Info about Ice Hotel

Nobody would ever have heard of - let alone visited - the little village of Jukkasjärvi in the Swedish part of Lapland were it not for the extraordinary hotel of ice and snow which is built there every year. In Sami, the indigenous language of Lapland, "Jukkasjärvi" means something like meeting point, a function which this former Sami village had for over 500 years. Today, the village remains true to its name, although it is principally tourists from all over the world who gather here now to marvel at and perhaps even stay at the Ice Hotel that is built here every winter.

Jukkasjärvi belongs to the city of Kiruna and is located about 200 km north of the Polar Circle. Kiruna, the northernmost and - if judged by surface area - largest city in Sweden nestles in a varied landscape of forests, moors, glaciers, tundra and high mountains. The Kebnekaise peak, the highest mountain in Sweden at 2111m, is just outside the city. The region has an Arctic climate with a long, cold winter and a short summer. In winter, the temperatures can drop to -50°C , but July sometimes sees the thermometer soar to + 33°C.

Owing to its extreme northern location, it is an ideal spot to witness the phenomenal "midnight sun" or the polar day, when for 2 weeks between May 27th and July 14th, the sun literally doesn't set. Winter therefore sees the opposite phenomenon - the polar night, when the sun disappears for two weeks. However, even then, it doesn't get completely dark as all available light is reflected by the snow, and the Northern sky of stars and the Northern lights appear in all their brilliance.

This is the place with the longest winter in Sweden, characterised by bitter cold, metre upon metre of snow, the magical Northern lights and lakes and rivers covered with a thick layer of ice. The ski slopes open as early as October - the perfect place for an ice hotel.

P/s: Price per night: up to $ 500. Lolz..so expensive!!