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hol39
Have just returned from a weeks skiing during the half term holidays. It was the children's first time skiing and the instructors were great. Couldn't keep up with them both at the end of the week as they whizzed down the slopes. Found the ski bus a bit of a bind especially in the morning before ski lessons as it being the English and Finnish half term was very busy but the bus was very efficient and kept to the times. We stayed in the Ruka Suites which were great, very central, own sauna and enough space for four to spread out. Ruka itself a lovely little resort with nice places to eat although couldn't get in anywhere a couple of nights as everywhere booked up due to resort being extremely busy. The lift queues the first day of skiing where long as the six man chairlift wasn't working but the rest of the week were quite good. We got a taxi to Era Susi Husky farm and had a great time doing the 5K safari. We also visited Santa which was a lovely trip. We would love to visit again just not at the prices Crystal are advertising at the moment compared to what we paid for the same week this year.
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253lisap
Just returned from Ruka our third year running - still fantastic. It really is a great place to learn to Ski. Ski school excellent thank you Komu - enjoyed the salsa too! We stayed in Ruka Suites - good accomodation and central. We enjoyed our usual haunts Colorado and Rukatontu, Stefans Steakhouse good too and the ski bistro which had the best hot chocolate and was a nice lunch stop over at Rosa and Rudolf. Another great family holiday and we can't wait to come back next year.
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MrPBandMrsCB
I read reviews about skiing in Finland before I booked. All reviews said there were empty slopes and no queues - absolute rubbish! February half term skiing in Finland is no different to the Alps - thousands of people, very long lift queues, the lifts are mostly drags and often stop or break. On the busiest day if the ski season the two biggest lifts (6 & 4person chair lifts) were both closed!!! Queues were horrendous. We queued for EVERY lift, those that were open were slow and often stop. The snow and piste quality is excellent and the ski runs are extremely well groomed but do NOT expect empty slopes during school holidays. There is no piste safety teams so beginners try to plough down steep reds, people often stop in the middle if a run and ski etiquette is non-existent. I would return to Ruka but definitely not during February half term holidays.
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Jari-Pekka
Here again. The week 8 of the calendar year is the school winter holiday for us living in south Finland. Been here with the kids for many years on this same week.Ruka is definitively safe choice if you are looking for winter paradise with lots of snow. Especially good for families with childred, of different ages. Really lots of snow. Downhill sking is perfect, if you are not looking for extreme steep slopes. Also lifts for the youngest family members, learning their first skills. Excellent teachers at the local Sking school, for general classes to private lessons. The new west Ruka village has been developed with Alpine style, cars parked on the garage below the village. We prefer to stay bit away from the village, peaceful cabins yet ski-in/ski-out possibilities. We also like cross-country sking, and Ruka provides us lots of good tracks to ski. Other activities we prefer are snow mobile rides and there are many rental safari agencies to choose from. Week 8, 9 and 19 plus eastern are the top high season, so if you come try to avoid these weeks.
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annie86er
Went to Ruka on Jan 25th for 7 nights with Crystal Ski. From start to finish it was great. We stayed in Ruka suites which was very nice, it had 2 bedrooms, a living area/kitchen, sauna, bathroon and balcony. It also provided free WIFI which was brilliant especially as our phones did not work. My husbands phone was better than mine as he got incoming calls but we could not ring out.The village is nice, its quite small but compared to other ski resorts its one of the biggest. There are a selection of restaurants and bars (opening times vary so may be worth noting them down before you go so your not wandering around in thick snow) some things are quite expensive but considering we got a good deal on the holiday/flights it werent too bad. There are a couple of souvineer shops which were nice and alot cheaper than the one shop at the airport. We did not ski so we were slightly apprehensive about if we could last a week, we definatley could as we had booked some fantastic trips whilst there.Day one we did the Huskie ride at Era Susi, we got a taxi from Ruka approx. €50 return and enjoyed a private 5km ride through the forests. One of the best experiences we have ever had! The owner who is dressed in full tradional costume was lovely and he took the time to show us the dogs and reindeers, talk about his work and life, ate with us and posed for pictures. It was a real highlight of the trip.Our other trips were booked with Chris White North Trek - and I cannot recommend him highly enough, he was our personal guide who took us to ride the reindeers, gave us great insight into the area and told us alot about the activities we were doing. He took us on a night time snow mobiling ride - where we stopped and he made a fire on the frozen lake to fry sausages and have hot drinks (amazing to see this) and We also went on a snow shoe hike to the national park which gave us some of the most breathtaking views and pictures we've ever seen! It was fantastic for us all but especially my nephew as he built fires, cooked sausage, made cups of tea from the snow and experienced a new country which he will always remember as he gets older. I have travelled alot and done many trips, packaged trips from the holiday companys are good however there is no way they can ever provide or compare to this 1:1 service we were lucky enough to receive. Chris went the extra mile on all trips helping us with various other things we had not booked him for, this was invaulable as I would of found it difficult going out and about alone or hiring a car as we would most likely get lost! We would also not know the history behind what we were seeing.Ruka and the surrounding areas are like stepping into a christmas card, it provided a magical holiday which will go down as one of our favourites! Chris made this Holiday for us as did the great rates from Crystal getting us there. We would definatley go back in a few years, rent a log cabin hopefully with our own children and do it all again so they get to see the real Narnia too!
