The Sami people have herded reindeer across Finnmark for centuries, and several operators in the Kirkenes area offer introductions to that tradition: a reindeer sled ride (slower and calmer than dog sledding, more of a glide), a visit to a Sami camp, and a simple meal of reindeer stew cooked over an open fire in a lavvu (the conical Sami tent). It is a staged experience — no one should pretend otherwise — but the people running these trips typically have genuine Sami backgrounds and talk candidly about what modern herding life actually looks like.
Tours run from December to April. The landscape around Kirkenes, an expanse of frozen marshland and birch scrub, is authentic enough that the artificiality of the setup fades quickly once you are out on a sled in the open country.