Renting Arctic Clothing in Lapland, Tromsø and Iceland

In Finnish Lapland and Tromsø you do not need to buy a winter coat, snow pants or Arctic boots for a northern lights trip. You can rent all three on arrival for roughly the price of one restaurant dinner. In Iceland you can rent waterproof jackets and insulated pants in Reykjavík, but the full thermal-suit rental shops found in Finland and Norway are thinner on the ground there. Rental sets almost never include what touches your skin: base layers, socks, liner gloves and a hat. You bring those yourself. This page is for anyone heading to Rovaniemi, the Lapland ski resorts, Tromsø or Reykjavík who wants to know what to rent, where, at what price, and what still has to go in the suitcase. Prices below are as the operators listed them when this page was researched in October 2026.

Most people get one thing wrong. They treat the rented suit as the thing that keeps them warm. It is the windproof outer shell. The warmth comes from what you wear under it. Visit Norway puts it plainly: many tour operators provide thick coveralls, but warm base layers underneath remain essential. A rented overall over a cotton T-shirt is a cold night.

Rental winter clothing comes in two forms, and the form decides what else you need.

A one-piece thermal overall (snowsuit). It is thick, insulated and windproof, and you wear it over your own base and mid layers. This is the standard in Rovaniemi and Tromsø. Arctic Attitude in Rovaniemi lists its overall at a 5,000mm waterproof rating, with extra insulation at the knees and back, and describes its boots as having an aluminum thermal barrier plate and wool lining. The operator says the set is built for Lapland's coldest periods, around -30°C (-22°F).

A separate insulated jacket and insulated pants. Two pieces are easier to take off indoors, and this is what most Reykjavík rentals offer. Several Lapland shops offer both forms. The rental Rovaniemi Insider recommends gives you a jacket and pants by default, with a one-piece overall on request at the same price.

Before you rent anything, find out whether your tour already covers it. The sources disagree here, and the answer depends on the operator. Visit Norway says many Northern Norway tour operators supply thick coveralls for activities. Polar Lapland, in its guide updated September 17, 2026, states that winter clothing is not included on its tours and describes that as typical for most tours in Rovaniemi. In Iceland, Hotel Rangá lends snowsuits free to its guests for aurora watching. Read your tour confirmation for the words "thermal suit", "overall" or "winter clothing included". If none of them appear, assume you need your own.

The process is the same in every city: pack the layers that rental never covers, book the outer gear ahead, collect it before your first night out, and return it before your flight. The order matters most for the first and last steps, because those are the two that leave you stuck when they go wrong.

Pack these before you fly. None of the rental sets on this page include all of them, and most include none.

On the base layer, wool or synthetic both work. The fabric weight matters more than people expect, and our page on choosing a merino base layer covers which weight suits which temperature. The liner glove question is a camera-handling problem as much as a warmth problem. If you plan to photograph the aurora, the trade-offs between thin liner gloves and flip-top mittens are worth reading before you choose a pair.

Assuming the tour covers it. Visit Norway says many Norwegian operators supply coveralls. Polar Lapland says most Rovaniemi tours do not. Travelers who move between the two countries can carry the wrong assumption across the border. You recognize the problem when the tour confirmation lists boots or snacks but says nothing about clothing. Read every confirmation separately.

Gear that does not fit. Fit is the recurring complaint in Winterent's GetYourGuide reviews, where reviewers said clearer size checks before pickup would help. Boots that are snug with one pair of socks are too tight with the two pairs you should be wearing, and tight boots cut circulation and make feet colder. Try them on with your own socks and swap at the counter while it is still free.

Wet coastal nights in a suit made for dry cold. Tromsø Outdoor states its thermal suits are windproof but not designed for long exposure to heavy rain. Coastal Northern Norway typically sits between 5°C and -5°C (41°F and 23°F) in winter, per Visit Norway, so rain and wet snow are possible around Tromsø, Lofoten and Bodø. If the forecast shows rain, a waterproof shell over the suit or a rain jacket in your daypack is worth more than extra insulation.

Expecting mittens and getting none. Arctic Attitude rents mittens only as an optional add-on. Tromsø Outdoor's thermal suit page lists the suit alone. If the booking does not name mittens, ask for them or pack your own. Visit Norway and Polar Lapland both recommend mittens over gloves because they hold heat better.

Cotton under the suit. Polar Lapland rules out cotton as a base layer, and Aurora Norway says it absorbs moisture, holds it and loses its insulating value. The walk to the viewing spot makes you sweat. Two hours of standing still afterward turns that sweat cold. You notice it as chill spreading from the back and armpits after the first hour, not at the start.

