Ranua Resort Holiday Villas Accommodation Review

Ranua Resort Holiday Villas Accommodation – the perfect wildlife and wilderness base

When we arrived at Ranua Resort Holiday Villas (formerly Holiday Gulo Gulo) – the accommodation village at Ranua Resort – on 26 December 2022, it was, genuinely, a relief. We’d had the most extraordinary week in Rovaniemi – big activities, magical Christmas experiences, a family running on adrenalin and excitement. Ranua was to be our slower chapter. A wildlife park, a wilderness resort, a change of pace.

The irony is that even our “slower” days at Ranua turned out to be filled with snowmobile safaris through the forest, unplanned magical reindeer sleigh rides and a second lap of an Arctic Wildlife Park that I could happily have walked for days. Ranua Resort – and the Holiday Villas in particular – delivered something the busier resorts around Rovaniemi don’t always manage – a genuine sense of Finnish wilderness, without sacrificing comfort.

We stayed three nights (26-29 December 2022) and I’d highly recommend it.

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Ranua Resort accommodation at a glance

• Location: Ranua, Finnish Lapland – directly opposite the Ranua Arctic Wildlife Park
• Season reviewed: December (winter)
• Best for: Families, couples, wildlife enthusiasts, adventure travellers
• Accommodation type: Self-contained cabin/apartment with full kitchen, private sauna, fireplace
• Wildlife Park access: Included with accommodation – visit as many times as you like during your stay
• Breakfast: Included buffet – our first buffet of our trip and it was excellent
• Activities available: Snowmobile safaris, reindeer sleigh rides, husky sledding, Wildlife Safari tours, ice fishing
• Would I stay again? Yes, absolutely and I would combine it with a night at the Ranua Resort Arctic Igloos

The accommodation – comfortable, warm and properly self-contained

The Holiday Gulo Gulo cabins – known by individual animal names in the Finnish tradition – are spacious, warm and genuinely well-equipped for a family stay. Our cabin was exactly what we needed after a big week – comfortable beds, a full kitchen with everything required for self-catering, a private sauna and a cosy lounge with a fireplace. The drying cabinet is a feature you don’t know you desperately need until you’re in Finnish Lapland in December with wet snow gear for four people.

The bathroom was functional, the Wi-Fi was sufficient and the overall atmosphere of the cabin was warm and welcoming rather than corporate or resort-generic. It genuinely felt like a home base in the Finnish wilderness.

Unfortunately, both my son Finn and I became unwell during our stay – fevers and chills – and the cabin’s warmth and comfort made recovering considerably easier than it might have been elsewhere. Being able to rest in the cabin while the others went out, knowing there was a proper kitchen and cosy space to return to, was something I appreciated enormously. Sometimes accommodation earns its stripes in exactly those unexpected moments.

Location – directly across the road from the Wildlife Park

Ranua Resort sits directly opposite the Ranua Arctic Wildlife Park – which is both the resort’s greatest practical advantage and its defining character. Guests staying at Ranua Resort Holiday Villas receive a Golden Ticket granting unlimited access to the Wildlife Park during opening hours throughout their stay. This is significant – it means you can visit once, return the next day and go again – at no additional cost – and experience the park at your own pace rather than rushing a single visit.

We visited twice. The first morning we were among the very first people through the gates, with almost the entire park to ourselves. The second visit was busier and the contrast made us appreciate our early start all the more.

Key distances:

• Ranua Arctic Wildlife Park: directly across the road from the resort (5 minutes’ walk)
• Rovaniemi: approximately 80 km (around 1 hour’s drive)
• Ranua Resort Arctic Igloos: approximately 6 km
• Rovaniemi Airport: approximately 75 km

A notable memory – one very unexpected moment. As the boys were sledding on the hill near the underpass, a snow-clearing truck on the bridge above dumped an entire load of snow directly on top of Finn. He was buried from head to toe. Completely unplanned, genuinely hilarious and the kind of thing that becomes family legend.

