Reindeer farms near Ruka

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Reindeer tours around Ruka come from three places. The Kujala reindeer farm, run by Kujalan Porotila, receives guests at the farm in Kuusamo. Lammintupa Winter Village, the husky operator near Ruka, also keeps reindeer and adds a short ride to its programme. Rukapalvelu drives guests from Ruka village to an activity park or a wilderness camp where a reindeer sleigh is one item among several.

The Ruka-Kuusamo Tourist Association gives the sleigh ride season as November to April, as far as the snow allows. The farms work through the summer too, but every tour in the comparison below is a winter product.

Herding country outside the Sámi homeland

Kuusamo lies inside the reindeer herding area set out in the Finnish Reindeer Husbandry Act. The area covers the region of Lapland, apart from Kemi, Keminmaa and Tornio, and the northern municipalities of North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu, Kuusamo among them. Metsähallitus, which manages the national parks, reminds hikers that around Kuusamo they walk through the animals' home pastures and the herders' workplace. Drivers coming from Oulu enter the herding area near Kiiminki, long before they reach Ruka.

The Sámi homeland is a separate, much smaller area. The Act on the Sámi Parliament limits it to the municipalities of Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjoki and the area of the Lappi herding cooperative in Sodankylä. Kuusamo is not part of it. A farm visit near Ruka shows reindeer husbandry as it is practised in Koillismaa, northeast Finland. None of the tour pages listed here presents it as a Sámi experience.

The tourist association calls reindeer husbandry one of the traditional livelihoods of the north and points out that the animals are semi-domesticated. On the farms, summer is the season of calf marking, and the herds are rounded up in autumn.

Sleigh ride and feeding at the Kujala farm

The classic farm tour combines the two parts of a visit. You sit in a traditional sleigh while a reindeer pulls it for 1.5 km, then feed the herd inside the corral and hear about the animals. The visit ends at the farm shop and café. The whole tour lasts 1.5 hours. Guests have described the sleigh ride itself as lasting anything from a few minutes to 15 or 20 minutes, so treat it as one part of the visit.

There is no pickup. The tour page gives only a map pin for the farm, so check the location before you set off and plan a car or a taxi. Children and teenagers under 18 come only with an adult. Warm clothing is your own: the page asks you to bring outdoor clothes for winter conditions, and there is no overall to borrow.

Morning feeding without a sleigh

The same farm runs a shorter morning tour. A guide walks you round the farm for an hour while you help feed hundreds of reindeer. There is no sleigh ride on this one. You meet at the big car park on Kemijärventie 133 in Kuusamo, follow the signs and wait at the gate for the guide at the starting time.

This is the most accessible option in the comparison. The tour page lists it as wheelchair accessible. Flash photography is not allowed around the animals. Food is not included, though the café sells local snacks afterwards. The one wish that comes up in reviews is for more time: a guest in December 2025 would have liked to hand out more treats.

The reindeer ride at Lammintupa

Lammintupa Winter Village, which also runs the husky safaris near Ruka, offers a two-hour reindeer programme for families. Reindeer pull your sledge for 1.5 km, you feed them afterwards and listen to stories over grilled sausages, a homemade bun and coffee or tea. The page calls it suitable for all ages and rules it out only during pregnancy. You meet at the Lammintupa café 15 minutes before the start.

The pace is gentle. One guest in January 2026 found the ride itself a bit slow, which suits small children better than teenagers looking for speed. The page also notes that the length of the ride can vary with the weather.

Reindeer and huskies in one outing

Lammintupa pairs a 1.5 km reindeer ride with a 5 km husky safari that you drive yourself, one adult on the runners and one in the sled. A snack in a hut follows. The tour is sold as 3.5 hours; a guest in January 2026 found that everything took about three.

The Rukapalvelu days work differently. Their winter adventure park, open from January, lets you move freely between husky and reindeer sleigh rides, snowmobiles, mini snowmobiles for children and tubing for about 2.5 hours, with transfers from Ruka village and the Kuusamon Tropiikki spa hotel. Winter clothing, sausages and a soup lunch are included. The wilderness camp day from the same company promises huskies and reindeer in the title, while the description says the sleigh is pulled by one or the other. It runs only with at least 10 participants and is cancelled with a full refund if that number is missing at 16:00 on the day before. Our page on husky sledding in Ruka compares the dog sled tours in more detail.

Clothing, light and the drive

A sleigh passenger sits still in the cold, so dress as for a long wait outdoors. The Kujala farm and the Lammintupa ride do not lend clothing, but winter overalls can be rented in Ruka. Our page on what to wear in Ruka covers the layers.

In December the daylight is short. On 21 December the sun rises in Ruka at 10:43 and sets at 13:20, and civil twilight lasts from 08:59 to 15:04. A late-morning start gives you the brightest hours for photos of the herd. By 1 February the sun is up from 09:02 to 15:33.

If you drive yourself to a farm, watch for reindeer on the road. The tourist association notes that animals are most active at dusk and dawn but can cross at any time of day, and that winter tyres are compulsory in winter conditions.