Ruka-Kuusamo in Finnish Lapland is a dream destination for anyone seeking peace, enjoyment, and extraordinary winter experiences. The region on the Arctic Circle offers one of the longest snow seasons in Europe, spectacular Arctic scenery, and a wide
Since 2017, the Polar Night Light Festival has transformed the dark Arctic polar night winter of Ruka-Kuusamo into a magical celebration of light. The festival returns once again from January 9 to February 2, 2026, illuminating the slopes and replacing commercial lights in the Ruka village with mesmerizing light art that creates its own unique atmosphere, experienced daily throughout the event. The theme for 2026 is Aurora Glow – The Northern Lights, brings the mystical phenomenon of Lapland’s skies to life in a variety of captivating ways.
“Polar Night Light Festival has earned a special place in the hearts of our guests. The best way to experience the festival is right on the slopes of Ruka. Weekly light torch skiing -events turn the ski slopes into illuminated spectacles, as skiers glide down surrounded by glowing colors. The speedsters can also participate evening time snow racing and speed down the slope with a sledge. The festival’s experiences are designed for the whole family to enjoy.
If you want to take it easy and enjoy the atmosphere peacefully you can go snowshoeing The Aurora Glow walking route invites visitors on snowshoe adventures into the silence of the forest, where light art and the northern lights combine to form an unforgettable experience. At Restaurant Base Eat&Heat, guests can enjoy Aurora Glow–themed dishes where northern flavors meet visual artistry, and afterward pamper yourself at one of the top saunas in the area with outdoor hot tub and wonderful views towards Oulanka National Park. ” says Otto Lintunen, Head of Events and Slope Experiences at Ski Resort Ruka.
https://polarnightlightfestival.ruka.fi/en/pnlf
200 days of snow fun for families
With around 200 days of snow per year, Ruka-Kuusamo is a hotspot for winter sports enthusiasts. The Ruka Ski Resort, Finland’s largest, offers 41 slopes, 22 lifts, and a wide range of activities for skiers and snowboarders – from beginner slopes to challenging descents. The ski resort is known for its frozen wide landscape with snowcapped tykky-trees and long lasting burning read sunsets.
Ruka has long term dedication to get new generations on skies. Due to this passion offering families having fun on slopes the resort has carefully designed beginner area for families. Rosa and Rudolf family park caters for children in all ages. The smallest one can learn the fun of skiing on small steps starting from short magic carpet lifts and step by step moving further at the same time when the skills are learned. The family area offers also tiny jumps, boxes and easy level slalom tracks for the little ones to keep the learning experience fun and interesting. Ruka Ski School organizes ski school lessons for different ages and levels. Learning a new skill of skiing is fun and safe with professional ski instructors.
Once the little feet start to get tired of skiing, the family area offers also a playground, sledding area, ring carousel on snow, an indoor playground and heated fire place to rest by open fire. Several slope restaurants are located conveniently right next to the family area so delicious salmon soup, hot chocolate and local pastries are there to enjoy, after active hours in the cold winter air.
Once you and your children have learned new skiing skills you can easily move to beginner slopes and visit the adventure fun area of the slopes, say high to the on-site reindeers and huskies. Ski passes are starting from 58 €/day/adult and 35,50 €/day/child 6-11 years old. Children under 6 wearing helmets can access the slopes for free when accompanied by a parent with a valid ski pass.
https://www.ruka.fi/en/family-vacation/winter-fun-for-families
2026 solar maximum – top winter to admire the northern lights
Lapland is known for the magical northern lights. Northern lights are a natural phenomenon that appear on northern sky whenever the sun activity is high, and the sky is clear. Winter 2026 is expected to be the year of solar maximum making this arctic beauty the brightest and strongest in 2020-century. In Ruka-Kuusamo the northern lights can be combined with arctic activities like reindeer sleigh rides, river floating, snowshoeing trips in one of the areas many national parks or with traditional Finnish evening with wild food dinner and traditional sauna tour.
https://www.ruka.fi/en/travelling-to-kuusamo/when-to-travel/northern-lights
Ruka Park – place to be for snowboarders and slope style
The Olympic year has propelled Ruka Park into the international spotlight, attracting top riders from around the globe to Ruka-Kuusamo for early-season training. Launched in November 2024, the exclusive Premium Park offers snowboarders and freeskiers a high-performance slopestyle setup reserved solely for training teams. The slopes are groomed twice daily to ensure soft landings, creating ideal conditions for learning new tricks. Swedish national team coach Niklas Mattsson have already praised Ruka’s park setup—training here is more carefree than anywhere else, regardless of weather.
https://www.ruka.fi/en/skiresort
Accommodation with character
https://www.ruka.fi/en/accommodation
Flight connections winter 2025/26
Traveling to Ruka-Kuusamo is comfortable and direct:
Tour operators Crystal SKI and TUI UK fly direct charterflights from several UK aiports to Kuusamo.
Scheduled flights:
– Finnair: daily connection from Helsinki to Kuusamo
– Lufthansa: from Frankfurt, Saturdays (November 22, 2025 – March 21, 2026)
– Eurowings: from Düsseldorf, Sundays (December 21, 2025 – March 8, 2026)
– Edelweiss Air: from Zurich, Thursdays or Fridays (December 19, 2025 – March 6, 2026)
