Snow hotels and ice bars have had a moment in recent years; a selfie of oneself tipping back a cold one on a frozen barstool or sleeping on a slab of ice is, say it with me: COOL. Maybe even a souvenir for the grandkids for the glacier-free future. But what if you don’t want to travel to the Arctic in winter? The Kirkenes Snow Hotel — aka Snowhotel Kirkenes 365 — has you covered. This ice hotel is open all summer as well as all winter.
In the far-north hamlet of Kirkenes, Norway — just a few miles from the Russian border — you can check into the Snow Hotel any night of the year. No doubt motivated in part by climate change, the management built themselves an insulated igloo-like structure to keep the ice cold vibes going when the long Arctic winter finally ends.
How to visit the Kirkenes Snow Hotel in Norway
Is there anything to do at Kirkenes’ ice hotel other than try to sleep in a refrigerated room and then say you did it? Actually, yes. The hotel offers a number of activities and excursions in all seasons. They even have nonfrozen lodging, called Gamme cabins. In this post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about visiting the Snowhotel Kirkenes, in summer or winter.
What’s the snow hotel like?
First of all, let’s take a look at these brisk accommodations. When you first enter the snowhotel, you’ll step into an anteroom where you get issued a pair of boots with spikes. That’s your first warning that the ambience inside the snow bar and the snow hotel is going to be frigid. This heated room is also where you’ll find the toilets, showers and sauna for the overnight guests.
Wearing your boots so you won’t slip on the frozen floor, you step into the freezer that will be your hotel for the night. No good hotel is without a great hotel bar, and the snow hotel is no exception. The bar is the first thing you see when you enter the snowtel. It’s beautiful, with clear ice tables illuminated from within and a huge reindeer head sculpture. You can have a drink in the ice bar whether you are visiting the snowhotel for the day or staying overnight. However, the place won’t always be hopping. On the day we visited, the barroom was empty, and to get a drink there, we would have to ask staff from the restaurant upstairs to boot up and make it for us.
From the bar, you proceed down a hallway, lit by globes of ice with lights embedded in them. Doorways — with curtains for doors — lead to the sleeping rooms, each with different themes and decor. In each room stands a double bed made of solid ice. One room is a honeymoon suite, with a swan bed of carved ice. But don’t expect to get too romantic there; couples who sleep in the ice chambers each snuggle in their own separate mummy style sleeping bag. And remember: The rooms don’t have doors.
The final room of the ice hotel is a grandiose “Santa’s Workshop,” complete with ice sculptures of a Christmas tree, a sleigh you can sit on, a fireplace and elves.
Overall, the inside of the ice hotel was beautiful and creative — and quite cold.
How do you sleep in a snow hotel, anyway?
During my tour, I took off my boots and lay down on one of the ice beds. With a mattress set into a hollow at the top of the slab, and a thick sheepskin over that, it felt surprisingly comfortable.
If you’re thinking about staying overnight in an ice room, the property made a helpful video showing you how to stay warm overnight. Basically, you put on long johns, woolen socks and a balaclava, then slip inside a cotton sleep sack that goes inside your sleeping bag. Once you’re zipped in, you’re supposed to move your arms and legs around to create body heat inside the bag. This is supposed to keep you cozy all night. In the morning, you get to hit the sauna.
I like sleeping in a cold room, so I don’t doubt I could get warm and cozy in the Snow Hotel. My biggest fear would be having to use the bathroom during the night!
The fact that we were able to tour all the rooms in the snow hotel gives you a clue that these rooms are not used like normal hotel rooms. You go to bed there in the evening, try to sleep all night, then leave as soon as you wake up in the morning. You don’t bring a lot of stuff in there. And it doesn’t appear that most people sleep there more than one night.
Should you visit the ice hotel in winter or summer?
If you visit in summer — like we did — the temperature for your whole visit will of course be a lot more pleasant. Not only that, but the Midnight sun — the sun never sets up there in summer — means you will have lots of daylight hours to enjoy yourself outdoors. If you visit in winter — which stretches from October through April — you’ll get an authentic feel for the extremes of the Arctic.
The experience of sleeping inside the ice hotel should be the same, summer or winter. However, outside the snow hotel, the summer activities are limited compared to the wintertime activities.
Winter activities
- Dogsledding. The chance to mush a team of huskies is the inspiration for many Arctic vacations. The Snowhotel has a bunch of huskies on property, and offers the chance to ride in a sled behind the musher on a 10km jaunt over frozen fjords. It sounds amazing. And guess what? You can even get picked up at the airport by dogsled.
- Ice fishing. Ride out onto the frozen fjord and help pull crab traps up through the ice. Then you return to the hotel restaurant, where you see the crabs prepared. And then you eat them. Heck, yeah.
- Snowmobiling, snowshoeing, snow play. Bascially all the things you can do in the snow anywhere else, you can also do at Snowhotel 360 during the long winter season.
