Icehotel

Jukkasjarvi

The charm of Sweden, a Scandinavian country in northern Europe, lies in its special atmosphere and its magnificent landscapes. Stockholm its lovely capital, located on the Baltic Sea, consists of fourteen small islands with neighborhoods that are fun to walk through in winter as well as summer. Visiting its many museums like the Vasa or the Noridska can be very helpful for learning more about the traditions and the culture of the country.

More and more tourists are coming to the north of Sweden to discover one of the world’s most fantastic regions, Lapland, a natural and cultural site which was declared a UNESCO world heritage in the 1990s. It’s here, every year that hundreds of herds of the country’s emblematic animal, the reindeer come together. This cold and hostile land has been attracting a new type of tourist interested in original and extraordinary adventures. In the midst of this imposing landscape, numerous visitors are taking sleigh rides on dog or reindeer pulled sleds, snowmobile excursions, horseback riding, cross country skiing or snow shoeing to attend the superb aurora borealis. It’s in this region that we find one of the world’s most original establishments, the Icehotel.

An unusual hotel for “cool” customers

For several years now, it has been possible for tourists seeking an unforgettable experience to spend one or several nights in the village of Jukkasjarvi and its totally original Icehotel. This hotel in northern Sweden was created thanks to the creativity of its founder, Ingve Bergqvist. His basic precept was simple: in the summer there are a great many visitors, but in the winter, things are perfectly calm, even though the region possesses some of the world’s most magnificent landscapes. This is why, after returning from an ice sculpture festival in Japan, he lay down the challenge of building an original and ephemeral hotel every winter, made completely out of the blocks of ice formed by the river adjacent to the village of Jukkasjarvi. And since the challenge was met with success, every year for the past twenty years, as soon as winter comes round, a team of architects and designers from all over the world come here and begin working on this superb ice hotel, alongside the village’s already celebrated chalets and with which it shares the heating equipment, the restaurants and the sauna.

Out of the ordinary and colossal, the hotel consists of forty spacious rooms and suites with unparalleled charm, since it is entirely equipped with ice decorations and superb ice sculptures. Guests sleep on a bed of ice, warmed by a thick and soft reindeer hide which acts as a mattress, and in a very comfortable sleeping bag. It’s advisable of course, to slip into a pair of pajamas and a heavy pair of socks before going to sleep for the night. Suitcases are stored in a separate and warm room to prevent them from freezing. The hotel also has a magnificent ice bar and even a church for those who wish to “tie the knot” a few steps from the North Pole!