Ice Hotel

The Icehotel, Jukkasjarvi: Sleeping in Something That Will Melt

The Icehotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, is 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland. The original hotel has been rebuilt every winter since 1990, using snow and ice harvested from the nearby Torne River. The current structure is around 2,000 square metres. Each room is carved and decorated by international artists invited to compete for the commission; designs are submitted, selected, and built from scratch each winter, which means no two years are the same. The hotel melts back into the river each spring.

Since 2016, a permanent wing (Icehotel 365) has allowed year-round operation, kept frozen by solar panels during the Arctic summer. The permanent rooms are equally artistic, equally cold, and available regardless of season.

How Cold Is It Really

The ice rooms maintain a temperature of approximately -5 to -8 degrees Celsius. This is cold but not extreme, and the hotel provides high-quality sleeping bags rated to -12 degrees and reindeer hides under and over the ice beds. Most guests sleep well; first-timers tend to over-think it. The key is following the staff’s packing advice (no thermal underwear inside the sleeping bag – counterintuitive but correct), keeping your head inside the sleeping bag, and not going to bed damp.

The hotel also operates heated chalets and rooms adjacent to the ice building, which are the practical choice if you have children under 10 or specific medical vulnerabilities to cold. Most first-time visitors book one night in the ice and one in the warm accommodation.

The Experience

Arrival at the Icehotel involves being met by staff who explain the sleeping protocol clearly. Luggage goes into a heated locker room; you bring only what you need for the night. The ice rooms have no locks (ice cannot hold a mechanism) but theft at the Icehotel is essentially unheard of. The staff circulate during the night in the corridors.

Getting up at 3am to look at the Northern Lights is part of the deal here. Jukkasjarvi sits under the Auroral Oval; on clear nights between late September and late March, the aurora appears with reasonable frequency. The hotel has guide services for aurora viewing, including snowmobile trips further from any residual light. The aurora is not guaranteed; a one-week stay gives a better statistical chance than a weekend.

Breakfast is served in the warm building. Hot lingonberry juice is the first thing you receive on waking, which is the correct choice at -5 degrees.

Activities

The Icehotel organises a full range of Lapland activities: dog sledding (half-day and full-day, with either guided or self-driven teams), snowmobile safaris, reindeer sledding, ice sculpting workshops (you make something with actual tools on actual ice, which is more satisfying than it sounds), and ice fishing on the Torne River. These are bookable through the hotel and are the reason most people make the journey.

In summer (Icehotel 365 operation): midnight sun experiences, fishing, canoeing on the Torne, and hiking in the surrounding birch forest.

Jukkasjarvi and Getting There

Jukkasjarvi is 17 kilometres east of Kiruna, the nearest town. Flights serve Kiruna Airport (KRN) from Stockholm (about 1.5 hours) and occasionally Gothenburg. The hotel runs transfers from the airport.

The Icehotel is the main reason people come to this area, but Kiruna itself is worth noting for an unusual reason: the entire town has been physically relocated several kilometres from its original position because the LKAB iron ore mine underneath it has made the original site structurally unsafe. The relocation, which began around 2020 and is ongoing, is one of the most remarkable pieces of urban engineering in modern Sweden. The old church (17th century), the town hall, and several other heritage buildings were either moved or rebuilt in the new location.

Pricing and Booking

Ice rooms cost significantly more than the heated chalets, which themselves are not cheap. Prices vary by room design (the most requested artist suites command the highest rates). Expect to pay around 4,000-8,000 SEK per person per night for ice accommodation including breakfast, with the full activity packages adding further cost. Book well in advance; the most desirable ice suites sell out months ahead.

February and March give the best combination of reliable temperatures for the ice and reasonable daylight hours. December is the darkest month but has the best aurora potential.