A Night at -5°C: Inside Sweden’s Icehotel
Hand-carved ice suites, warm cabins and an Arctic setting make Sweden’s Icehotel a stay to plan around. Here is how the rooms, costs and cold nights work.
Key Notes
- The seasonal ICEHOTEL 37 opens on December 11, 2026, while ICEHOTEL 365 offers ice-art stays throughout the year.
- Ice rooms and art suites use shared facilities, while Deluxe Suites connect a cold bedroom to a private heated bathroom area.
- Plan one cold night alongside warm accommodation, and compare dated package prices with the full cost of travel, meals and activities.
There are hotels you choose because they are close to the place you want to visit. At Sweden’s Icehotel, the room is a substantial part of the reason to go. You can spend the night surrounded by hand-carved ice, beneath sculpted forms that would be just as absorbing in a gallery. The temperature is around -5°C, and the sleeping arrangements involve an expedition sleeping bag rather than a duvet turned down on a conventional hotel bed.
The hotel is in Jukkasjärvi, beside the Torne River near Kiruna in northern Sweden. Its seasonal buildings are recreated each winter, while the permanent ICEHOTEL 365 makes sleeping among ice art possible throughout the year. Heated hotel rooms and cabins are also part of the property, so a visit can combine an unusual night with familiar comforts.
That combination is the key to planning the trip well. Choose the cold room for the experience you want, then give yourself time for the art, the food and the landscape around it.
Two Icehotels, Two Ways to Visit
Icehotel Winter is the seasonal version, built from snow and ice with a new collection of rooms and artwork. Its normal season runs from December to April, followed by the thaw that brings that winter’s architecture to an end. Returning in another year means seeing another edition.
For the coming season, the local tourism office confirms that ICEHOTEL 37 opens on December 11, 2026, with an opening ceremony at 6 pm. The hotel’s published exhibition schedule begins its winter visiting hours on December 12. If seeing the new seasonal building is the main reason for traveling, choose your dates around that opening rather than assuming it will be ready throughout November.
ICEHOTEL 365 is the permanent, refrigerated building, with 18 art and deluxe suites, an ice bar and an experience room. It stays at around -5°C even in summer. This makes a cold-room stay possible outside the winter season, although snow activities and the seasonal hotel are a separate part of the calendar.
What Sleeping at -5°C Actually Involves
The sculpted setting is unusual, but there is a mattress beneath you. The hotel explains that its cold-room beds have ice headboards and wooden frames, with mattresses, reindeer hides and pillows. The sleeping bag does the work that bedding normally would, and staff provide instructions before the night begins.
The practical arrangements matter. Cold rooms form part of the art exhibition during the day, with overnight access generally beginning at 6 pm after public visiting closes. Think of the cold room as the evening’s experience; plan somewhere else to relax, eat and spend the earlier part of the day.
Warm facilities remain available if you want a break from the cold. Knowing where they are, and which facilities belong to your room category, is more useful than treating the night as something to endure. Ask the staff to walk you through the routine before settling in.
Ice Room, Art Suite or Deluxe Suite?
The most important differences are the artwork, bathroom arrangements and privacy. Read the description for the room you are actually booking:
- Winter Ice Room: the simpler seasonal option, with ice décor, a mattress and sleeping equipment. The room listing includes breakfast, loan of a snowsuit and boots, and access to the shared Riverside facilities. Winter rooms have curtains rather than conventional doors.
- Winter Art Suite: an individually designed room in that season’s temporary hotel. Choose it if the particular sculpted environment is central to the trip, while confirming the same practical details about shared facilities.
- Art Suite 365: an ice-art room in the permanent building, with a conventional door. The published inclusions cover breakfast, a private changing cubicle and storage in the heated Riverside Lobby, and access to its sauna. This is not a private en-suite bathroom.
- Deluxe Suite 365: a cold bedroom connected to a private heated bathroom and relaxation area. Facilities vary: Johka has double showers, Hilla adds a private sauna, and Jáuvre includes a sauna and bathtub. Check the named category before paying for an upgrade.
The Deluxe details make this a meaningful upgrade for someone who wants a private warm space close to the ice bedroom. The right choice depends on how much that convenience matters to you, as well as how much you want to spend.
The Art Gives You a Reason to Look Closely
It is worth choosing this hotel because you are interested in the rooms themselves. In Crescents, designed by Ida Mangsbo and Elin Julin, curved ice forms create a passage toward the bed. The room changes as you move through it, with light picking out the edges of the sculpture.
Cabinet in the Woods, by Hugh and Howard Miller, takes a different approach. Its design plays with a cabin, trees and the detailing of furniture, turning familiar domestic shapes into ice. Looking at the designers’ work before arriving gives you more to notice when you are there.
