Four winter buildings stand in this part of the guide. Structures cut from ice and packed snow last one winter only: they are raised again each season and melt when the cold ends. Dates are not promised here. Where an operator also keeps heated rooms on the same site, that is said in the entry.
Jukkasjärvi is a village on the Torne, north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland, and the winter building is cut from ice taken out of that river. The blocks are harvested in spring, held in cold storage and set up again when the cold returns. The winter structure lasts one season and melts back into the river when the thaw arrives.
Alongside the seasonal building the operator keeps a second, cooled structure that stays open through the year, so ice rooms can be seen in summer as well. Warm rooms and cabins stand on the same site, with heated washrooms, a restaurant and storage for outdoor clothing. Artists design the carved chambers again for every winter season.
Ask the house when the seasonal building is expected to open and close, since dates move with the weather and are not promised here. It is also worth asking how a night in a cold chamber is arranged, where warm rooms sit in relation to it, and what is provided for sleeping.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationJukkasjärvi, Sweden
Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort
Saariselkä, Finland
In Finnish Lapland, near Saariselkä, this site spreads through pine forest rather than gathering into a single house. Log chalets, a restaurant and shared buildings stand open through the year. Snow structures are added when the cold sets in and are gone by spring, which makes the winter part of the site quite different from what stands there in summer.
Glass units on the site are heated buildings with glazed roofs, and they are not ice rooms; the distinction matters when choosing where to sleep. Snow igloos are unheated and belong to the winter season alone. Washing and dining happen in the warm buildings, and the forest paths between them carry most of the movement on the site.
Ask the house which units are open in the week of a stay, since the snow structures follow the cold and the heated ones do not. It is also worth asking how far each unit sits from the restaurant and the washrooms, and what is provided for a night in an unheated chamber.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationSaariselkä, Finland
Snowhotel Kirkenes
Kirkenes, Norway
Kirkenes lies in the far north-east of Norway, close to the Russian border and the Barents coast. The snow building here is raised for the winter season on a site by the water and taken down when it goes. Chambers are cut into packed snow, and the carved work inside is made again each year rather than kept from one winter to the next.
Timber cabins stand on the same ground and stay open through the year, which gives the site heated rooms, washing and dining beside the cold building. A restaurant, a reception building and kennels for the resort dogs complete the plan. Movement between the parts is on foot along cleared paths, so outdoor clothing matters even for short walks.
Ask the house when the snow building is expected to stand this winter, because dates follow the cold and are not fixed in advance. Ask too how a night in a snow chamber is arranged, where the heated washrooms sit, and whether the year-round cabins are available on the same dates.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationKirkenes, Norway
Lainio Snow Village
Ylläs, Kittilä, Finland
At Ylläs, in the municipality of Kittilä, a village of snow and ice is built each winter and left to melt in spring. The plan changes from season to season: halls, corridors, a bar and a chapel are drawn again, so a visitor who returns finds a different building on the same ground. Nothing here is carried over from the previous winter.
Sleeping chambers open off the corridors, and the carved rooms between them are made for looking at rather than for staying in. A bar cut from ice and a chapel used for small ceremonies are part of most seasons. A heated restaurant building stands beside the snow village, along with changing rooms and storage for outdoor clothing.
Ask the operator whether the village is standing on the dates in mind, since a season depends on the cold and no dates are promised here. Ask as well how a night in a snow chamber works, what is provided for sleeping, and where the heated buildings sit on the site.
CategoryIce Hotels
LocationYlläs, Kittilä, Finland
This guide is independent and descriptive, and the notes come from published sources that can change. Buildings of ice and snow open for the winter season only and are rebuilt from scratch every year. The site is connected to no hotel, sells nothing and books nothing. Ask the house directly about season dates and access.
