Heggeli Adventures

"The Arctic, guided by those who live here" is the promise of Heggeli Adventures, a family of local guides in Nordkjosbotn in Balsfjord, about an hour south of Tromsø. Being local is not a marketing line for them: the snowmobile guides come from Heggeli itself, the reindeer guides are Sámi from Kautokeino sharing their own living culture, and even the food is sourced from within 30 kilometres of the camp. The snowmobile safari gives you around an hour and fifteen minutes of riding through open snowfields and mountain views, with all winter gear included and groups capped at 16. The reindeer experience is something else entirely: 45 to 60 minutes travelling the way people have crossed this land for centuries, then feeding the animals, gathering in a lavvu for a warm meal, and hearing stories told by hosts from one of the heartlands of Sámi reindeer herding. Guests often describe it as the most moving moment of their whole trip. Everything we recommend has to pass one test: is this the real Northern Norway, delivered by people who genuinely live it? Heggeli passes with room to spare. Like us they are locals first, they keep groups small, and they treat their animals and their landscape with respect. Start with huskies at our camp, then head to Heggeli for the oldest way of travelling this terrain — and the newest.