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Husky tours in Ruka: what you can book

A grey and white husky with a curled tail walking across deep snow in front of snow-covered bushes

Illustration photo: a husky in snow, not at the Ruka kennels.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For a first ride without fuss, book a 5 km ride from one of the safari companies that collect you from the resort and lend the outfit. If you have your own winter clothing and can get yourself to the winter village, its self-driven rides cost less for the same distance. For a long morning on the sled with lunch, book the kennel that sells 10 and 25 km rides.

How the operators compare

Prices are the operators' own published starting prices as of the date this guide was updated, and they change through the season.

Lammintupa, 5 kmRuka Adventures, 5 kmRukapalvelu, 90 minutesRuka Husky, 10 km
Adult €120 €194 €246 €190
Child €95 (1 to 14) €145 (4 to 11) €188 (4 to 11) €150 (3 to 11)
On the sled About 30 min 5 km About 90 min 60 min
Winter clothing Bring your own Included Included Bring your own
Getting there Meet at the village Car from the resort centre Car from Ruka village Own transport
Smallest group 4 people Not stated 2 adults Not stated

Per person. No cell is marked: the four rides include different things, so a lower price is not the better buy until you count what you would otherwise bring or arrange.

Where these figures come from
  • Lammintupa, 5 km: The winter village's own kennel beside the café: you drive the sled yourself and come in your own winter clothing.
  • Ruka Adventures, 5 km: A car from the resort centre to the kennel, a safari outfit and a hot drink, with two people to a sled.
  • Rukapalvelu, 90 minutes: Priced by time rather than distance: an hour and a half on the sled at a nearby farm, outfit and transport included.
  • Ruka Husky, 10 km: An hour on the sled followed by a three-course lunch; the kennel lends no winter suits or boots.

Husky rides around Ruka are sold by six kennels and safari companies, all of them through the resort’s own booking shop. Erä-Susi Huskies sells its rides directly instead.

At the winter village

Lammintupa keeps its kennel beside its café in the resort, and every ride is self-driven: one of you drives, the other sits, and you can swap halfway. It sells a family ride of 2.5 km that lasts ten to fifteen minutes, with the guide driving if you prefer, and rides of 5 and 10 km that spend about half an hour and an hour on the sled. A smaller group with lunch runs at the same kennel. You come in your own winter clothing, and a departure needs four people.1

Collected from the resort

Ruka Adventures, Rukapalvelu and Ruka Safaris drive you from Ruka to a kennel outside the resort and lend the winter outfit. Ruka Adventures sells 5, 10 and 20 km; Ruka Safaris sells 5 and 10 km and a longer day; Rukapalvelu prices its ride by the hour and a half on the sled rather than by distance.1

Longer, or with lunch

Ruka Husky sells an hour on the sled over 10 km, or two hours over 25 km, each followed by a three-course lunch at the kennel, and a two-day trip along the border with a night in a wilderness cabin. It lends no winter suits.23 Railakka Huskies, on a lake at Suorajärvi, sells only private rides, priced for the group.4

Which ride suits a first-timer, a keen driver or a family is on the best husky tour in Ruka. What each costs a family and per kilometre is on husky safari prices in Ruka, ages and seats for children on family husky safaris in Ruka, and the private rides on private husky tours in Ruka. The rest of the resort is on the Ruka–Kuusamo destination page.

Huskies with a snowmobile on one trip are compared on husky and snowmobile tours in Ruka, and huskies with reindeer on husky and reindeer tours in Ruka.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can we cancel if plans change?

It depends on where you book. The same Lammintupa ride booked on GetYourGuide can be cancelled free until 24 hours before; booked in the resort's own shop, half the price is kept from a week before and all of it from two days before. Ruka Adventures keeps a tenth of the price from a year out and all of it inside a week, and Ruka Safaris keeps everything inside two weeks.

Do we need a driving licence to drive the sled?

No. None of the husky listings asks for a licence, which is only required for the snowmobile rides. What they ask is basic fitness to hold the sled, and at Lammintupa's small-group lunch ride a driver of at least fifteen. Two people share a sled on the shared rides, one drives and one sits, and you can change over halfway.

Is there a husky ride in the evening?

Yes, one kennel sells it: Railakka Huskies runs a private evening ride of three to four hours in the hope of northern lights, for up to six guests, priced for the group rather than per person. It is the only husky ride on the resort shop's northern lights list, so book it if the dark is the point.

Written by

Lapland Handbook Staff

Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.

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