Who we are
Three Sámi. Two traditions. One journey.
Sámi Guide is Odd Levi, Jon Mikkel and Ole Mathis — three Sámi from two different traditions, the coast and the reindeer herding lands. We are not a tour company with hired guides. When you book with us, it is us who plan your day and us who guide it.
Odd Levi, sea Sámi from Musken, one of only around 2 000 Lule Sámi, is the northern lights guide — he takes over when it gets dark. Jon Mikkel, from a reindeer herding family in Karasjok and a trained cook, makes the food over the fire in front of you. Ole Mathis, reindeer-herding Sámi, is the reindeer guide. A driver and a car are yours for the day, and a photographer can come along if you want one.
Photo: Lola Laurent
What private means
The day runs at your pace
Nobody else is picked up. Nobody else sets the schedule. If your group wants to stay an hour longer at a good fire, we stay. If somebody needs ten minutes in the warm car, they take them, and nobody sighs. On a group tour you stop where the bus stops and leave when it leaves. With us the day bends to you.
And the day itself can move. If the forecast is poor on your night and better on another night of your stay, we shift the whole day — at no extra cost, as long as we are free. Letting the sky choose the night is the single best thing you can do for your chances.
Photo: Sámi Guide
Plan your journey
Tell us about your group
Plan your journey
The fjords
Life by the fjord, told by someone who lives it
Tromsø sits on an island, and the road to the outer coast runs from fjord to fjord, each one opening differently. We stop where it is worth stopping — a guardrail with the sea below, a beach, a village of red houses — and the first stories start on the road: the sea, the fishing, and a coastal Sámi culture few visitors ever encounter.
Photo: Lola Laurent
Reindeer and herding life
On their own time
Meet the reindeer with a herder who grew up among them. They are free-roaming animals and they owe us nothing — which is the whole reason it is worth something when they are there. So we do one of two things. Either we look for them along the road, with no promise that we find them. Or we go to a camp run by a herding family: the one place we can promise it, close to the reindeer, with feeding, stories from the migration and the quiet of the winter landscape. You choose.
Photo: Lola Laurent · Sámi Guide
Fire, coffee and storytelling
Around the fire, two traditions
Around the fire we share the stories, beliefs and joik of our two traditions — the sea Sámi coast and the reindeer herding lands. A Sámi day is mostly stories: on the road, around the fire, while the food cooks. We guide in English or Norwegian, and for other languages we can bring a photographer who speaks yours.
Photo: Lola Laurent
The food
Cooked on the fire outside, eaten by the one inside
Two fires: one to cook on, one to sit at, so the smoke and the steam stay away from where you are warm. Jon Mikkel is a trained cook. Reindeer, elk, smoked reindeer alongside — thyme and a little rosemary and nothing more, because it does not need it. Cloudberries with cream to finish. Tell us what you eat and what you do not, and we build the meal around that.
Photo: Lola Laurent
Northern lights, the Sámi way
Never promised. Always chased.
The northern lights are weather and solar wind, not a booking. What we can do is go where the sky is clearest and stay out while it is. And when they come, we share what the lights have meant to our people for generations — and why you never wave at them.
Guovssahas oaidná du.
The aurora keeps an eye on you
Photo: Lola Laurent
Plan your journey
Tell us about your group
Plan your journey
Getting around
Warm, yours, and waiting
We usually hire in a private car with its own driver, so your guide stays in the conversation — telling the story, answering your questions, watching the sky for the right moment — instead of watching the road. We pick you up where you are staying, and the day ends wherever suits you.
Which car meets you depends on the day and the size of your group, so we cannot promise a particular model. What we do promise is that it is private, comfortable and warm — with the engine running while you are out, so anyone who gets cold has somewhere to go back to.
Photo: Lola Laurent
How it works
Three steps, no obligation
Tell us about your group
Who you are, when you are coming, and what you would love to experience. A few lines in the form is enough.
We put together a proposal
Within a short time you get a suggested programme, price and practical details — adjusted with you until it fits. Every guest gets their own page with the plan, updated as it takes shape.
We guide you, personally
On the day it is us. No hired guides, no crowds, no fixed script.
Photo: Lola Laurent
The honest part
We cannot promise the lights. We can promise the day.
- Four hours
- from 20 000 NOK per group
- Eight hours
- from 30 000 NOK per group
- Reindeer camp
- 2 000 per person, on top
Starting prices with one guide and a car with a driver — the firm price comes with the proposal, once we know the shape of your day. It is not the cheap way to see the north, and we do not pretend otherwise. The full buses run every night at 1 500–2 500 per person. What you buy there is a seat. What you get from us is the day.
“It was wonderful. We are very happy on every minute from the trip. Maybe the best trip we had.”
Four guests from Belgium · September 2026
★★★★★“Our guide was so friendly and committed with the stories and videos about Sami culture. It was very much joy to hear Sami’s joik.”
Thangarathi Ayyachamy · Tripadvisor
Photo: Sámi Guide
Plan your journey
Tell us about your group
Plan your journeyFrequently asked questions
Before you ask
What exactly do you offer?
We plan, coordinate and guide private Sámi experiences in and around Tromsø. There is no fixed package: you tell us who you are and what you would like, and we put together a programme for your group — anything from a few hours by the fire to several days.
How large can our group be?
Your journey is private: the guiding, the transport and the time with us is for your group alone. The one exception is when we visit a reindeer camp, which is open to other visitors — there you will share the camp with a few other guests, but your guide stays with you the whole time and the experience is still yours. Most journeys are for 2–10 guests, and we can coordinate larger groups — just tell us in the form.
Will we see the northern lights?
The lights are a natural phenomenon and can never be guaranteed. We know the area, we follow the forecasts, and we take you to the best spots for the conditions — and whatever the sky does, you get a genuine Sámi evening.
What languages do you speak?
Both of us speak fluent Norwegian and English. Odd Levi also speaks Lule Sámi, and Jon Mikkel speaks Northern Sámi. Journeys are guided in English or Norwegian.
Where do we meet?
We pick you up at your hotel or a central meeting point in Tromsø, or we agree on a meeting place that suits your programme. Transport is part of the proposal we send you.
What if the weather is very bad?
We operate in most winter conditions — this is the Arctic, after all. In case of extreme weather or storm warnings we contact you to adjust or reschedule. Safety always comes first.
What should we wear?
Warm layers, good winter boots, hat, gloves and a scarf. Wool underneath makes a big difference. We give you detailed advice for your specific programme before you arrive.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes. Families are very welcome, and we adapt the pace and the content to the ages in your group.
Can you arrange a corporate event or a special occasion?
Absolutely. Team days, client hospitality, anniversaries, birthdays and proposals are all things we have coordinated. Tell us the occasion and we shape the journey around it, with invoicing for companies.
We're arriving by cruise ship. Can you fit our schedule?
Yes. Let us know your port times and we build a programme that fits your stay, including an earlier start if needed.
How far in advance should we get in touch?
As early as you can, especially for the winter season from November to March. That said, we can often arrange something on short notice — it never hurts to ask.
What about prices and cancellation?
Because every journey is different, we price each one individually and include the price and cancellation terms in the proposal we send you. No obligation until you confirm.
Plan your journey
Tell us about your group
A few lines is enough. You get a proposal with programme, price and practical details within a short time.
Thank you!
We have your request and reply with a proposal within a short time.