Editors' choiceCappadocia, Turkey
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Photos: bjaglin from Lund, Sweden, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0); Laplandish, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Stephan Herz (User:Stephan_Herz), Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5); L'Astorina, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Markus Bernet, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Swedish Lapland, Sweden
ICEHOTEL
The world's first ice hotel: every winter artists from around the world rebuild it from the ice of the Torne River.
ICEHOTEL is in the village of Jukkasjärvi in northern Sweden, about 17 km from Kiruna. It is the world's first ice hotel: it first opened in 1990 and has been rebuilt every year since, from December to April, out of snow and ice from the Torne River.
Artists are invited to design the rooms; the temperature inside stays at around −5 °C. The gallery shows rooms from past seasons — the interiors are new every year.
History
In 1989 Japanese ice sculptors worked in Jukkasjärvi, and in spring 1990 the French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in an igloo. One night there were no beds left in town, and visitors asked to sleep in the igloo in sleeping bags on reindeer skins — they became the “hotel's” first guests.
Interiors
Every season brings new art suites, an ice bar and a hall with ice columns.
Who it suits
For an unusual winter trip, the northern lights and art lovers.
What to see nearby
- Kiruna.
- Abisko National Park — the northern lights.
Location
Marknadsvägen 63, 981 91 Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
Open in Yandex MapsChecked by our editors: 28 October 2026.
Sources:
Wikipedia (EN); Official website; photos — Wikimedia Commons (free licences, authors credited under the photos)
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