Every spring, ICEHOTEL goes back where it came from. The hotel in Jukkasjärvi, about 17 km east of Kiruna in Swedish Lapland, is built from ice and snow taken from the Torne River, and when the weather turns it melts into the same river. The following winter it is built again, in a new design.
It began in 1989, when a local entrepreneur, Yngve Bergqvist, ran an ice sculpting workshop in the village. The next winter an igloo called ARTic Hall, 60 square metres, went up on the frozen river, and people started to ask whether they could sleep in it.
How it is built
The ice comes from the Torne River, harvested each spring and kept until the next season. This winter's hotel uses around 2,000 tonnes of it. The building goes up through the autumn, and at the end of November the artists arrive to carve and finish the rooms over a few intense weeks, working alongside the construction, ice and lighting teams.
The suites
The art suites are the reason to go, and each year's are new. ICEHOTEL 37 opens on 11 December 2026 with 12 art suites, which run from December to April. Lacuna, by Ilka and Caroline Raupach, stands ice blocks on the floor to make a space within a space, and invites guests to fill the gap with their bodies. The Emperor's Suite, by Dennis and Michelle Taylor, is set in Antarctica, among a colony of emperor penguins under a low sun that does not set.
Sleeping on ice
The ice rooms stay at around minus 5. Guests get access to their room from 6pm, when the hotel closes to day visitors. The bed is a mattress covered with reindeer skin, and the expedition sleeping bag, rated to minus 25, is collected at Riverside before heading in. A base layer, thick socks and a hat are usually enough to sleep in.
The ice rooms have no toilets and no electrical sockets, so phones and cameras need charging beforehand. Riverside, the warm building, has toilets, showers and a sauna, and each guest gets a locker or changing booth for the night. Luggage stays in a secure room there. Warm rooms and cabins are available for the other nights.
If winter is too far off
ICEHOTEL 365 is the permanent part of the property, open all year at around minus 5, so the ice rooms can be visited without travelling in winter. It celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, with solar power helping to keep it cold in summer. It has its own art suites and an ICEBAR where the glasses are carved from ice. New this winter is a podcast studio made entirely of ice and snow, which doubles as an art installation and a venue for conversations and selected podcast productions.
Getting there
SAS and Norwegian fly from Stockholm Arlanda to Kiruna Airport in about 90 minutes, and the train from Stockholm takes about 14 hours, with night services. Kiruna Airport and Kiruna train station are each 15 to 20 minutes from the hotel. In winter the hotel runs a transfer bus from both, which needs booking before 3pm the day before arrival, and a taxi is the alternative. From December to April a dog sled transfer from the airport is also offered, taking 75 minutes. Northern lights tours run from the hotel.
Who it suits
Anyone who wants a night somewhere that will not exist in April.
