Kiruna, Sweden Ice Hotel and Northern Lights

By JC -
This was a long overdue travel and I wanted to hit two birds with one stone - seeing the Northern Lights and staying in the Ice Hotel.

The following are tips and information about the Ice Hotel.  It was not that easy to find in the net where it has all the information that I need so I decided to put it here.


Ice Hotel


Panorama of Ice Hotel Lobby

What to do while you are in the Ice Hotel?
  • 30-minute tour of the Ice Hotel at 12 Noon and 4 PM for English Speaking, 10 AM and 2 PM for Swedish
    • After which, they will leave you and you can visit all the different rooms in the Ice Hotel.
    • Most rooms look the same, it's just an ice bed and some lights. 
    • What is worth looking are the "Luxury Suites" and they have been designed
  • There's a Sami Museum and Reindeer Feeding Area for 150 SEK. Check out Around Ice Hotel.
  •  Ice Hotel Tour Packages but maybe slightly expensive (they range from Reindeer , Dog Sledding, Northern Lights, etc
    • If you are looking for cheaper packages since there is not really much difference (and Ice hotel tend to be very pricey), you can check with  http://www.kirunaguidetur.com/default.aspx.  You have some specific places/hotels that they can pick you up (and that includes the Ice Hotel).
One of the Luxury Suites

Jumping for joy at the Entrance of the Ice Hotel

Additional Comments:
We stayed in the warm cabin and it was pretty huge.  It was  a cabin for 4 people.  There were 2 rooms.  A huge living room and a separate shower room. It was really very spacious compared to what I initially think it would. 

I did not stay in the cold room, though we were planning to do it on the 2nd night. Why? I realized that it was too cold. It was not really comfortable. People have to leave their luggages and stuffs in the locker room in the reception and bring their sleeping bag to sleep in a -5 degree C room.  They also have to wake you up early because the Ice hotel is open for tourists from 10 AM to 6 PM! 

Additional Details:
  • There is WIFI in the reception, but I can hardly connect from the rooms
  • Food: 
    • There are few options, there is a restaurant where you also eat breakfast. But you have to BOOK EARLY because it gets fully booked.
    • Tour packages normally includes dinner!
    • There is a Coop (Coop Nara) - convenience store where you can buy food etc. It's around 10 minute walk from the Ice hotel. It's halfway to the Sami Camp area.
    • I was actually thinking initially of just bringing my CUP NOODLES.
  • They provide everything
    • They have the overalls, shoes, gloves 
    • The gloves is NOT comfortable but warm. They are like mittens and I can't really drive the snowmobile with it, so I ended up using my own gloves.


Around the Ice Hotel



  • Sámi Siida: Reindeer Park & Sámi Camp
    • This is just a 20-minute walk (less than a mile) from the Ice Hotel.  There's a Sami Camp and Reindeer Park.  The Sami Camp is an open air museum where you can learn about the way of living of the Samis and you can feed the reindeer in the reindeer park.  Buy the food at the reception for 20 SEK.
    • Sami People are Indigenous people in Scandinavia. They are called Laps in Sweden, that is why it's called the Lapland.
    • Is it worth it?
      • You can probably spend less than an hour here but it's just interesting to see an open-air museum about Samis
      • Also, rather than joining tour packages, where you will be fighting with the rest of the tourist to feed the reindeer.  Here, we had the entire reindeer park all to ourselves :)
  • Jukkasjarvi Church
    • http://www.jukkasjarviforsamling.se
    • Small Interesting church, just beside the Sami Camp
    • Apparently, it is 400 years old and one of Lapland's oldest surviving buildings.
    • It has a famous wooden altarpiece



Cheap Alternative to Ice Hotel

  • Stay in Kiruna Area 
    • You can just book a taxi to go to Ice Hotel and Get your "Day Ticket" there to see the Ice hotel.
      • Taxi is around 450 SEK one way
      • Entry is around 350 SEK per person
    • Or you can book a day package via a travel agencies e.g. http://www.kirunaguidetur.com/default.aspx
    • I would suggest doing it on your own, booking for the taxi and buying your day ticket (try calling Ice hotel to reserve a day ticket before you ran out of it). Why? You don't have to rush and you can stay as late as you want as long as you have booked a cab to go back to your hotel.
    • Alternative to go if you don't want a taxi? Bus for less than  50 SEK

Northern Lights


  • ABISKO is the place to check out Northern Lights
  • It was cloudy the entire 3 days that I was in Kiruna but when we went to Abisko, we saw clear blue skies.
  • Our tour guide mentioned that Abisko lies in the "rain shadow" of the Mountains there, thus they normally have clear blue skies throughout the year and thus, the best place to see the Northern Lights
  • I strongly suggest to stay at least a night (or better yet more) as this place has a magnificent view of the mountains and the lakes. 
  • This does not look like a hostel nor a lodge, it's a decent Hotel (I was really surprised!)
  • Where to book?
    • Abisko Mountain Station (here)
  • How to go there from Airport or Ice Hotel?
    • Taxi Kiruna (costing 1650 SEK)
    • City Taxi (costing around 1000 SEK)
      • this is cheaper but a bit difficult to book
      • +46 980 615 00
    • Train Station
  • What to do?
    • There are a lot of options, the best options for Northern Lights are
      • Abisko Sky Station (ASS)
        • On top of the mountain, best place to see Northern Lights, 
        • but you might want to bring a very good camera
      • Photography with Northern Lights 
        • Peter Rosen is apparently famous!
      • Others: More info here. or download PDF here. 
        • You can call them up for the ASS and Photography tour!
      • One Tip: Bring a GLOW Torch when doing the photography tour. 
        • Very dark and you would need one to adjust your camera or find things.

    Peter Rosen and us after the Night Tour


    Magnificent view from the Abisko Sky Station

    It is a decent hotel room with necessarily facilities :)


    Want more pictures?  See here. 



    Other Options:


    • Overnight train from Stockholm to Kiruna or Abisko: Check availability here (http://www.sj.se)

    Location: Abisko, Sweden

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