Ranua Arctic Wildlife Park – everything we hoped

The Ranua Arctic Wildlife Park is not a zoo in the conventional sense. It’s a specialist Arctic and northern European wildlife park set within the Finnish forest, designed around the animals that actually live in this region. We walked for two and a half hours on our first visit and didn’t feel like we’d rushed a single enclosure.

The animals we saw – snowy owl, eagle owl, great grey owl, golden eagle, white-tailed sea eagle, beaver, otter, wolverine, lynx, wolves, polar bear, American mink, wild boar, muskox, moose, reindeer, white-tailed deer, ducks, Arctic foxes. Seeing Arctic foxes in their natural conditions – fluffy, wild and utterly themselves – was a highlight of the entire trip. The snow-covered enclosures made every single animal encounter feel like something from a wildlife documentary.

On our second visit, we also spotted a wild red squirrel bouncing through the trees inside the park – completely unscripted and all the more delightful for it.

Ranua activities – snowmobile safaris and reindeer sleigh rides

Reindeer Sleigh Ride

On our third morning, we noticed Vaaranporotila setting up reindeer and sleighs right outside our cabin. Just before lunch, we headed out for a ride. It was short – around five minutes – but the experience of being pulled through snow by reindeer, at the most unhurried pace imaginable, was genuinely calming. They are such peaceful animals. After a week of adrenalin, the slow rhythm of a reindeer sleigh ride was unexpectedly perfect.

Wildlife Safari Snowmobile Tour (2-hour forest safari)

The Wildlife Safari snowmobile tour was a highlight of the entire Ranua stay. We booked the two-hour tour through the resort, which requires a valid licence for drivers. Geoff and I shared a snowmobile; the boys rode with the guides. Both of us had a chance to drive and a rest stop halfway through reunited us with the boys who were having an absolute ball.

Important practical notes for this activity – only licensed drivers may operate snowmobiles. You must carry your licence. There is an option to pay additional insurance cover and a waiver must be signed acknowledging liability for damage. The guides were excellent, the forest routes were beautiful and the experience of driving through Finnish Lapland snow in December is something you simply cannot replicate.

Breakfast – first buffet of the trip

Breakfast at Ranua Resort is a proper Finnish buffet, included in the accommodation cost. Our first morning there was the first buffet breakfast of the entire trip and it set up the day perfectly. Warm, varied and satisfying – exactly what you need before a winter morning at the Wildlife Park in Arctic temperatures. I’d recommend planning your park visits to start around opening time (10am) and using breakfast as a way to arrive at the gates among the first visitors.

The Holiday Villa and Ranua Resort Arctic Igloos combination

A recommendation I’d make strongly – if time and budget allow, combine your Ranua Resort stay with a night at the Arctic Igloos, which sit approximately six kilometres from the main resort. We spent three nights at the Holiday Villas and one night at the igloos – and the combination was genuinely brilliant. The resort gives you the wildlife, the activities and the space to breathe; the igloos give you the singular, bucket-list night under glass that you’ll talk about for the rest of your life.

If you’re transferring between the two, note that the Holiday Villas checkout is at 11am but igloo transfers don’t depart until 2pm. Plan for that gap – pack a lunch or book a morning activity to fill the time.

Who is Ranua Resort best for?

• Families wanting a self-contained, activity-rich Finnish Lapland base with included Wildlife Park access
• Couples seeking a quieter, more remote wilderness alternative to the busy Rovaniemi resort precincts
• Travellers who want to combine a wildlife park visit with guided snowmobile, reindeer, and husky experiences
• Long-haul travellers from Australia, NZ, Asia and North America extending their itinerary beyond Rovaniemi
• Anyone who values warm, spacious, self-catering cabin accommodation in the Arctic forest

Ranua is an underrated destination in Finnish Lapland for long-haul travellers. It’s quieter than Rovaniemi, more genuinely wild and – with the Wildlife Park directly across the road and Igloos just up the road – it packs an extraordinary amount into a 2-3 night stay.

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