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Icebreaker cruise from Ruka: the day trip or your own car

The icebreaker Sampo lit up in winter fog on the frozen sea, a red sun low behind it

Photo: the icebreaker Sampo; the Ruka day trip does not name its ship.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Book the Soulvia day if you have no car or would rather not drive six hours in winter: the transfer is door to door and the group is small. With a car and a driver happy on winter roads, drive to Kemi and book the cruise there, which costs a fraction of the day trip for the same ice. Either way, give it a day of its own.

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.

Soulvia day tripYour car + SampoYour car + Arktis
Price per person €895 €402 plus the drive €307 plus the drive
Road each way About 3 h, driven for you About 3 h 40 min, 271 km About 3 h 40 min, 271 km
Cruise 4 h 3.5–4 h 3 h
Food Not included Lunch on the afternoon cruise Extra
Group Up to 8 Not stated Not stated

No cell is marked: the day trip's price buys the driving, and the cruise prices leave it to you, so the figures are not like for like.

Where these figures come from
  • Soulvia day trip: Door-to-door transfer from Ruka or Kuusamo with a driver or guide, a four-hour cruise, up to eight guests.
  • Your car + Sampo: Drive to the SnowCastle area in Kemi and take the longer cruise, with lunch on the afternoon departure.
  • Your car + Arktis: Drive to Kemi for the three-hour cruise, with meals and exhibitions as extras.

The icebreaker operators’ buses run from Kemi, Tornio, Rovaniemi and Oulu, not from Ruka. One company sells a day from the resort, and the other way is to drive.

The day trip

Soulvia journeys collects from your accommodation in Ruka or Kuusamo at about 8:50 and drives about three hours each way to a four-hour cruise with the floating and a diploma, for up to eight guests, at 895 euros a person with food not included. The listing does not name the ship or the company that sails it.1

Driving yourself

Kemi is 271 kilometres from Ruka, about three hours and forty minutes by car each way.4 The Kemi listings let you park free at the SnowCastle area and take the operator’s bus to the harbour: Sampo costs 402 euros a person and Arktis 307.23 For two people that is 986 euros less than the day trip on Sampo, before fuel, paid for in about seven hours of winter driving.

The ships themselves are compared in icebreaker cruises from Kemi, and every departure town in icebreaker cruises compared.

Tours you can book

  • Icebreaker Arktis from Kemi: three hours at sea with floating in the ice

    Run by Icebreaking Company

    From €307per person

    Length3 h

    Listed on GetYourGuide · Price read Sep 28, 2026

    Book now on GetYourGuide(opens in a new tab)

  • Icebreaker Sampo from Kemi, with a ship tour and floating in the ice

    Run by Icebreaking Company

    From €402per person

    Length3.5–4 h

    Listed on GetYourGuide · Price read Sep 28, 2026

    Book now on GetYourGuide(opens in a new tab)

  • A small-group day from Ruka or Kuusamo to an icebreaker cruise in Kemi

    Run by Soulvia journeys LLC

    From €895per person

    Length10 h

    Listed on GetYourGuide · Price read Sep 28, 2026

    Book now on GetYourGuide(opens in a new tab)

Questions people ask

Which ship does the day trip use?

The listing does not say which ship, or which company sails it. Ask Soulvia before booking: the Kemi operator's Sampo includes lunch on its afternoon cruise and its Arktis does not, so the answer decides what the day includes beyond the transfer and the four hours at sea.

Can children come?

The listing says children must meet the cruise operator's requirements for the floating, without printing them or a minimum age. The Kemi operator sets 140 centimetres for the floating and does not allow unaccompanied minors, so check a child's height against that before booking, and ask Soulvia whether a child seat comes with the transfer.

Can we cancel?

The day trip allows free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, with a full refund, and so do the Kemi cruises on GetYourGuide. After that, nothing is refunded, and the listing says the walk on the ice depends on conditions, so watch the forecast the day before and cancel then rather than on the morning.

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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