Kiruna |

Travelling to Sweden in winter? Then book a night at the iconic Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi!

You’ve probably heard about the phenomenon that is ice hotels and trust me when I say they live up to the hype.

Earlier in the year I spent the night in a room carved from ice by talented artists at the famous Ice Hotel in Swedish Lapland. Everything from the bed and mattress to the door and walls are made of ice – so don’t expect any mirrors, bathroom or lights in this room!

To get there, you’ll have to catch the train to Kiruna. There are plenty of overnight trainoptions available from Stockholm and transfers to and from the train station can be booked through the hotel. Once you arrive at reception, a member of staff will explain how to survive spending the night in a room made of ice. You will be given free access to sleeping bags, clothing and snow gear, showers and saunas, bathrooms, storage rooms and a warm lounge lit by fires.

The Ice Hotel is an art gallery and is open to the public so you won’t have any privacy until around 5pm when the gallery is closed. You’ll also have to be out of your room by 9am, unless you want to be part of the exhibit of course. But don’t worry, a member of staff will wake you up with a warm cup of lingonberry juice which (trust me) is much needed! During the night you will only be able to wear a layer of thermals and a beany. You have the choice of your own sleeping bag or a double bag for couples who like to cosy up but as staff will explain, it is much harder to keep warm with a shared sleeping bag. We opted for single sleeping bags so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting cold during the night.

At first you’ll find that the room is a bit eerie. It’s awfully quiet and extremely cold! But before long you’ll find that your sleeping bag is warm enough and you’ll drift off to sleep. I actually slept better in the ice hotel than I did on the overnight train to get there!

After surviving the night, you will be transferred to a much warmer and much more comfortable cabin, complete with your own private bathroom. Your bags will be transferred for you and yes, you still get free access to snow gear so you can leave the cabin without suffering from hypothermia.

The cabin is much more relaxing so I suggest staying in the ice room first. It’s like a reward for having survived the ice!

During your stay there are only two restaurants to choose from for breakfast, lunch and dinner and booking arrangements can be made through reception. You can always visit the supermarket up the road for supplies. Don’t forget to visit the ice bar at night where even the cups are made of ice!

During the day, make the most of local guides and staff and take part in activities like reindeer and husky sledding, snowmobiling and northern lights sightseeing. They may be expensive, but they’re worth it!

When you check out of the resort you will be handed your diploma for surviving the night in an ice room. Along with your name and a picture of the ice hotel’s main doors will be the inside temperature (-5 degrees Celsius) and the outside temperature from the night which for us was -25 degrees Celsius.

Local staff, activity guides and the ice room itself definitely live up to the expectations. I give the ICE HOTEL five stars.

Have you ever spent the night in an Ice Hotel?

If you’re travelling to Sweden, be sure to check out my guide to exploring Stockholm!

Ash
xx

Marknadsvägen 63
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden

In early January 2015 I had the privilege of staying at Kiruna’s Ice Hotel in northern Sweden. The resort, like many others in the Scandinavian Arctic Circle, offered plenty of winter activities and adventures. Most of these activities cost around $200AUD but they run for at least three hours, include at least one meal and certainly justify the price tag.

My boyfriend David and I went on the Reindeer Encounter for a total of $200 each. Upon booking the activity we were under the impression that we’d be able to feed and pat wild reindeer. What we didn’t realise was that the encounter also included an attempt at riding one around a track.

The activity begins with a snowmobile ride to the reindeer farm, just outside of the Ice Hotel grounds. Once there the guide will hand you a bucket of hay before opening the gates and letting you into the enclosure to feed and pat the reindeer. Once they have been fed the guide catches three of the more calm looking reindeer and leads the group to the starting grid of the sledding track.

There have only been a handful of moments I can recall having feared for my life and I can honestly say that this was one of those moments.

During the sledding introduction our local Sami guide made it clear that whatever happens out there on the track, if you ever feel unsafe or if you happen to be thrown from your sled, release the rope and let the reindeer go. Sounded clear enough. But the next thing we knew our guide was flung from her standing position to the ground by the wild reindeer she was holding onto. Instead of releasing the rope, she allowed the animal to drag her into the surrounding metal fence and along the ground, in the snow, in sub-zero temperatures, around the track twice. Yep – twice!

At this stage you can imagine my fright. I did not want to get on that reindeer sled! Lucky for me there were two other reindeers who looked more relaxed (or so I thought).

David took his turn first and returned safe and sound so I took the same reindeer he had assuming it would also return me to the finish line safe and sound.

All was fine for the first 20 seconds. My reindeer guide was calm, cool and collected and so was I. Then the unimaginable happened. Another reindeer was catching up. I remembered to hold on tighter, anticipating my reindeer to race the other. I was right. What I hadn’t anticipated was my reindeer getting angry. At about the halfway mark on the track, the reindeers were neck and neck – I was having a lot of fun at this stage – then my reindeer turned to face the other and went in for the attack. The reindeers locked antlers. Both myself and the man at the end of the other reindeer were thrown from our sleds.

We made the walk back to the start/finish line as our reindeer were caught by the others upon finishing their race with no riders on board.

From behind us another reindeer came charging through and we were both thrown from the track a second time. Luckily we made it back in one piece with a pretty cool story to tell.

After everyone had raced a reindeer, we made our way into the nearby tepee for reindeer kebabs and coffee roasted over a live fire.

Then we were taken on snowmobiles to a Sami museum to learn more about the indigenous culture of northern Sweden before returning to the Ice Hotel for reindeer burgers, a nice warm shower and an Aurora display that lit up the night sky.

Despite my sledding story, I would recommend the activity to anyone who has ever wanted to meet a reindeer. If you have the money to spend and the time to spare, make the most of the activity while you’re staying at the Ice Hotel. You won’t be disappointed!

For more Ice Hotel reindeer activities, check out the website here.