kacollier

Hi...does anyone have any personal experience of the Ice Hotel in Sweden? I was thinking of this for my husband's 50th birthday and would like to also do the dog sledding school and SAAB ice driving to make it extra special. Any experiences with the hotel or their sidetrips? Also, what would you feel are the minimum days you can take to visit from the US and still experience Sweden (we travel fast....). Thanks!

Kate

Fabulous, unforgettable experience. We spent just two nights at the Ice hotel, which is probably enough as by the time you've done the dog sledding and the skiddoos, you've pretty much done it all. However, we combined it with some other locations. We flew into Stockholm, spent a couple of nights there, flew up to Kiruna to go to the Ice Hotel, then flew back to Stockholm and then onto Helsinki for a few nights.

Incidently, this was from the UK, so I can't comment on you last question.

We found it was MUCH cheaper booking the flights and hotel separately rather than booking a package deal. By phoning SAS, we were able to buy some kind of rover ticket, which made our multiple flights within Scandinavia very reasonable.

Charley1965

Kate, we are planning a trip to the Ice Hotel (from London) for next December!

What time of year did you go? Glad you mentioned the SAS flights, because we plan to spend time in Stockholm before we fly to Kiruna too. I was thinking of flying Ryanair to one of the other Stockholm airports and just flying SAS from Stockholm to Kiruna. Did you find it comparable to fly with SAS for all the flights? Finally, did you book directly with the hotel for accomodation? I don't seem to be getting much response to my emails! Thanks

Kate

Hi Charley, sorry have only just seen your note.

Re: flights, I think it's worth phoning SAS to find out your best options. This is what I did, and it was the ticket seller on the phone who suggested the rover ticket. It apparently operates (or did - this was a few years ago) over a certain number of flights, so we ended up flying SAS the whole way.

I went on New Year's Day - my birthday is on the second, so I celebrated in the icebar at the Ice Hotel. Great fun.

I did book direct with the hotel for accomodation. We phoned them to confirm our booking (as they're Swedish they speak better English than we do).

The hotel itself is quite reasonable, but the extras soon stack up so be prepared - the meals aren't included and the restaurant is expensive. Wonderful food, however.

Charley1965

Thank you! Sorry for the delay....

The hotel has now replied to my email and said that rooms are bookable for next December already.

Thanks for the info regarding SAS. I will certainly check if they still have a rover ticket as it would be easier to do all the flights with them, price permitting of course.

The whole experience sounds amazing. I did tot up the excursion costs and they are more than the hotel costs, but it's an unforgettable experience and you cannot go there and not do the excursions. Also, can't imagine there's too much else to do there other than drink Vodka!

Did you see the Northern Lights?

I know exactly what you mean about the Swedish speaking English. I deal with a lady in Stockholm for work and her English is absolutely perfect (as are the Danes I deal with too).

Thanks again.

mbpalaver

Tomorrow's Washington Post Magazine has a story (and photo gallery) about the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden. It looks amazing -- though I don't know if I could last a whole night there.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...5?hpid=artslot