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190sadier
Absolutely amazing resort, fell in love the moment I arrived. It truly is the most stunning place I have ever seen. Plenty of snow, plenty of ski runs, plenty to do! We hired our equipment and bought our lift passes from Piste rental which was a quick and smooth process. The skiing was brilliant with nice wide open slopes and a good variety of runs, no queues for the lifts and the slopes were pretty empty, sometimes it felt as though we were the only two people on the slopes! It was chilly (reached -18 at one point) but as long as you are wrapped up it's fine. The resort as a whole is really quiet, sometimes of an evening we would be the only couple in a restaurant or there were only a couple more tables occupied - the restaurants were all very good quality and extremely clean (quite pricey but you could cut costs by using the supermarket which had loads to choose from). The locals are really friendly and speak very good English! We went on a snowmobile/husky excursion with Ruka Adventures who were fantastic, and I would highly recommend, the trip was amazing, snowmobiling over a frozen lake and through the trees was beautiful. The husky sledge ride at Era Susi was brilliant, loved every second! I would definitely return, the northern lights appeared on our last night and I was gutted that we were indoors and missed them, but we heard they were amazing!
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JulieDinsey
What a magical place, it really has the WOW factor. Loved every minute of my stay here. Friendly people, good food, perfect snow.
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gazmo
Like other reviewers we booked Ruka (for 1 week with crystal) on a whim as i wasn't in the mood to be shoved in another tiny wooden room in the alps again. The resort felt like a small version of whistler, compact, great places to eat, great accommodation, very nice locals all of whom spoke great english and brilliant well maintained slopes. The resort is expensive if you choose to eat out for every meal and drink like a fish, but most accommodation is self catering so you can easily offset the nice meal and drinks of an evening with getting supplies from the relatively inexpensive supermarket and ALKO shop for breakfast and dinner. There are also cheaper places to eat like subway or the pizza places. Even keeping things relatively cheap during the day but going out at night eating a drinking well ;) we managed to burn through a 1000 euros. BUT, and its a big but, a one week stay here for two is about half what you would pay in the alps for the same level of accommodation and resort so its horses for courses.No crowds and empty slopes especially when the sun went down and floodlights came on made it feel like we had our own private ski resort at times :) magical!I would definitely go again although not until later in the season as our poor brittle British bodies struggled a bit in the cold when it dropped to -14 with strong breeze brrrrrrrr, although this didnt stop us skiing, it just meant you had to wrap up every bit of skin and get a warm every hour or so.if your a beginner/intermediate skier looking for somewhere a bit different with a good ski school you've found the right place in my opinion.
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LesC184
We picked Ruka for a week's skiing on a whim and stayed in the Rukahovi hotel.The ski area is small but we found enough variety of runs to amuse ourselves. There are almost no green runs but the blues are generally wide enough to allow yourself not to feel crowded should you be new to the sport. The reds range from quite easy to really quite technical. I am an advanced skier whilst my wife is more an intermediate level. We were able to ski together most of the time and she managed to ski a good number of the red runs without her becoming to stressed. The village does only have a limited range of off piste amenities. There is a skating rink, a shopping centre and a bowling alley. There are a good choice of eateries and bars however.We are very keen to return not only for skiing but also in the summer for some walking.
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emmac481
Ruka is a small resort in finland that has something for everyone.It's simply breathtaking with its stunning scenery and quaint village area.Compared to Levi it's smaller, compared to Saariselka it's bigger but not so much that it changes the feeling of the resort.There are several choices for eating drinking and relaxing, a good selection of ski rental shops and a variety of excursion and Safari companies, all very competitive.It has some great gift shops, bowling alley, gym daycare and grocery stores and a very handy and friendly taxi rank.The ski bus covers all of the area which is free for everyone not just skiers!We always stay in the Maston Aitio cabins roughly 3km from the village, but a beautiful walk.There's plenty of accommodation in the village itself and all around there are many different styles of cabins.Everyone is friendly and speak good English.Considering it's just outside the official Lapland circle the snow in the area is just as good as more northern resorts! They have long snow seasons from November till May and have been known to open longer snowmobile routes than the northern counterparts.Temperatures are also similar maybe a degree or two difference.There's plenty to do here apart from skiing and santa lives close by!In essence it's a quiet resort with lots to offer everyone.This will be our third visit here and it won't be our last!
