The four buildings in this section are made of snow and ice. Each one stands for a single winter and is built again from the beginning the following year, so no plan survives from season to season. Where an operator also runs heated buildings on the same ground, that is said in the entry rather than left implied.
Tromsø Ice Domes stand in Tamokdalen, a valley inland from Tromsø with mountains on both sides. The structures are domes of snow and ice, raised on the valley floor for the winter season and gone by summer. Everything on the site is built again from the beginning each year, so no two winters produce the same plan.
The domes hold sleeping chambers, a bar and a dining space, with carved work on the walls that is also cut anew each season. Beds are raised platforms with insulating layers and sleeping bags intended for the conditions, as the operator describes them. Heated service buildings on the site hold washrooms and changing rooms, which the ice structures do not.
Ask the operator when the domes are open in the winter season and what the transfer from Tromsø involves, as no dates are promised here. Ask also what is provided for sleeping and what you should bring, and how the heated buildings are used through the night.
Category Ice Hotels•Location Tamokdalen, Troms•Checked September 2031
3.2
SnowCastle of Kemi
Kemi, Finland
The SnowCastle is built each winter on the shore of the Bay of Bothnia at Kemi, in the harbour area of the town. It is a fortress of packed snow with walls, towers and courtyards, and its plan is drawn fresh every year before building begins. When the thaw comes the whole structure is taken down and the ground returns to the harbour.
Inside the winter castle there are sleeping chambers, a chapel and a restaurant with tables and benches cut from snow and ice. The same operator runs a separate snow building on the site that is refrigerated and stands through the year, together with heated accommodation nearby, so the winter castle is not the only part of the property.
Ask which parts are open on your dates, since the winter castle and the year-round building follow different calendars. Ask also how washing and changing are arranged, what bedding is supplied, and whether the restaurant serves guests who are not staying overnight.
Category Ice Hotels•Location Kemi, Lapland•Checked September 2031
3.3
Arctic SnowHotel
Rovaniemi, Finland
Arctic SnowHotel sits at Lehtojärvi, west of Rovaniemi, on a lake shore among pine forest. The snow building is a winter structure: it is raised at the start of each cold season, used while the temperature holds, and lost in the spring. Its corridors and chambers are cut from packed snow, and the plan is set anew each year.
The snow building holds sleeping chambers, an ice restaurant and a chapel. Glass igloos on the same site are not made of snow at all: they are heated cabins with glazed roofs, and the operator runs them alongside the snow building. Saunas and heated service buildings stand nearby and are where guests of the snow rooms wash and change.
Say clearly when you write whether you mean the snow building or a heated glass cabin, because they are different products on one site. Ask when the snow building is open in the winter season, what sleeping equipment is provided, and how the sauna and washrooms are scheduled.
Category Ice Hotels•Location Lehtojärvi, Rovaniemi•Checked September 2031
3.4
Hotel of Ice at Bâlea Lac
Făgăraș Mountains, Romania
The Hotel of Ice stands beside Bâlea Lac, a glacial lake high in the Făgăraș Mountains of central Romania. Blocks are cut from the frozen lake and used to build the walls and vaults, and the work starts again from nothing each winter once the ice is thick enough. The building lasts until the spring melt takes it.
The structure holds sleeping chambers, a bar and a dining room, all cut from ice and snow, with a small chapel built alongside in some years. Beds are ice platforms laid with insulation, furs and sleeping bags. A permanent chalet operates at the lake through the year and provides heated rooms, washing facilities and meals.
Access in winter depends on the weather and on the cable car that serves the lake, and both are matters for the operator rather than this page. Ask when the ice building is open, how you are expected to reach the lake on your dates, and what is provided for the night.
Category Ice Hotels•Location Bâlea Lac, Sibiu county•Checked September 2031
An independent reference, unconnected with any operator named here. Snow and ice buildings work only in the winter season and are raised anew each year, so no dates are promised on this page. Details come from open sources and change; the site sells nothing and books nothing. Ask the operator directly.