Missing the shop's hours. Tromsø Outdoor closes at 17:00, and aurora departures leave well after dark. A late flight and a 19:00 tour pickup can leave you with no suit on the first night. Book hotel delivery for that night, or choose a shop with late or 24/7 pickup.

Forgetting the deposit. Tromsø Outdoor reserves NOK 500 per person at pickup. On a family trip that is a noticeable hold on a card, so budget for it.

Iceland. Winterent, the largest rental network on this page, does not operate in Iceland as of 2026. Its seven locations are Rovaniemi, Levi, Saariselkä, Ruka and Helsinki in Finland, Haparanda in Sweden and Tromsø in Norway. Hotel Rangá's guide says Iceland has no thermal-suit rental industry comparable to Norway's or Finland's, and that extra warm gear there tends to come bundled with a hotel or tour. Rental does exist in Reykjavík, but it looks different. Guide to Iceland rents a waterproof jacket and insulated, waterproof pants for €15 to €23 a day, and the listing describes no boots or overall. Tourvo, listed on TripAdvisor, rents parkas, waterproof jackets, snow pants, boots, gloves and hats from $131 for 1 to 12 days and delivers to hotels, rental apartments or the airport. That listing names IcelandCover as its main competitor, but the sources used for this page give no details of IcelandCover's prices or packages. If you are going to Iceland, plan on bringing your own boots unless you book a package that names them.

Svalbard. Visit Norway gives an average winter temperature of -14°C (6.8°F) from October to May, with spells down to -20°C or -30°C (-4°F to -22°F), and singles out base-layer warmth as especially critical there. None of the rental shops in this page's sources list a Svalbard location. Treat Svalbard as a trip where you check gear with your tour operator directly and bring a heavier base layer than you would for Tromsø.

Deep cold below -25°C (-13°F). Rovaniemi has recorded -38.1°C (-36.6°F), and Visit Norway gives -30°C (-22°F) for the Finnmark interior. At that level Aurora Norway recommends extra insulating layers, ski goggles and limiting time outdoors to 30-minute rotations. A rented suit is part of the answer, not all of it. Polar Lapland recommends boots rated to -30°C (-22°F), and Aurora Norway suggests boots rated to -40°C (-40°F) for the -15°C to -25°C (5°F to -13°F) band. Ask the shop what temperature its boots are rated to. Arctic Attitude says its set is designed for around -30°C. The other sources do not give ratings.

Children. Most Lapland shops rent children's sizes. Rovaniemi Insider's recommended rental charges the same from-€35 price for adults and children aged 1 to 12. Arctic Attitude sizes overalls from 80cm (about 31 inches) tall, with boots from EU 27. North Wind Lapland's children's package is an overall, wool socks, boots and mittens. Winterent lists all sizes for adults, juniors and kids.

Abisko and Fairbanks. The sources used for this page do not cover clothing rental in Abisko or Fairbanks, so they cannot tell you whether rental shops operate there, what they charge or what tours include. The nearest Swedish rental location in these sources is Winterent in Haparanda, on the Finnish border, which is not close to Abisko. For both places, confirm clothing directly with your tour operator or lodging before you travel, and plan to bring your own outer gear if you cannot get a clear answer.

Prices are structured differently, and the structure decides what a trip costs. Winterent quotes a price per set. Its GetYourGuide listing shows sets from about $52 to $54 per person. Tromsø Outdoor and Guide to Iceland charge by the day with automatic discounts for longer periods, but neither publishes the discounted rates. North Wind Lapland publishes its whole scale, which makes the arithmetic easy to show.

Against buying. The sources used for this page give no purchase prices for comparable jackets, overalls or Arctic-rated boots, so this page cannot set a rental total against a shopping bill. Polar Lapland and Tourvo both present rental as the way to avoid buying expensive specialized gear for a short trip. For a single trip, rental also means one less bulky bag. If you go north every winter, or you want gear for home, the case shifts toward owning. Visit Norway suggests quality Norwegian wool as a souvenir. Aurora Norway names Intersport, XXL and the Devold flagship store in Tromsø as places that stock cold-weather gear.

What is always worth buying. Base layers, wool socks, liner gloves and hand warmers stay in every packing list regardless of where you rent. They cost less than outerwear, you would not want them secondhand, and they decide whether a rented suit keeps you warm. For long waits at -10°C to -30°C (14°F to -22°F), the choice between disposable and rechargeable chemical hand warmers is the last item to settle before packing. Ice grips are worth a small purchase too. Visit Norway says they are sold in sports shops and supermarkets, and Life in Norway recommends strap-on spikes for uncertain footing.