What is Finnmarksvidda, the plateau above Alta?
Every snowmobile tour from Alta heads for the same high, open country south of town. Finnmarksvidda is a wide plateau of frozen lakes and low hills, and it is Sámi reindeer herding land. This page explains what you ride across and how each tour gets up there.
How big the plateau is
The plateau spreads over roughly 22,000 km² (8,500 sq miles) of inland Finnmark, and Æventyr's listings call it Europe's largest mountain plateau. It begins where the valleys south of Alta climb out of the trees.
Most of it lies roughly 300–500 m (1,000–1,600 ft) above sea level. That is modest by mountain standards, yet up there the land flattens out and the wind has little to stop it.
The Wikipedia page on Finnmarksvidda gives the wider geography. For a rider the picture is simpler, a slope of birch forest and then a broad white top with almost nothing tall on it.
Birch woods below, open white above
The climb from Alta passes through birch woods on the slopes. The trees thin out as you rise, and on top the view opens into plains and frozen lakes under snow.
In winter the lakes become part of the route. Alta Adventure's safari crosses several of them, and from the seat a frozen lake is hard to tell apart from the plain around it.
That openness is the reason people come. It is also why the plateau feels much colder than the town by the fjord, with air that is often −15 to −25 °C (5 to −13 °F) in mid-winter.
The coldest still nights can drop under −30 °C (−22 °F), and the wind of the ride adds its own chill. Our guide to layers for the plateau covers what to put under the suit.
Reindeer country
Finnmarksvidda is Sámi reindeer herding land. The animals graze freely across the plateau, and every reindeer has an owner, even when a herd looks wild from the track.
The plateau's towns are Kautokeino and Karasjok, a long way inland. The tours on this site stay much closer to Alta, and the Sámi people page explains more about the herding culture.
Alta Adventure's listing says you may see reindeer herds as well as skiers or dog sleds. Nobody can promise any of them, so treat a herd near the track as luck rather than part of the deal.
If animals are close, the guide decides whether the group stops and how near it goes. Follow that call, since the herd belongs to a family that depends on it.
Why every ride has a guide
Norway limits motorized traffic in the outdoors. Snowmobiles keep to marked routes or tracks with a permit, which is one reason the rides from Alta run as guided tours.
The guide knows where the permitted track runs and leads the group in a convoy. On Æventyr's rides the pace follows the group's experience, so first-timers are not left behind.
Driving yourself needs a valid class B driving license, shown before the ride. Passengers ride without one, and the rules per operator sit in our license guide.
Two ways up from Alta
Æventyr's base is a 150-year-old mountain lodge in Gargia Valley, about 25 km (15 miles) south of Alta. From there the old postal road climbs through snow-covered forest to the edge of the plateau at Beskades.
Its daytime ride from the Gargia lodge (~$288) lasts 4 hours with about 2 hours of driving. The guide tells some Arctic history over locally made snacks, and the tour rates 4.9 from 70 reviews on GetYourGuide.
The catch is the group size. Up to 30 people can book, the biggest group on this site, and two hours on the throttle is the shortest driving time of the four main tours.
Forest first, then the open plains
Four hours from the Gargia Valley lodge up to Beskades and back, riding in pairs who swap seats. Æventyr lends thermal suits and helmets along with shoes and gloves, and pickup is in Alta.
Alta Adventure takes a different line. You change into a warm suit and boots at its office, and then a minibus drives about 30 minutes from town to the snowmobiles.
Its 5-hour Finnmarksvidda safari (from ~$337) crosses frozen lakes and stops at a mountain cabin. Warm drinks and snacks are part of the day, and groups stay at 12 or fewer.
The ~$337 price is for a shared sled, and a single driver pays more. Its catch is the passenger limit of 75 kg (165 lb), which rules many adults out of the back seat, as our guide to sharing a sled explains.
The old postal road
The road the Æventyr tours climb is an old postal road. Part of Norway's longest postal route crossed the plateau here, and in the 19th century it carried mail to reindeer herding families.
Æventyr's historical tour across Finnmarksvidda (~$352) follows part of that route from Gargia to Suolovuopmi mountain lodge over 6 hours. Its catch is plain, since it is sold on Viator only, with 5.0 from 8 reviews, and it makes a long day in the cold.
For most visitors a half day shows the plateau well enough. Every price side by side sits in what Alta snowmobile tours cost.
Light on the plateau
The vidda changes through the winter. In polar night, from about late November to mid-January, the sun stays below the horizon and midday brings a few hours of blue twilight.
From February the days grow longer and the snow can glare, so sunglasses under the helmet help. Our page on polar night or bright March compares the months.
After dark, the sky away from town lights is the reason Æventyr runs an evening ride up to Beskades. The aurora is never guaranteed, as our northern lights guide explains.
Families can check the age limits in snowmobiling in Alta with children. If you arrive by ship, the cruise-day guide shows which ride fits a port call.