Anyone stayed at the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden?

[SecondAttempt]

So, partner loved Sweden this summer, her first visit, and it was a mix of tourism and meeting my close lifelong friends/and-its-too-complicated-to-explain-but-family-is-probably-the-best-word. I'm planning to take her back in December next year to test that. (Not really a test, just to show her the other side!)

We will probably go just before Christmas. There is a fairly big local holiday, St. Lucia Day on December 13 that we plan to be there for. But, having lived there, I know Sweden is a very different place in the winter so I am looking for things to do. There are Christmas markets in Stockholm and a friend suggested a stop in Tallin Estonia for theirs. But in general I think it will be mostly friends/family stuff.

But I'm thinking of heading far north to Kiruna for the Ice Hotel for a few days. Has anyone done that? I have been to Kiruna in the summer. I understand the Ice Hotel is pricey. But there is also an opportunity for northern lights, dog sledding, and Sami winter culture. She had a pretty good taste of midnight sun when we were there. I'm not sure how well polar night will go over!

 

[braumeister]

When heading north, if you have a decent camera it's fun to play around with photos of the northern lights. I've had great success doing that in the Tromsø area, which is just a little farther north than Kiruna. And if it's too cold you can always go over to the Lofoten archipelago for a bit.

 

[Koolau]

So, partner loved Sweden this summer, her first visit, and it was a mix of tourism and meeting my close lifelong friends/and-its-too-complicated-to-explain-but-family-is-probably-the-best-word. I'm planning to take her back in December next year to test that. (Not really a test, just to show her the other side!)

We will probably go just before Christmas. There is a fairly big local holiday, St. Lucia Day on December 13 that we plan to be there for. But, having lived there, I know Sweden is a very different place in the winter so I am looking for things to do. There are Christmas markets in Stockholm and a friend suggested a stop in Tallin Estonia for theirs. But in general I think it will be mostly friends/family stuff.

But I'm thinking of heading far north to Kiruna for the Ice Hotel for a few days. Has anyone done that? I have been to Kiruna in the summer. I understand the Ice Hotel is pricey. But there is also an opportunity for northern lights, dog sledding, and Sami winter culture. She had a pretty good taste of midnight sun when we were there. I'm not sure how well polar night will go over!

Heh, heh, if I wanna be cold, I can stay right here in the midwest. 25 years ago, the area lost electricity for a couple of weeks due to a massive ice storm. Without electricity, most folks had no heat (a gas furnace still needs electricity.) SO many houses WERE the Ice Palace without the beauty.

We had a wood stove which was nice, though we hadn't stocked quite enough wood. Eventually we burned rolled up newspaper and old cardboard boxes (you know, the TV box you kept - just in case.)

 

[Zona]

SecondAttempt, I think going for St. Lucia day will be fantastic. It is a big part of the winter celebrations in Sweden according to our Swedish relatives living there. (We watch the SVT Luciamorgon broadcast over the internet each year around Christmas time and the music and traditions are beautiful).

A stay at the ice hotel in Kiruna used to be on my bucket list. But years ago we visited a now-defunct ice hotel in Alaska (the building itself wasn’t made of ice but the guest rooms & furniture were all ice). I realized just how cold it would be to stay overnight on a bed of ice in a room of ice and came to the conclusion that I’d be interested to see the official Swedish Ice Hotel someday but wouldn’t want to spend the night there. It does look beautiful though, so would love to hear your experience if you go!

 

[SecondAttempt]

SecondAttempt, I think going for St. Lucia day will be fantastic. It is a big part of the winter celebrations in Sweden according to our Swedish relatives living there. (We watch the SVT Luciamorgon broadcast over the internet each year around Christmas time and the music and traditions are beautiful).

A stay at the ice hotel in Kiruna used to be on my bucket list. But years ago we visited a now-defunct ice hotel in Alaska (the building itself wasn’t made of ice but the guest rooms & furniture were all ice). I realized just how cold it would be to stay overnight on a bed of ice in a room of ice and came to the conclusion that I’d be interested to see the official Swedish Ice Hotel someday but wouldn’t want to spend the night there. It does look beautiful though, so would love to hear your experience if you go!

Yep, we watch the Lucia broadcast every year as well. Having lived there and experienced the winter darkness I can understand the importance of midwinter to northern European cultures. The last few years we've see them from the domkyrkor (Church of Sweden cathedrals) in Helsingborg, Uppsala, and Vaxjo, all of which I have been to.

