Considered one of Sweden’s 7 wonders, the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, near Kiruna, is the largest hotel ever built using only ice and snow. For over 30 years, this unique experience has attracted thousands of tourists, curious to discover the ice sculptures recreated every year for the occasion. Kiruna’s Icehotel offers a myriad of unforgettable activities accessible to all.
Whether you’re coming to stay the night or just to visit, this article has all the information you need to plan your trip to the Icehotel.
Practical information for visiting the Icehotel in Kiruna
Here’s all the information you need if you’re planning a day trip to the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi:
Ticket prices
Day visits to the Icehotel
Depending on the season, there are two different prices.
Outside the winter season, from mid-April to mid-December, you’ll visit Icehotel 365, which is open year-round. 2026 prices:
- Adult: 325 SEK.
- Student / Senior: 225 SEK.
- Children (aged 4 to 12): 39 SEK.
- Children (aged 0 to 3): free with a paying adult.
During the winter season, from mid-December to mid-April, your ticket also covers the seasonal Icehotel and prices are slightly higher: they’re published on the Icehotel website when the season opens. Expect:
- Adult: from 325 SEK.
- Student / Senior: from 225 SEK.
- Children under 4: free admission.
You can buy your ticket online on the Icehotel website or on site at the reception (Riverside Lobby).
Spending the night at the Icehotel
A visit to the Icehotel is, of course, free of charge for all overnight guests.
Due to high demand, we advise you to book early (up to a year in advance) if you wish to stay overnight. You can check availability and book on this page.
Also note that the whole complex is cash-free, so make sure you bring a card.
Opening hours
- Exhibition and cold rooms: usually 10 or 11 am to 6 pm, depending on the season.
- Icebar: from 11 am, hours vary by season.
Private events are sometimes held at the Icehotel. If you’d like to come during your stay in Kiruna, check its website to make sure opening hours haven’t changed that day.
Visit duration
Allow 2 hours to visit the hotel. This will of course depend on the pace of your visit, whether you have a drink at the Icebar, or stop for a moment to take in the view.
How to get there
The Icehotel is in Jukkasjärvi, about 17 km (10.5 miles) east of Kiruna and about 10 km from the airport: it takes just 20 minutes by car from Kiruna. Once there, free parking is available.
In winter, when the season is in full swing, spaces may be scarcer and you may have to park further away.
If you’re coming by bus, take line 501 to the Jukkasjärvi Icehotel stop, directly in front of the complex. From central Kiruna, the journey takes about 30 minutes. The last bus leaves early, so make sure you don’t miss it!
Once you’re there, everything is within walking distance: the complex is in the heart of Jukkasjärvi village, close to all the other sights.
Things to do at the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi
The Icehotel isn’t just a place to spend the night. With its bar, ephemeral artworks and chapel, there’s plenty to see and explore.
Icehotel video tour
To get you in the mood, here’s a video of the tour:
Ice art exhibition and tour of the ice rooms
Every year, when the Icehotel reopens in winter, visitors can discover ice sculptures created by artists from all over the world.
You can then visit the hotel to admire its ephemeral artworks. An optional guided tour lets you learn more about the history of the hotel and its sculptures.
Each work is unique, which means that the exhibition is completely different from one year to the next.
During the guided tour, you can also visit the various rooms on offer. From the simple Ice Rooms to the extravagant Art Suites, you can admire the unique work of artists and craftspeople.
Have a drink at the Icebar and visit the ice chapel
At the end of your visit, you can enjoy a drink at the Icebar, where you can order the drink of your choice served in a glass made of ice.
Fun fact: thousands of ice glasses are made every season for Icehotel guests!
During your visit, you can take a look at the ice chapel. With room for up to 40 guests, it hosts dozens of religious and civil ceremonies every year, including weddings.
Sleeping at the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi
For a night or two, you can book a cold room. This is a completely frozen room: from floor to ceiling, from beds to armchairs, everything in the room is made of snow and ice!
In collaboration with artists from all over the world, the hotel builds ice rooms with unique themes every year.
You can check availability, prices and book on this site.
If you want to sleep there, don’t wait to book, as the rooms are very popular.
When you arrive, the staff will lend you everything you need for a warm night’s sleep. Wrapped up in reindeer skins and sleeping bags, you’ll enjoy an unforgettable experience.
You can then continue your stay in a warm room, a regular heated room in another building, open all year round, with all the comforts you need for a pleasant stay in Jukkasjärvi.
The restaurants
Several restaurants, such as The Veranda, The Old Homestead and the Icehotel Restaurant, serve varied cuisine prepared with passion by experienced chefs. Some are only open in winter.
Activities on offer
Depending on the season, the Icehotel offers a wide range of activities: dog sledding, northern lights safaris, ice sculpting, hiking or rafting. There’s something for everyone.
Icehotel 365
Opened in December 2016, this annex offers visitors a unique experience. All year round, in a 2,100 m² (22,600 sq ft) frozen hall, you can experience the Icehotel. Come and discover an exhibition of ice art and enjoy the famous cold rooms, whatever the season.
You’ll also have access to the Icebar and a room where you can learn more about the history of this ice giant through images, artwork and a short video presentation.
History of the Icehotel
How the Icehotel began
It all began in 1989, when Yngve Bergqvist, future founder of the Icehotel, invited two Japanese artists to run an ice sculpture workshop for Swedish artists, to make the village of Jukkasjärvi more attractive.
In spring 1990, several artists, including French artist Jannot Derid, were invited to hold an exhibition in the Arctic Hall, on the banks of the Torne River. This cylindrical igloo of about 60 m² (650 sq ft) was used to display their work.
Unfortunately, there weren’t enough beds in Jukkasjärvi for all the guests.
Yngve Bergqvist then offered them the chance to sleep in the hall of the ice building, teaching them how to survive in the cold. Despite the cold, the visitors loved their experience at Jukkasjärvi and wanted to do it all over again. And so the Arctic Hall was transformed into an ice hotel.
Fun fact: under Swedish law, the hotel must have fire extinguishers on hand, even though it’s made entirely of ice and snow!
A special building
The seasonal Icehotel is completely ephemeral. Although it’s the largest ice hotel in the world, it’s rebuilt every year from November and opens in December. It closes in April before melting in the spring and returning to the waters of the Torne.
Every year, it takes around 2,000 metric tons of Torne River ice and tens of thousands of cubic meters of “snice” (a mix of snow and ice) to rebuild the Icehotel. Inside, the temperature is around -5°C (23°F).
To protect Swedish nature, the people behind the project use almost exclusively renewable energy, so that the resort as a whole has as little impact as possible on the environment. For example, in summer Icehotel 365 is kept cold using solar power.
By night, the cold rooms become a hotel offering visitors a unique experience, while by day, they are transformed into a veritable exhibition of art on ice.
The Icehotel is a one-of-a-kind art project: we recommend visiting it for its authenticity and, if you can afford it, spending a night there that you’ll never forget!
