Visiting the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

The Icehotel stands in Jukkasjärvi, a village of about 900 residents on the Torne River. The hotel itself gives the distance as about 17 km east of Kiruna along the E10, while Kiruna Lapland names figures between 15 and 18 km on the same page. From Kiruna Airport the drive is around 15 minutes. Without a car you have three choices: Länstrafiken Norrbotten bus 501, the hotel's own transfer (winter only, to be booked by 15:00 the day before) or a tour that collects you in town.

A hotel that melts every spring

It started in 1989, when Yngve Bergqvist opened Arctic Hall, an art gallery built from ice and snow. The hotel that grew out of it is still made from the river beside it. In spring, blocks of up to two tonnes are cut from the frozen Torne and put into storage. From around 150 design proposals about 15 are chosen, and in November the selected artists gather in Jukkasjärvi for an art symposium. Building takes about six weeks, and every winter the hotel gets a new number.

Last winter's ICEHOTEL 36 had 12 art suites and 20 ice rooms, made by 33 artists from 12 countries out of 550 tonnes of ice. The coming season runs as ICEHOTEL 37. The Icehotel gives its winter season as December to April, and the day ticket sold as a tour product names December to mid-April for access to the winter building.

Next to it stands ICEHOTEL 365, a permanent building cooled by solar power that stays open all year at around −5 °C. It holds 18 art and deluxe suites, an ice bar and a gallery. A visit in October or in July therefore still shows you carved ice, only not the seasonal hotel.

Visiting during the day

By day the hotel works like an exhibition. You walk along the corridors, look into the suites and can stop at the ice bar. According to the Icehotel, day visitors buy their tickets on site without pre-booking, and payment is by card only. At the same time a day ticket from ICEHOTEL AB is listed as a bookable product. It covers ICEHOTEL 365 with the art and deluxe suites and the Icebar, from December to mid-April also the winter hotel, and comes without a guide or transport. The two descriptions do not match, so look at the conditions for your date before you set off.

At 18:00 the building closes to the public. In midwinter the daylight is the tighter limit. On 21 December there is only twilight in Kiruna, between 08:56 and 14:18, so a late morning visit gives you the best chance of seeing the snow walls outside in daylight. If you want to know how the hotel is made, the Icehotel runs a behind-the-scenes tour that includes the storage hall where the river ice is kept.

Guided tours from Kiruna

A tour takes care of the drive, and all those compared on this page are limited to eight guests. They differ in how long you spend inside the hotel and in what else fills the morning.

The three-hour tour by Scandinavian Sami Photoadventures picks you up at the tourist office or at Camp Ripan, and the van ride is about 20 minutes each way. Its plan lists a guided visit of 70 minutes at the Icehotel, entry to the Sámi museum with reindeer and a walk through the village. Reviews ask for more time in the hotel and a pause for a hot drink, so it suits you best as a compact overview. Children under two and wheelchair users cannot join.

The four-hour half day by Lights of Vikings states that entry tickets for the Icehotel and the Sámi museum are included. It adds a reindeer camp and a stop at Jukkasjärvi church. Its page often shows no free dates, so check it early. Explore Arctic needs four and a half hours and gives you about 90 minutes on your own in the hotel, a guided visit at Nutti Sámi Siida and an hour in the new centre of Kiruna. Food and winter clothing are not part of that tour, so bring a snack and warm layers.

Sleeping on ice

A night in an ice room needs some preparation. The air inside stays at around −5 °C, and the Icehotel hands out sleeping bags rated to −25 °C. You get into your room from 18:00, after the day visitors have left. For clothing, the hotel recommends wool as the layer next to your skin and warns that it can fall to minus 30 degrees outside. Our page on what to wear in Kiruna goes through the layers.

During the winter season the Icehotel offers to begin or end your stay with a dog sled transfer. A longer ride behind a team is possible from kennels close to the village, which our guide to husky sledding compares.

The Sámi museum and the old church

Nutti Sámi Siida lies a short walk from the hotel, on the old Sámi market place of Jukkasjärvi. Its museum, Márkanbáiki, is open daily from 10:00 to 16:00, on 24 December until 14:00. In summer most of the herd is up in the mountains, so fewer reindeer stay in the village. Around the animals the staff's safety instructions apply. Our page on reindeer and Sámi culture explains how the different reindeer visits around Kiruna compare.

Jukkasjärvi church stands in the same village. According to the parish, its central part was built around 1607 and the church was completed in 1785, which makes it the oldest church in the province of Lappland. The altarpiece is by Bror Hjorth. The church is open every day from 09:00 to 15:00, so on your own it fits in well between the museum and the hotel.

Fitting it into a stay

Because the airport is only a quarter of an hour away, the Icehotel works on an arrival or departure day. A morning in Jukkasjärvi leaves the afternoon for Kiruna town and the mine, and some northern lights tours list the Icehotel among their pickup points in the evening.