles

Small group, private, or by snowmobile

Our pick

Lake with BBQ

Small group from Sirkka

Group: Up to 8
On the lake: 2.5 hrs
Fire: BBQ, hot drinks

See the trip

Private

Private trip

Only your group

Drive: 15 min
Fish: Wild perch
Bait: Live bait

See the trip

Ride and fish

By snowmobile

Ride out to the lake

Outing: About 3 hrs
Per sled: 2 adults
Driving: Licence needed

See the trip

Decision helper

Which ice fishing trip suits you?

Start from what matters most to your group

A campfire meal of the catch No strangers in the group Clothing lent for the cold A proper lunch on the ice A snowmobile ride as well

Lake with BBQ

The guide fries the fish if the catch is big enough.

Private trip

A private group, 15 minutes by car to the lake.

Safartica by car

Winter and thermal clothing are provided.

Bonfire and lunch

Salmon soup, tea and homemade sweets by the fire.

Ice fishing by snowmobile

Ride to a frozen lake; children ride in a sled behind the guide.

Under Finnish Everyman's Rights, fishing with a simple hook and line is free for everyone, as is ice fishing.

Visit Finland (visitfinland.com)Source 4

Finland's rules: is ice fishing free?

For a visitor, the rules are generous. Levi's tourism site says angling and ice fishing are part of Finland's everyman's rights and need no separate permit when done lawfully.¹ Visit Finland puts it the same way: hook-and-line fishing is free for everyone, as is ice fishing, and visitors need no permit in most places.⁴ ⁵

The national fee is about other gear. Metsähallitus says the fisheries management fee is mandatory for fishers aged 18 to 69 who fish with lures or traps, while ice fishing with one rod costs nothing at any age.⁶ ⁷ On a guided trip the operator brings the gear and knows which method the lake allows, which is one less thing for you to sort out.

Local exceptions apply around Levi. A separate permit is needed for angling and ice fishing at Lake Immeljärvi and Lake Pyhäjärvi, and fishing is banned in rapids and fast-flowing migratory fish waters.² ⁸ Those rules matter only if you fish on your own; a guided trip chooses a lake where its guests may fish.

Checklist

What to bring for hours on the ice

Clothing

Merino or wicking base layer, fleece over it⁹ ¹⁰
Windproof outer layer
Wool socks first, never cotton¹¹
Spare mittens in an inside pocket

On the ice

Stay with the guide on the chosen spot
Use the fire breaks to warm up
Free cancellation up to 24 hours on the listings

Cost calculator

Price an ice fishing trip for your group

Choose a trip and the number of people.

Lake with BBQ3.5 hrs, up to 8from $121 Safartica by car2.5 hrsfrom $126 Private tripYour group onlyfrom $172 Wild Nordic Levi3 hrsfrom $119

People 2

Total from$242

per participant from $121

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Each sum multiplies the outing's lowest per-person GetYourGuide price by your group size and converts it at the ECB's daily rate; the checkout figure is the one that counts.

Video

Ice fishing in Finland, Levi

YouTube stays switched off until you start the video yourself.

The lakes and the fish

There is no shortage of water. Levi's tourism site counts 718 lakes in Kittilä municipality.¹² The lakes beside the village, Levijärvi and Sirkkajärvi, hold perch, pike and whitefish.³

Perch is the fish you are most likely to meet through a hole in the ice. The private trip names wild perch as its quarry and fishes with live bait. Lake Immeljärvi, close to the centre, is 1.6 km long and 10 m at its deepest, and needs its own licence even for ice fishing.¹³ ¹⁴

Ice fishing is part of local life rather than a show for visitors. Levi's tourism site says ice fishing is very popular at Lake Pyhäjärvi in early winter and late spring.¹⁵ A morning on a quiet lake, with a thermos and the odd perch, is what many Finns call a good day off.

Safety on the lake ice

Lake ice is a serious surface, and the rules on it are clear. The Finnish Border Guard says at least 5 cm of clear ice is the minimum to walk on, 10 cm is preferred for an adult, and 15 cm is needed for a snowmobile.¹⁶ Lapland's rescue department tells visitors to go on the ice only on a marked route and with a guide.¹⁷

A guided trip is the simple answer to that advice: the guide chooses the lake and the spot. If you ever walk onto ice on your own, Metsähallitus calls ice picks the basic safety equipment for ice fishing and tour skating alike, worn around the neck.¹⁸ Near Levi itself, the tourism site says you may walk on Lake Immeljärvi only after the winter trails are officially opened, and warns of thin ice at its northern end.¹⁹

Spring needs extra care. The Finnish Swimming Teaching and Lifesaving Federation says spring ice can give way under a walker even at 30 cm thick, and that ice which held in the morning can be dangerously weak by midday.²⁰ Late-season trips are still lovely, with long light on the snow; just leave the judgement to the guide.

Dressing for hours of sitting still

Ice fishing is the coldest of the ice activities, because you hardly move. Levi's tourism site says midwinter frost is harshest in January and February, with temperatures down to minus 30 degrees made to feel colder by the Arctic wind.²¹ Safartica's car trip lends winter and thermal clothing for that reason.

Build warmth from the skin out. Visit Levi calls the base layer the most important, with merino wool if you do not sweat much, then a breathable fleece and a windproof outer layer.⁹ ¹⁰ ²² On the feet, wool socks first, never cotton.¹¹

Bring something to sit on that keeps you off the snow, and stand up and walk a few steps every so often. Keep a dry pair of mittens inside your jacket, and do not handle a wet line with bare fingers for long: in a breeze the cold works quickly. The fire breaks on every trip are there for a reason.

Booking, meeting times and the cold

Read the meeting time, not just the start time. Wild Nordic Levi asks guests to be outside the Levi Tourist Information Centre 20 minutes before the start, and Safartica sets its meeting at its Levi office 20 minutes before the activity as well. Wild Nordic Levi also needs a minimum of 2 people paying the adult price for a departure.

Cold can change the plan. Polar Star Travel says it may adjust the route, duration or schedule in weather such as extreme cold. Finland's weather service issues frost warnings in the north when the temperature or wind chill falls below -30 degrees.²³ A rescheduled morning is a nuisance, but a guide who calls off a trip at those temperatures is doing the job well.

The booking terms help with that uncertainty. The recommended trip can be cancelled free of charge until a day before, and paid for later, so you can hold a place and watch the forecast for your week. Booking early in the week also leaves room to move the trip if a cold snap arrives.

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