The photographs here show designs and settings featured by the hotel, including an earlier winter edition. Seasonal suites change, and a specific design pictured online should be requested and confirmed if it is essential to your booking. Leave time to see the wider exhibition instead of only photographing your own bed.
Give Yourself a Warm Night Too
The hotel recommends one night in cold accommodation and the remainder in a warm room or cabin. Putting the cold night first or last means changing rooms only once. A stay of two or three nights can give the unusual overnight experience some breathing room, especially if your journey involves connecting flights or a night train.
The warm accommodation is a real choice in its own right. Kaamos Deluxe rooms, for example, have a private shower room, tea and coffee facilities, breakfast and admission to the ice exhibition. They provide a comfortable base for time outdoors and a place to return to during the day.
You can also stay entirely in warm accommodation and visit the ice art. That is a good option for two people with different ideas about sleeping below freezing. When combining room types, check both check-in times; there can be a gap between leaving one room and getting the next, with luggage storage available while you are out.
What to Pack and Where Your Luggage Goes
Follow the hotel’s clothing guidance rather than packing on the assumption that more layers are always better. For sleeping, it recommends a wool base layer, wool socks and a warm hat, with an extra sweater if needed. The supplied sleeping bag is rated for temperatures down to -25°C; the room itself is around -5°C.
Outdoor clothing is a separate consideration. The hotel lends winter outerwear, including overalls, boots and gloves, but you still need suitable layers underneath. Check sizes and what your activities include before arriving. Ordinary ice rooms and art suites use luggage storage in Riverside, while Deluxe Suites have storage in their private warm areas. Keep the small things you need for the night easy to find.
Make Time for the Arctic Day Around It
A short stay works best with one or two experiences you genuinely want to do. The hotel offers winter activities such as dog sledding and snowmobile outings, while ice sculpting brings you closer to the material that makes the rooms possible. Its published class lasts about 90 minutes, includes tools and has a minimum age of eight, with other participation conditions listed on the activity page.
Book for the dates and conditions of your visit. Northern lights outings offer a chance to look for the aurora, not a guaranteed display. Give the trip enough appeal through its art, scenery and activities that a cloudy evening does not determine whether it was worthwhile.
If learning a practical skill appeals, our hobby holidays feature has more ideas for building a trip around an experience.
Dinner Is Worth Planning in Advance
A warm dinner belongs in the itinerary as much as the ice room. The hotel’s restaurant program includes an ice menu, while the seasonal Veranda offers a chef’s-table experience. Check the current schedule before choosing where to eat: restaurant opening periods differ, and some venues do not operate throughout the year.
For winter 2026-27, the published schedule lists The Veranda from December 11 to March 27, on Tuesday through Sunday evenings. Reserve separately unless your package expressly includes it, and discuss dietary requirements when booking. The dish pictured illustrates the hotel’s dining; menus and individual dishes can change.
What Does an Icehotel Stay Cost?
Compare the full stay, including travel, transfers, meals and activities. A room-only quote and a flight-inclusive package can look very different while covering different parts of the same holiday.
As checked on November 2, 2026, Swedish operator Ving advertises its Standard package from SEK 8,995, with the page’s price example tied to April 5-7, 2027. The listed package includes flights, bus transfers, one night in an ice room, one warm night, breakfast and ice sculpting. This is a dated package example, not a nightly hotel rate; confirm the price for your departure airport and party before comparing it with booking direct.
For a daytime introduction, the hotel currently lists adult exhibition admission at SEK 325, under its tariff headed April 13 to December 2026. Overnight guests receive exhibition admission. Recheck the tariff for later winter dates, and use the hotel’s booking system for the room category and nights you want.
Getting to Jukkasjärvi
Kiruna is the main gateway. The hotel’s arrival guide lists direct flights from Stockholm Arlanda, taking around 90 minutes, and rail travel to Kiruna, including overnight options. Check the actual departure and arrival times for your chosen dates before arranging accommodation.
The final road journey from Kiruna Airport or railway station is around 15-20 minutes according to the hotel. Its winter transfer service needs advance reservation, currently by 3 pm on the day before arrival. Outside the winter transfer season, arrange another suitable connection. Leaving this final journey to chance is an avoidable complication after traveling north.
Is This the Hotel to Build a Trip Around?
Icehotel makes most sense for someone who is curious about the art and willing to adjust a familiar bedtime routine for one night. Paying attention to the room category, choosing the right season and adding a comfortable warm night can make the experience much more enjoyable.
Book the parts that matter to you first: the cold-room category, the journey north and perhaps one activity or dinner. Then leave enough space to look at the ice, walk around the village and enjoy being somewhere different. For more ideas where the setting becomes part of the stay, explore our thermal spa escapes.
The reason to come is tangible. For one evening, the corridor, the room and the art around the bed are all made from a material you normally watch melt in a glass. That is an unusual thing to wake up remembering.
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