Bidos and booking the camp dinner

What bidos is

Bidos is a Sami stew made with reindeer meat. The Sami reindeer-herding family that runs the camp calls it its traditional reindeer stew and cooks it over the fire. It is often served at Sami weddings and other special occasions. At the camp you eat it in a candlelit gamme or lavvu, the Sami hut and tent, as part of a three-course dinner. Hot drinks and snacks come with the evening, and the bidos is cooked over an open fire.

How a published bidos recipe works

The Centre for Northern Peoples publishes a bidos recipe from the Sea Sami kitchen project. It uses venison stock, reindeer meat, potatoes, carrot and onion, seasoned with salt and coarsely ground pepper. The meat simmers for about 15 minutes, then the diced vegetables go in, and wheat flour stirred in with water thickens the soup. It is served with gahkku, a flatbread-style accompaniment. This is one recipe, not the camp's own, so the pot you are served may differ. At the camp, the cooking is done over an open fire.

Dietary needs and allergies

You do not have to eat reindeer. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options are available, and the operator offers a vegetarian and vegan alternative to the bidos, cooked fresh daily over an open fire. Its site says bidos contains lactose but not gluten. It asks you to send allergy details in advance, so do that when you book, not at the camp. Staff confirm the choice with you at the camp.

• Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options are available
• Bidos contains lactose but no gluten, according to the operator
• Send allergy details in advance, not on the night

Which evening to book

This booking is the full evening: feeding, a sled ride, the dinner and a bus from the city. The operator runs the same evening without the sled ride as a dinner-only option. It also runs daytime tours, some with a sled ride and a meal, which suit a shorter outing in daylight but give no dark sky. A longer evening, Aurora Wonder Night, adds a dedicated northern-lights guide in the wilderness after a visit to the herd. Choose by what you want from the dark and from the sled.

Read next: The reindeer camp evening: what actually happens, step by step

What this booking includes

The booking covers return transport by bus from Tromsø, a live guide in English, reindeer feeding and sledding, a three-course dinner, storytelling and joik, coffee and snacks. The whole evening lasts about 4.5 hours. You meet at the bus terminal at Tromsø Havn Prostneset, Samuel Arnesens gate 5, in the city centre, not at your hotel. The booking calendar and your confirmation show the starting time for your date, so check them rather than relying on any time you have read elsewhere. The bus returns you to your meeting point in Tromsø at the end.

• Return bus transport from Tromsø
• Live guide in English
• Reindeer feeding and sledding
• Three-course dinner, with coffee and snacks
• Storytelling and joik

GetYourGuide or the operator's own site

The operator sells this evening on its own site as well. Booked through GetYourGuide, you can cancel free up to 24 hours before the start, and the operator's site states the same terms for its own bookings. GetYourGuide also offers reserve now, pay later. The operator's site lists a self-drive option, where you arrive about half an hour after the bus leaves, and gives a contact for allergy notes. If you want to drive yourself, book that way. If you want a bus from the city and a flexible booking, either route works.

When the camp is open

The operator runs its evening tours from the end of October to early April, with the exact dates shifting from year to year. The camp is closed from mid-April to early November, because the reindeer spend the summer free in the mountains, where the calves are born. Guests can only visit on a booked tour, since staff are at the camp only during tours. The booking calendar shows which dates are open. For what the sky does in each month, read the polar night guide.

Read next: Polar night in Tromsø: when to go

Reindeer in Sami cooking

Wikipedia describes the traditional cuisine of Sápmi as based on local materials: fish, game, reindeer and berries. Reindeer, fish and game meats are staple foods, and most dishes are made of reindeer meat, though some use moose or sheep. Because other fruit and vegetables were not available during the long winters, berries mattered. Smoking and drying preserved meat and fish.

Where you eat: the gamme and the lavvu

The operator uses two words for the places where you gather by the fire: gamme and lavvu. A lavvu is a temporary dwelling used by the Sami, similar to a tipi but less vertical and more stable in high winds. The goahti, which people often confuse with it, has a different pole structure and sits lower to the ground. Modern lavvus may use an oven instead of an open fire, but the camp cooks and warms you over a real fire, with candles for light.

Children and families

The operator says all ages are welcome. A small child can sit with an adult in the sled, and the sled ride is 15 to 20 minutes long. The practical limits are the 4.5-hour evening and the cold, which suit some young children better than others. The bus returns you to your meeting point in Tromsø, so there is no late drive to arrange. The buses have only a few booster seats. For a baby or toddler, bring your own car seat or book a taxi with the right seat.

Who this isn't for

Skip it if you need a guaranteed northern-lights sighting. The operator says it can never promise one, and the evening is built around the herd and dinner instead. It is also a poor fit if you want hotel pickup, because the meeting point is the bus terminal in the city centre. If you dislike standing outdoors in the cold, note that the feeding and the sled ride are outdoors, and choose a different activity. And if the sled ride is the main reason you are going, ask the operator how it handles a shortened or dropped ride before you book.