18Icehotel
Icehotel
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
Every winter the river becomes a hotel. Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, about 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, is rebuilt each season from ice harvested from the Torne River, and each year a new group of artists and designers carves its art suites by hand.
When spring comes the seasonal building melts back into the river. Since 2016 a permanent structure, Icehotel 365, has kept ice rooms open all year, chilled with energy from solar panels during the long summer days.
Guests usually split their stay. A night or two on reindeer hides in a room at minus five degrees, then warm rooms and cabins elsewhere on the site. Northern lights, dog sledding and the small village church fill the hours between.