Ice Hotel

Every spring, ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden melts back into the Torne River it was built from. The ice is harvested from the same river the previous winter, carved by artists into rooms and corridors and bars, inhabited by guests from December to April, and then returned to the water. The cycle has repeated since 1989, making this the 36th iteration of the winter hotel in 2025 to 2026. That circularity is either a beautiful design philosophy or an expensive practical joke, depending on how you feel about paying luxury prices to sleep in a room that will cease to exist in four months.

ICEHOTEL sits in Jukkasjarvi, a village of around 500 people about 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland. The nearest town with any services is Kiruna, 17 kilometres west. Kiruna has an airport with connections to Stockholm (roughly 1.5 hours), which is the standard arrival point for most international visitors.

The two hotels

The original winter hotel exists from December through April. ICEHOTEL 36, the current season’s iteration, opened on 13 December 2025 and closes around 12 April 2026. It includes 12 artist-designed art suites, standard ice rooms, a main hall, and a ceremony room. Each suite is designed by a selected artist or artist team; the designs change completely every season, so repeat visitors see an entirely different building.

In 2016, ICEHOTEL opened a permanent section called ICEHOTEL 365, powered by solar energy and maintained at constant sub-zero temperatures year-round. The 365 structure contains nine art suites, nine deluxe suites, an ice bar, and an experience room. Its domed roof grows wildflowers in summer while the interior remains frozen. This addition made it possible to visit at any time of year, though the full winter hotel with northern lights and snow is a categorically different experience from a summer visit to the 365 structure.

Rooms and prices

Standard ice rooms in the winter hotel run from approximately €400 to €500 per night. Artist-designed art suites, which are unique one-off installations, run €600 to €700 per night. All cold room rates include a sleeping bag rated to -40°C, reindeer hide bedding, and a morning sauna session and warm lingonberry juice, which are the hotel’s standard antidote to a night spent at between -5°C and -8°C. The sauna session matters: the thermal reset from a cold ice room into a wood-fired sauna at dawn is one of the more memorable physical experiences available in a hotel context.

Warm rooms in the main building are available at lower rates and provide a more conventional overnight experience for those accompanying cold-room guests.

Booking opens approximately 10 to 12 months in advance, typically in January or February for the following December season. Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and the February school holiday period fill first. Standard January and early March dates have more availability and can typically be booked two to three months ahead. Book directly through the ICEHOTEL website for the full range of options.

Getting there

Kiruna Airport receives direct flights from Stockholm Arlanda on SAS and Norwegian. The journey from the airport to Jukkasjarvi takes 15 to 20 minutes by transfer bus or taxi. The hotel operates a shuttle; book the transfer in advance through the hotel’s website before 15:00 the day before arrival.

The most theatrical arrival option is a dog sled transfer from Kiruna Airport, which takes 75 minutes through forests and across frozen terrain. This must be booked well in advance with flight arrival times and clothing sizes specified. It costs considerably more than the bus transfer but is a reasonable choice if the dog sled is itself part of what you came to do.

Activities

Northern lights viewing is the most-anticipated activity. Jukkasjarvi’s position well above the Arctic Circle and its minimal light pollution give good aurora probability from late September through March. The hotel organises guided aurora-watching sessions on the frozen river, where darkness and open sky maximise visibility. Sightings are not guaranteed; clear nights with high solar activity give the best odds. An aurora alert app (SpaceWeatherLive or My Aurora Forecast) is worth downloading before the trip.

Dog sledding, snowmobile safaris, and reindeer sled excursions are all available through the hotel’s activity programme. Ice sculpting workshops let visitors work with the same material the hotel is built from. These activities range from a few hours to full days and should be booked with accommodation.

In summer, the surrounding area supports midnight sun hiking, river rafting on the Torne, and fishing. The 365 structure operates as the draw, though the landscape in summer is genuinely different from the winter version.

Dining

The main ICEHOTEL Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with menus built around local ingredients: reindeer, Arctic char, lingonberries, and root vegetables dominate. The Veranda offers a 12-course tasting menu prepared in front of guests and requires advance reservation. The Old Homestead, a rustic barn on the property, serves dinner in a different atmospheric register.

The ICEBAR, inside the 365 structure, serves cocktails in glasses cut from ice. It is available to non-staying visitors with a ticket, though evening slots fill early in peak season.

What the experience actually is

The cold suite overnight is, without question, a novelty. Whether it is worth the cost depends on what you are looking for. The art suites are genuine works by serious artists working in an unusual medium, and the quality is high. The cold itself is manageable with the provided gear; most guests report sleeping adequately. The surreal quality of walking down ice corridors at 2am to use the warm bathrooms in an adjacent building is part of the experience rather than a flaw in it.

For northern lights alone, staying in Kiruna is considerably cheaper and gives the same aurora access. The ICEHOTEL is worth booking if the building itself is the point. For those who want one night in an ice suite plus activities, booking directly with the hotel and treating it as the centrepiece of a three to four night Lapland trip works better than trying to compress everything into a single overnight.

The warmest practical tip: pack fewer clothes than you think you need for the ice room (the sleeping bag does the work) and significantly more for the outdoor activities, where windchill at -25°C turns inadequate layering into an acute problem.