Getting to Ruka

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Ruka has no airport or railway station of its own. Nearly everyone who does not drive arrives through Kuusamo Airport, close to Kuusamo town and about 30 km from Ruka village by road. In 2025 the airport handled about 129,000 passengers according to Finavia, the Finnish airport operator, slightly more than the year before. The other routes in are the night train to Kemijärvi with a bus connection, long-distance buses from Oulu and Rovaniemi, and the long drive north.

Flights to Kuusamo

Finnair flies from Helsinki to Kuusamo all year round, and the flight takes about an hour. For the winter of 2026/27 Finavia lists these routes to Kuusamo:

• Berlin, with airBaltic and Eurowings
• Düsseldorf, with Eurowings
• Frankfurt, with Lufthansa
• Helsinki, with Finnair
• London Gatwick, with airBaltic
• Riga, with airBaltic
• Zurich, with Edelweiss Air

Finavia adds that destinations can change during the season and that the airline has the latest information. The tourist association counts more direct routes for the same winter, so a flight from your city may exist even if it is missing above; the airline's own schedule settles it. Tour operators also bring charter flights, for example with TUI. Finavia's list gives no frequencies or season dates.

From the airport to Ruka

The drive from the airport to Ruka takes about 30 minutes, according to Finavia. The simplest link is the airport bus, which runs in connection with all scheduled flights and leaves from the bus platform right in front of the terminal. It stops at the Spa Hotel Kuusamon Tropiikki, in Ruka village and in Ruka Valley.

A seat on the airport bus should be booked in advance, at the latest 24 hours before the trip. If there is space you can board without a booking, but a reservation is the safer choice. Charter flights such as TUI are not covered by the bus. On the way home the bus leaves RukaValley two hours before the flight departs.

Taxis are the alternative. They run around the clock in Ruka-Kuusamo, accept cards, and should be booked in advance for the airport. Uber operates in the area, but with few cars. If you want to rent a car at the airport, book early as well, since the tourist association notes that only a limited number are available there.

By night train and bus

The rail route the tourist association describes is the night train, which runs daily from Helsinki to Kemijärvi. From Kemijärvi station a bus leaves at 9:15 and reaches Kuusamo centre at 11:40; in the other direction it leaves Kuusamo at 16:20 and arrives at Kemijärvi at 18:45. If the train is late the bus waits up to 60 minutes. From Kuusamo you continue to Ruka by bus or taxi; our page on getting around covers that stretch.

Long-distance buses link Kuusamo with the two nearest cities. A bus between Oulu and Kuusamo runs every day; on weekdays its early and late departures, Kuusamo 4:30 to Oulu 7:30 and Oulu 20:30 to Kuusamo 23:30, fit with trains in Oulu. The bus from Rovaniemi runs on weekdays only, leaving Rovaniemi bus station at 16:25 and reaching Kuusamo Airport at 19:50. The morning bus back leaves the airport at 9:15 and arrives in Rovaniemi at 12:40. Timetables are in the Matkahuolto journey planner.

Last winter day ski buses also ran from Oulu and Rovaniemi to the slopes on selected dates. The dates for 2026/27 had not been published by mid-October.

Driving north

From Helsinki the most direct road to Kuusamo is national road 5, and the distance is a little over 800 km. The town of Kuusamo gives 217 km from its centre to Oulu, 195 km to Rovaniemi and 245 km to Kajaani, with about two and a half hours for the drive to Oulu. Ruka is about 25 km further north of the town centre.

Winter driving has its own rules. Traficom, the Finnish transport agency, requires winter tyres from 1 November to 31 March whenever the weather or road surface calls for them. Studded tyres count as winter tyres. The legal minimum tread is 3 mm.

Animals are the other hazard. On the way north you enter the reindeer herding area near Kiiminki if you come via Oulu, or at Suomussalmi if you come via Kajaani. The tourist association warns that moose and reindeer are most active at dusk and dawn but can step onto the road at any time. The blood alcohol limit in Finland is 0.5 per mille, and the emergency number is 112. Carry some cash in euros, a torch and a first aid kit, since power cuts can stop card payments.

In Ruka you can leave the car in the semi-heated parking garage or on the free parking areas at the foot of the slopes. The pedestrian village has an underground car park for 320 cars.

Once you are in Ruka

In the village itself everything is within walking distance, and many winter activities include transfers from Ruka village or Ruka Valley. Check the details of each booking before you plan a car around it. A guided snowshoe tour in Oulanka National Park, for example, collects you and drives to Juuma in the park.

The Ruka Info tourist office in the Kumpare shopping centre helps with local timetables. For the town at the other end of the airport road, see our page on Kuusamo town.