- Viewing the Northern Lights. When I returned from my summer trip to Norway, lots of people asked me if I saw the Northern Lights. Well, no. You can only see the Northern Lights in winter up there, because it doesn’t get dark on summer nights.
Summer activities
- Dogsledding — on wheels. Huskies need to train year round, and if you’re lucky, you could participate. You ride in the cart while the expert musher drives the huskies down the road. But don’t set your heart on it: If it’s over 12 degrees Celcius (about 53 degrees Fahrenheit), it’s too hot for the furry puppers to pull.
- Fishing boat excursion. When the fjord is frozen solid, of course you can’t get out on the water. So if getting those crab by boat sounds more fun than getting them from a hole in the ice, then maybe a summer visit is for you.
- Hike with huskies. Just like other dogs, huskies need exercise when they’re not mushing. The Kirkenes Snowhotel figured out a way to get guests to pay for the privilege of walking their dogs for them. Once a day on fine summer days, they run a Husky Mountain Hike, where you can take a trek with a husky on a leash.
Anytime activities
There are a few things you should be able to do whether you roll up ot the snow hotel in January or July:
- Take a self-guided tour. This most basic ticket — for NOK300, or about $27 — allows you to walk around, see the dogs and reindeer, and walk through the snow hotel on your own.
- Do the guided tour. A hotel tour may not sound exciting, but it’s actually pretty great, especially if you only have an hour or two to visit. Meet adorable husky puppies as well as adult dogs. I was surprised at how gentle the working huskies were. Feed lichen to the reindeer, which are leased from their only legal owners, the Sami. Walk through the snow hotel with your guide, have a drink at the bar, enjoy the bucolic views, and shop in the gift shop.
- Eat. They also offer a guided tour that comes with dinner in the beautiful restaurant. Or, you can reserve a table for lunch or dinner without a tour. The menu includes the dishes you would expect — king crab, arctic char, stockfish and even whale meat.
Beyond the snow park — exploring Kirkenes
Snowhotel 360 is located a good distance from downtown Kirkenes, but whether you are staying at the snow park or in town, the company will transfer you from one place to another. The company that owns the snow hotel basically runs the whole tourism scene in this tiny town. So even if you never set foot in the snow park, you may end up joining a Snowhotel-guided excursion.
- Andersgrotta. Located so close to the Russian border, Kirkenes suffered relentless bombing during World War II. Locals took refuge underground at the Andersgrotta shelter, now the home of a fascinating tour.
- Sami experience. The Sami are people native to the northern sections of Scandinavia and Russia, totally separate from the dominate populations in those countries. The Snowhotel will bring you to meet a Sami artist who will introduce you to reindeer and welcome you inside a traditional tent where you can learn about his culture. I attended a Sami experience in a different arctic Norwegian town and found it really enjoyable and interesting.
- Kirkenes home visit. What’s it like to live in a small town so far north of the arctic circle? The Snowhotel will bring you by the home of some locals to find out.
- Visit the Russian border. I don’t see a Russian border bus trip listed on the Snowhotel site right now, but Havila still lists it as a possible excursion. Russians and Norwegians used to cross back and forth here a lot, to take advantage of cheaper gas on the Russian side and Western goods on the Norwegian side. But since the war in Ukraine began, crossings have declined steeply.
How to get to Kirkenes and the Snow Hotel
Most foreign visitors probably end up in Kirkenes on cruise ships run by either Hurtigruten or Havila. That’s how I got there. The ship docks a short walk from downtown Kirkenes. If you happen to fly to Kirkenes, the airport is 4 miles from downtown. On weekdays, you can take a public bus from the airport to downtown. On Sundays, you’ll have to take an expensive taxi.
From downtown, it’s over 10 miles to the Snowhotel. Most people get there in one of the company’s vans, for a fee. You can contact the Snowhotel or, if you’re staying downtown, ask your own hotel, to arrange a transfer. If you haven’t planned ahead, you may be able to catch a ride from Andersgrotta just after their tour. That’s actually what we ended up doing.
Is it worth staying overnight in Kirkenes?
A lot of Hurtigruten and Havila passengers go straight from the ship to the airport, missing out on Kirkenes entirely. I would recommend staying at one night! For one thing, when are you going to be this far north again? Take a moment to take it in.
For another, Kirkenes is a charming and interesting village. Walking around, we noticed the Russian church. We met two different Syrian refugees who both had intersting stories to share about how — to their surprised — they ended up settling in this remote outpost. We saw reindeer strolling through parking lots. We took the fascinating tour of Andersgrotta.
Beyond the town, I’m really glad we made the trip to the Snow Hotel. Even though I didn’t go on any excursions — this time — I loved meeting the puppies, dogs and reindeer, and the hotel and ice bar were fascinating to see. Next time, whether it’s summer or winter, I’d love to stay at least one night in a frozen room. And if it’s winter, I want to go dogsledding!