At the Icehotel they only recommend 1 night in a cold room and the rest in a warm room. They offer transfer by dogsled from the Kiruna airport in the winter which sounds kind of cool but at $750 per person each way I think we'll take the minibus instead, which is about $12. But there are some reasonably priced dogsled excursions.

For years I have laughed at this video of life in northern Sweden:

Until this trip. We saw a video in a museum of people doing laundry about 100 years ago and it was not much different!

 

[SecondAttempt]

When heading north, if you have a decent camera it's fun to play around with photos of the northern lights. I've had great success doing that in the Tromsø area, which is just a little farther north than Kiruna. And if it's too cold you can always go over to the Lofoten archipelago for a bit.

Yes, I will take my decent camera on that trip but I am not going to be optimistic about actually seeing the northern lights or getting good pictures. I lived for a year in southern Sweden 40 years ago and saw the northern lights numerous times but they were never as spectacular as pictures I've seen. We are approaching a solar maximum that is predicted to occur sometime between late 2023 and 2025 so that is helpful. But I lived there during a solar maximum as well.

 

[braumeister]

Yes, I will take my decent camera on that trip but I am not going to be optimistic about actually seeing the northern lights or getting good pictures.

What I did was to schedule my trip during the new moon. The darker sky helped quite a lot IMHO.

 

[SecondAttempt]

What I did was to schedule my trip during the new moon. The darker sky helped quite a lot IMHO.

Great tip and I had not thought of that!

 

[Koolau]

Great tip and I had not thought of that!

Never occurred to me either. But, of course, any phenomenon in the heavens would be better viewed without the moon's light.

 

[NgineER]

My friends stayed at the Ice hotel after they got married, they really enjoyed it. They also did just the one cold room night. Sleeping is not bad in cold temperatures, it is the going to bathroom at night, getting dressed, lounging etc. that is not something you'd want to do.

 

[SecondAttempt]

My friends stayed at the Ice hotel after they got married, they really enjoyed it. They also did just the one cold room night. Sleeping is not bad in cold temperatures, it is the going to bathroom at night, getting dressed, lounging etc. that is not something you'd want to do.

Thanks, yeah, I don't think I'd want to hit the outhouse in those temperatures but my understanding is that even in the cold rooms you have access to warm, albeit shared, bathrooms at night. We'd be find with that.

 

[Koolau]

Thanks, yeah, I don't think I'd want to hit the outhouse in those temperatures but my understanding is that even in the cold rooms you have access to warm, albeit shared, bathrooms at night. We'd be find with that.

I think I'd take one of the "warm" rooms to sleep in but hang out in the bar and restaurant (social areas) to enjoy the ice. Too many years of sleeping in average temperatures that vary 5 degrees summer to winter and 10 degrees from dawn to mid afternoon.

(Oh, and I'd have to buy a winter coat - I gave away all my winter gear when we moved to Paradise.) Last year, DW wanted to stay late (to early October) to relive her past when she always visited a local festival held in October. I ended up fishing in the "coat closet" for something warm. All I could find was one of those "life preserver" jackets and an old faded jeans jacket to go over it. It looked a little puffy (well, more puffy than I usually look) but it kept me warm as we wandered among the crowds, enjoying the specialized foods and seeing the displays and events. I think that will hold me for "winter events" for the rest of my life.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I think I'd take one of the "warm" rooms to sleep in but hang out in the bar and restaurant (social areas) to enjoy the ice. Too many years of sleeping in average temperatures that vary 5 degrees summer to winter and 10 degrees from dawn to mid afternoon.

(Oh, and I'd have to buy a winter coat - I gave away all my winter gear when we moved to Paradise.) Last year, DW wanted to stay late (to early October) to relive her past when she always visited a local festival held in October. I ended up fishing in the "coat closet" for something warm. All I could find was one of those "life preserver" jackets and an old faded jeans jacket to go over it. It looked a little puffy (well, more puffy than I usually look) but it kept me warm as we wandered among the crowds, enjoying the specialized foods and seeing the displays and events. I think that will hold me for "winter events" for the rest of my life.

To each his own. I think if I went to the Icehotel and didn't sleep on ice I'd feel like I failed somehow. Still a lot of time to reconsider.