Find information on Ruka in our Travel Guide covering sights, foods and nightlife plus more...
Ruka is one of Finland’s top ski resorts lying a mere sixty kilometres from the Arctic Circle and twenty kilometres from the border with Russia. The wild landscape offers a very different skiing experience from that in Alpine resorts. Ruka has twenty kilometres of pisted runs, the majority of which are illuminated until seven in the evening. These slopes cater for all levels of ability. Cross country skiers have two hundred kilometres of trails through wonderful countryside. The accommodation is first class with four star hotels, apartments and cabins providing for most budgets. The larger hotels have swimming pools. A number of shops provide for all your holiday needs as well as gifts and souvenirs. Ruka has twenty restaurants in the resort and a further ten on the mountains. Nightlife is fairly low-key with the large hotels providing in-house entertainment as well as a few bars and a disco. Ruka is not a resort that parties into the early hours of the morning.
Ruka is a very child-friendly with a range of activities that are aimed at the younger generation. Recreational facilities include safaris snowmobile safaris, reindeer sleighing and dog sledging.
A Ruka ski holiday offers snow sure days in a resort close to the Arctic Circle in a beautiful area of Finland’s National Park. It is a relaxed resort with long trails for cross country skiers many of which begin at the cabin door. A free ski bus takes skiers and boarders to the lifts for the slopes. If you are lucky, you may be treated to the magnificent display of the Northern Lights.
A Ruka ski holiday has something for everyone and attracts a wide variety of visitors. It is popular with skiers who wish to avoid the sometimes crowded slopes of Alpine resorts and who are looking for the peace and tranquillity that is offered by the Finnish National Park.
Ruka has a long ski season promising good snow cover from November until the end of May. January and February are usually very cold months when temperatures can drop to minus forty.
Ruka is located at an altitude of almost three hundred metres close to the Arctic Circle in northern Finland. With transfers from Kuusamo Airport taking less than half an hour, skiers can quickly don their skis and be out on the slopes or the cross country trails in little more than an hour after landing. Ruka is a popular resort as it offers skiing for all levels of ability; good terrain for boarders; vast trails for cross country skiers; and is also very child friendly. Its accommodation provides high levels of comfort, its restaurants serve a wide variety of cuisine, its shops supply holiday essentials and its bars provide a pleasantly relaxing nightlife.
Ruka’s twenty nine pistes offer twenty kilometres of slopes with forty percent for novices, a third for intermediate and the remaining quarter for advanced skiers. As winter days are very short near the Arctic Circle, twenty three of these slopes are illuminated so that skiing can continue until seven in the evening. Advanced skiers have some demanding red and black runs on the north and western side of the mountain, a mogul field and some good off-piste terrain. Intermediate skiers have a good choice of tree lined runs and novices have the greatest choice with many confidence-building gentle slopes. Boarders can enjoy the pistes as well as the snow park with its jumps, handrails and half pipes. Cross country skiers have over two hundred kilometres of trails, fifteen kilometres of which are illuminated. Eighteen lifts give quick and easy access to the slopes. Ski schools offer tuition in skiing from the age of five and in boarding from the age of seven. A kindergarten is available for young children.
A Ruka ski holiday offers relaxing days on almost deserted runs and trails surrounded by superb scenery.
Ruka nightlife is fairly relaxed with the larger hotels providing evening entertainment. There are one or two bars where you can enjoy a drink in livelier surroundings and there is even a disco which closes around midnight. Ruka is definitely not a resort that parties until dawn.
Ruka has a good number of shops supplying essential provisions, sport’s equipment and clothing, and the inevitable gifts and souvenirs.
Ruka offers a range of restaurants offering everything from fine dining to fast foods. Much of the food is traditional fare so you can expect to find reindeer, rabbits and even bear on the menu.
