Ruka in English

Ruka is the most popular skiing center in Finland. The next big city nearby (25 km away) is Kuusamo, which is 1 hour flight away from Helsinki, and 215 km away from Oulu, also reachable by train. Kuusamo is located in the centre of Finland, right about the border of Lapland. In the summertime, the sun is shining all through the night, and in the winter all the beautiful Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) give their brilliant show in the sky.

Ruka is a very popular area to enjoy summer days as well, greatly because of the nearby Oulanka National Park, where hundreds of thousands of people come every year hiking, biking and paddling, to admire the wonders of Finland´s nature. In the wintertime it can be visited on snowshoes or skis. Around the national park there are very beautiful and famous hiking routes, called Karhunkierros, with two different lenghts to choose from. Oulanka river will take you paddling all the way to the Russian border.

The popularity of Ruka and Kuusamo has a lot to do with the very visible variation of the Four Seasons:

Summer: Midnight sun and the largest number of lakes in Finland give you an experience to remember. Time just stops and you will find peace.

Autumn: Amazing colors of trees and plants turning to their Ruska outfit, breathtaking views in the nature full of berries and mushrooms, along with exceptional wildlife.

Winter: Ruka is opening up the slopes at 4.10, as first of all the skiing centers in the country. You will find 35 ski runs in different degrees of difficulty, with 26 lifts, of which 3 are Express lifts and 1 Gondola, the latter being in use all through the year to admire the fantastic view from above.

Spring: The skiing season continues until the end of April, and the awesome Northern Lights are still visible most of the cold nights. Over 170 kilometres of trails for skiing, also myriad of routes for snow mobile riding, are in use as long as there is snow on the ground.

Also you will find a great variety of restaurants, shops, cafés, reindeer and husky rides, ice carting, bowling, frisbee, Santa Claus with his reindeers, rafting and snow mobile safaris, and loads of more activities, with over 30.000 beds to stay overnight at Ruka. This unique experience is awaiting you, welcome!