The Ruka Fell is located near the Kuusamo town, close to the Eastern border of the Northern Finland, about 200 kilometers from Oulu and 800 kilometers from Helsinki. There is regular bus service from Oulu and daily flights (by Finnair) from Helsinki making the area readily reachable. The organizers will also arrange a chartered bus from Oulu (via Airport - Hotel Scandic Oulu - Railway Station) to Ruka on Sunday, for those flying or taking a train to Oulu instead of flying directly to Kuusamo. As the scientific program starts early on Monday morning we encourage the attendees to arrange their arrival to Ruka on Sunday. In addition to the registration, there will be a get together party starting at 7 pm on Sunday evening. As the conference ends on the Wednesday evening, the transportation back to Oulu will be arranged to Thursday morning.

CONFERENCE VENUE:

The accommodation during the conference will be in the Hotel Rantasipi Rukahovi, situated right by the Ruka Fell, and the conference will take place in the conference centre of the hotel. You can find out more about the venue and the near by attractions, activities and so on from here. Even though it is summertime, sometimes the weather can be relatively cold, so we recommend you to take warm outdoor clothing with you. You can check the local weather forecast here.

TRANSPORTATION (OULU-RUKA-OULU):

For those choosing the travel via Oulu instead of flying directly to Kuusamo, there will be a chartered bus transportation from Oulu to Ruka on Sunday and from Ruka back to Oulu on Thursday (and on Friday for those attending the Finnish NMR Symposium). On Sunday the bus will start from the Oulu airport around 2 pm and stop by the Hotel Scandic Oulu and the Oulu railway station. The travel time will be around three and a half hours. On Thursday the bus will start around 9 am and should arrive to Oulu before 1 pm.

TRANSPORTATION (KUUSAMO AIRPORT - RUKA):

There is an airport bus at the Kuusamo airport waiting for the arriving flights and the final stop of this bus is by the conference Hotel Rukahovi (the bus ticket price should be 10 Euros/person). The bus trip to the hotel should take about 30-40 minutes (~25 km). A taxi should be faster, but also more expensive (probably about 40-50 Euros?), but as there are several XeMat participants arriving on the same flight on Sunday, a taxi might also be a convenient option.

THE PREDATOR CENTER:

At the predator center it is possible to meet some of the large predators of Finland (bears, wolves, foxes, etc.). There is an arranged visit to the center on Tuesday afternoon and it is free of charge for the XeMat participants and the accompanying persons. Just tick the appropriate box on the on-line registration form.

OULU:

If you are planning on staying in Oulu for a few days before or after the conference, you can find more information about the hotels, attractions etc. here. NB: The chartered bus transportation from Oulu to Ruka on Sunday will stop by the Hotel Scandic Oulu, so you might wish to consider staying there for convinience.

FINLAND:

If you are interested in learning more about Finland, you can check the web pages of VisitFinland and/or VirtualFinland.