Your own group winter activity holiday
| country: | Finland |
| departures: | You can create a group with a minimum of 6 people. The maximum number is 40. The group will be allocated fully qualified guides to look after them during the activities and a local representative with great knowledge of the area will be on hand to ensure the smooth-running of the trip. |
| price: | From £1200 - £1375 (4 days) including flights from the UK. This trip can also be booked without flights. Price depends on departure and group size, and is based on twin sharing |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Ruka is situated in the Oulu Province of North East Finland and offers the ideal solution if you want to combine traditional Nordic activities with skiing and snowboarding. The area is renowned for its natural wilderness beauty characterised by lakes, rivers, fells and forests. The best recommendation we can give is that it is extremely popular with the Finns themselves as an outdoor activity centre.
The hotel that we would suggest enjoys an enviable location at the foot of the ski slopes in the very heart of Ruka. The hotel has 2 restaurants serving international cuisine but with local produce very much to the fore. There is evening entertainment, 3 saunas, bars and a sound proofed basement nightclub.
The hotel that we would suggest enjoys an enviable location at the foot of the ski slopes in the very heart of Ruka. The hotel has 2 restaurants serving international cuisine but with local produce very much to the fore. There is evening entertainment, 3 saunas, bars and a sound proofed basement nightclub.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Flights, arrival and welcome. On arrival at the airport, you will be met be our local representative and transferred to your hotel. Once you have settled in, dinner will be served in the restaurant. |
| Day 2: | Huskies, reindeer and snowmobiles. After breakfast, you will receive your thermal clothing for the duration of your stay then meet your guides. You will receive tuition on how to ride your snowmobile before setting off to explore the stunning landscape of this beautiful and unspoilt country. You will travel to the husky farm where you will meet the dogs and learn how to handle the team before taking the reins and enjoying a short safari. Lunch will be served in a traditional kota then you continue on snowmobiles to the Reindeer farm where you learn of their importance in Lapp culture then you will experience a sleigh ride and then you will be awarded with your international reindeer driving licence. You will return to the hotel to relax before you are taken out to a local restaurant for dinner. The restaurant also boasts a traditional smoke sauna where you can relax and then jump in the ice pool to complete the experience – this is optional! |
| Day 3: | Arctic olympics and igloo experience. After breakfast, you can take part in Arctic Olympics where you split in to teams and take part in cross country skiing, survival skills, ice fishing and kick sled races. Lunch will be served followed by the prize giving ceremony to the wining team. The afternoon will be free to relax or go skiing or snowboarding on the local slopes. Dinner will be in another local restaurant serving great locally produced food. We can arrange for the group to spend the night in an igloo and do what the native Sami have done for centuries. This is the real thing with reindeer skins to lie on and thermal sleeping bags to keep you warm. |
| Day 4: | Relax and depart. After breakfast, there will be some free time before you are transferred to the airport for your return flights. |
travelling in your own group
To classify as a group, we would require a minimum of 6 clients. The maximum number can be around 40 depending on activity and accommodation choices in particular destinations. Our advice to groups is to book as early as possible to make sure that you get exactly what you want for the most competitive price.
how this holiday makes a difference
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The common objective of North East Finland, including the Ruka municipality, is to develop from a nationally well-known tourist resort into an internationally attractive outdoor tourist region.
Tourism is the most vital industry in the area and gives work to about 1000 people generating an annual total tourist income of over €104 million. Tourism has a positive impact both socially and economically on people living in these remote areas. Local authorities, tourism organisations and tourism providers all work together in various fields, continuously developing programmes which will ensure that tourism in the region is managed sensibly and impacts positively on local communities and the environment. The philosophy in the region is to ensure that tourism providers use, to the greatest extent possible, local providers, be it for hotels, activities or employment and visitors are positively encouraged to try locally produced food and drink. Also we try to incorporate a learning experience into the trip whether it is in the form of a new skill or an insight into the culture and history of the area. Where activities such as snowmobiling may have a minor impact on the environment, such pastimes are carefully managed and are part of every day life in these parts. Trails are clearly defined and managed with tourists only allowed to drive snowmobiles under the close supervision of fully qualified instructors. We adopt the same philosophy in this region, using locally or Finnish owned hotels and activity partners based in Ruka hence ensuring that the local community benefits. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |