There is a good reason why the Icehotel arouses such curiosity. Tell someone that you're going to the very top of Sweden to spend a night at an inn made entirely from frozen water and packed snow and he will invariably say, "Wow, that's so cool."
It's definitely cool. But staying in an ice-and-snow hotel room 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle is also cold. Sometimes very cold.
The week before I made my trip to Kiruna, Sweden, daily high temperatures were hovering around -13 degrees Fahrenheit. By the time I arrived, the mercury had climbed into the 20s — but then a storm blew in. In the Arctic, storms don't really rage; they debilitate.
Ours brought snow, clouds and 106-mile-per-hour winds — the highest ever recorded in the region.
This year, the Icehotel opened a second lodge, Icehotel365, which plans to operate year-round.
The Northern Lights are one of the main reasons to go to Swedish Lapland. Here's a particularly good display at the Icehotel.
The Icehotel chapel hosts about 100 weddings a year.
I stayed in "Pillowbar," an ice room featuring men made out of snow getting drunk at a bar made of clear ice.
Grabbing a drink at the Icehotel Bar means bundling up.
(Gersh Kuntzman)
But as a wise skiing pal of mine once said, there is no such thing as bad weather, only insufficient clothing. A heavy parka, long johns, thermal shirts and a wool sweater are all you need to stay warm on a one-of-a-kind Arctic adventure.
The Icehotel, which is in the small village of Jukkasjärvi, is one of the many attractions around Kiruna, a regional center of nearly 20,000 — about 15,000 more than our main Arctic outpost in Barrow, Alaska. That's why tourists who want an Arctic experience are well served by northern Sweden or Finland, both of which are so well developed that it's easy to forget you're in the Arctic (there's even a Thai restaurant!). Regular train service and constantly plowed highways make it a breeze to travel, even in hurricane-force winds.
I saw the lights myself, though natives said it was only an average night.
(Gersh Kuntzman)
"The area is really the best place to visit the Arctic because there's an existing transport and tourist infrastructure," said Jonny Cooper, founder of Off the Map Travel, a British-based adventure tourism company that led my trip.
Cooper's company has been operating in Swedish Lapland since 2008, and in that time has forged partnerships with area hotels and guides, plus become part-owner of a fleet of spike-tired buses that get tourists from frozen Point A to blizzard-enshrouded Point B with surprisingly few delays. Napoleon could have learned a few lessons from these people.
Our four-day "Northern Lights" tour of the Arctic began at the Icehotel, which creator Yngve Bergqvist began as an art project and igloo in 1989 and then grew into the full-service hotel it is today. Every November, workers carve out blocks of ice from the pristine Torne River and collect hundreds of tons of snow and pack all of it into blocks to construct the four-dozen rooms, hallways and even an ice chapel that hosts 100 marriages every year.
Once built, the rooms are finished by artists so each is unique. This winter, one room features a mammoth human face and smaller faces over the bed. Another is done up in a crystal theme.
Another had jungle animals.
The room in which I stayed, named "Pillowbar," featured sculptures of men made out of cushions falling over themselves as if they'd overindulged at a pub.
The bed itself, surrounded by clear ice, was sunken into the snowy floor.
The Sami church in Kiruna blends arctic and Swedish styles.
The Old Town in Stockholm is your picture-perfect European capital.
(Gersh Kuntzman)
The Sami church in Kiruna (left) blends Arctic and Swedish styles. The Old Town in Stockholm is your picture-perfect European capital.
The frozen lodge operates from December until it melts in late April. But this year, the region was jolted by the news that a second Icehotel would be built adjacent to the original — albeit inside a climate-controlled, solar-powered refrigerator unit. Icehotel365 adds 20 more rooms, and a fun ice bar, to the mix, but it also adds flexibility.
Travelers who want to experience the beauty of the Arctic during the summer, when the sun stays out virtually all day and night, now have the same opportunity to bed down in a frigid room as those would brave the mostly sunless winter to ski, snowmobile, ice-fish or see the fabled aurora borealis.
In reality, the best time to visit is in the early fall, when you get the best of both worlds.
Winter or summer, a night at the Icehotel is a bucket-list splurge for a certain type of traveler. It's fun to drink cocktails out of a hollowed-out ice block as you sit on reindeer-skin-covered ice benches. It's inspiring to be surrounded by artwork, however ephemeral it is once the warm weather returns.
And it feels otherworldly to bed down in an Arctic sleeping bag in a 20-degree hotel room.
But a true adventure, by definition, is never easy. To spend a night in the Icehotel, guests must first deposit all their baggage in a cabana, brush their teeth and pee (there's no toilet in an Icehotel room!), change into their thermals, get their sleeping bag, boots and outer jacket from the desk, walk across the compound to their rooms, then slip out of the jacket and into the sleeping bag without going stiff with cold.
Dogsledding is a popular activity. The dogs love it, by the way.
(Gersh Kuntzman)
The very nature of the accommodations eliminates one of the very reasons we sometimes like to stay in a fancy hotel: de-stressing in a cozy room with a good book, a glass of wine or a frisky fellow traveler. You don't do any of those things at the Icehotel. Once you get in your room, there's no hanging out; there's just zipping up and trying to get some sleep.
One newly married couple admitted to me that they remained in separate sleeping bags to ward off the cold — though I am certainly they would have had more fun with a double-sized sleeping bag and less sleep.
The adventure does not come cheap: A standard ice room is about $600 a night, and a deluxe suite featuring an ice room and an adjoining bathroom with sauna is about $1,000. Most visitors spend an additional day or two in one of the far-less-expensive all-season cabins further up the riverbank.
Kiruna would not even be on the map except for the discovery of a massive iron ore deposit, which has been pulling wealth out of the ground since the 1920s. That mine ensures that highways and the railroad are always maintained, which gives Swedish Lapland an advantage over other Arctic areas. From Kiruna (pronounced KEER-in-aw), we hopped a 90-minute train to Björkliden, passing through a stark, snow- and ice-covered mountain terrain.
Björkliden and neighboring Abisko are considered Ground Zero for "aurora hunting" thanks to their micro-climates and higher elevation on the protected eastern slope of the mountains that separate Norway from Sweden.
Both towns are worth visiting, if only for the accommodations: Abisko is home to a nice hotel and the Sky Station, a full-service restaurant built into a hilltop that offers unobstructed views of the green-glowing heavens.
And the Björkliden Fjällby is the comfortable ski lodge of your dreams.
And I should know: That storm I mentioned earlier kept us snowbound at the Fjällby for two nights, and I certainly wasn't complaining. The food is outstanding, the bar well-stocked, the view of the mountains and lakes panoramic, and the activities ample: skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, dogsledding (more fun than you think it'll be!), snowmobiling, learning about native herding, gathering and crafting traditions from Ida-Maria Svonni, a Sami woman who leads visitors around a native village.
Off the Map Travel got us safely to all of those activities when the weather was otherwise unhelpful, and also arranged for an exclusive "Taste of the Arctic" dinner cooked and led by Anders Bergwall, a legendary area guide and emergency rescue team leader who shares stories over mounds of reindeer meat and Arctic char (ask him about the time he took on a moose with a garden rake!).
The author enjoys a cocktail in the ice bar at Icehotel in Sweden.
This ice suite is called "Twitter."
(ICEHOTEL/Asaf Kliger (design by Lena Kris)
The author enjoys a cocktail in the ice bar at Icehotel(left), which is much mimicked around the globe. All rooms feature ice art. The suite (right) is called "Twitter."
The storm also kept us from the Sky Station, but we still watched the Northern Lights from the hotel backyard. Many believe that seeing the aurora is a life-changing event, and tens of thousands of tourists visit the Arctic during the sunless winter for a chance to glance up in the sky and watch solar wind smash against the Earth's magnetic field with glowing, shimmering results. The phenomenon is somewhat rare, but locals say that there's an 80% chance of seeing the lights during a typical four-day stay.
I caught them one more time during an overnight stay at Camp Ripan back near Kiruna. The camp is deservedly popular with Swedes for its private cabins, classic Scandinavian design, cross-country skiing, world-class restaurant, mine tours, and large spa with multiple saunas, hot tubs and pools.
My life was not changed by seeing the aurora borealis — but it was far more enriched by newfound appreciation for the gorgeous, stark, traditional, modern, menacing Arctic.
SIDEBAR: A day in Stockholm
Stockholm, which is built on several islands, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
(Henrik Trygg/Henrik Trygg)
Because of the timing of flights from the Arctic, many visitors must spend a day in Stockholm before departing Sweden. It is not to be wasted.
Stockholm may be the most beautiful city in Europe. The city is built on dozens of small islands spreading out from its central Old Town (Gamla Stan), with its royal palace, Swedish Academy (the Nobel people) and picture-perfect cobbled alleyways from the 1700s. Just to the south is Sodermalm, the "Brooklyn" of Stockholm, where the normal people live and drink, and just to the east is Djurgården, a royal family-owned island that is home to a massive Viking museum (and restored ship), a circus, an amusement park and, yes, the Abba Museum.
The roasted celeriac at Oaxen provides just one example of why this may be the best restaurant in the world.
(Oaxen)
Djurgården also boasts Oaxen, which may be the best restaurant in the world right now. From their modern rebuilt boat slip, owners Magnus Ek and Agneta Green and head chef Emil Grönlund, churn out mind-blowing Swedish and Swedish fusion dishes. A typical meal starts with "snacks" such as house-smoked pork belly over Jerusalem artichoke puree, Hen-of-the-wood mushroom with pickled onions, and a pork-trimming croquette that may be the best single bite I've ever taken.
The meal at Oaxen starts with whimsy, in this case, pork belly and artichokes served on a branch.
Another starter at Oaxen, smoked mouse heart with pickled zucchini, is served on a soft pad.
(Gersh Kuntzman)
The meal at Oaxen starts with whimsy, in this case, pork belly and artichokes served on a branch (left) and smoked mouse heart with pickled zucchini served on a soft pad.
The rest of the meal builds a palace on that strong foundation: a sublime beef tartare; grilled celeriac hunks served with roe and fermented whey; Swedish squid with anchovy-parsley-garlic potatoes that are fishy but not too fishy and garlicky but not too garlicky; venison loin with crispy kale and rich chestnuts; a lamb neck with black kale, apples and mushrooms that is like an atomic bomb of flavor.
If you are only in Stockholm for three hours, this is where you should spend it. You can listen to Abba when you get home and there are more than enough pictures of the Swedish royal palace online. A meal like this comes once in a decade.
If you go:
Fly
SAS offers flights to Kiruna via Stockholm that start at $1,000, but can rise to $1,800 depending on dates. The service is impeccable.
Stay
Icehotel, Marknadsvägen 63, 981 91 Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, +46 (0) 980 668 00, www.icehotel.com
Abisko Mountain Station, 981 07 Abisko, Sweden, www.visitabisko.com/accommodation/stf-abisko-mountain-station/
Björkliden Fjällby, +46 (0) 980 641 00, bjorkliden.com/en
Camp Ripan, Campingvägen 5, 981 35 Kiruna, Sweden, +46 980 630 00, ripan.se/en/
See
Northern Lights hunting at the Abisko Sky Station. Info at www.auroraskystation.se/en
Learn about native Sami culture. Info at www.sapmilife.com
Skiing (Feb-May) and dogsledding at Björkliden Fjällby
The 412th annual winter market in Jokkmokks (Feb. 1-5) features hundreds of native vendors and activities. Info at www.jokkmokksmarknad.se
Eat
Arctic theme dinners at Abisko Sky Station, Camp Ripan and Icehotel
Spis restaurant, Bergmästaregatan 7, 981 33 Kiruna, Sweden, +46 980 170 00, www.spiskiruna.se
Oaxen Krog and Slip, Beckholmsvägen 26, 115 21 Stockholm, Sweden, +46 8 551 531 05, oaxen.com/en/
Tours
Off the Map Travel, +44 0800 566 8901 or info@offthemaptravel.co.uk. Info at www.offthemaptravel.co.uk
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