Icehotel 365 Guide: Choosing Ice Suites in Swedish Lapland

Where Icehotel 365 sits in Jukkasjärvi

The hotel stands at Marknadsvägen 63 in Jukkasjärvi, on the banks of the Torne River and roughly 200 km north of the Arctic Circle according to Icehotel's own description. Kiruna is the nearest town and airport, and Icehotel runs transfers from it, so you can land in the afternoon and be in an ice suite the same evening without renting a car. The village itself is small and walkable, with the river and open country immediately beyond the buildings.

That position matters for aurora hunters: high latitude means long dark nights from late August into early April, and stepping away from the lit hotel area puts you under a wide, unobstructed sky. You do not need to reach a distant viewpoint, though a guided chase can add flexibility if cloud sits over the village. For a broader look at where to base yourself across the region, see our guide to the northern lights in sweden. If you are weighing a Finnish base instead, our guide to the northern lights in Finnish Lapland covers the same decision across the border.

Icehotel 365 versus Icehotel Winter

Icehotel runs two distinct ice products, and booking the right one matters. Icehotel Winter is the original ephemeral hotel, rebuilt each season from Torne River ice and open December to April, with standard ice rooms and individually carved art suites. Icehotel 365 is the permanent, solar-cooled hall that has offered ice sleeping every day of the year since 2017, which is the version to choose outside the winter months.

Guests sleeping in Icehotel 365 also have access to the winter ice hotel while it stands, so a December-to-April visit can combine both buildings. Our Icehotel Sweden Guide walks through the full site, while this page focuses on the year-round hall and how to slot it into an aurora trip. If your dates fall between December 1 and April, staying flexible about which ice building you sleep in widens your room choice.

Art Suites 365 and Deluxe Suites 365

Every suite in Icehotel 365 is hand-built from ice and snow by invited artists, and by day the rooms double as an art exhibition before reverting to bedrooms after dark. The Art Suite 365 is the core product: a sculpted cold room with access to toilets in the hall and lockable storage in Riverside Lobby. Expect to sleep on an ice bed dressed with a warm expedition sleeping bag and reindeer skins rather than a conventional mattress setup.

Deluxe Suite 365 is the upgrade, adding a private heated relaxation area with shower and toilet in Johka. Hilla goes further with a sauna, and Jáuvre pairs a sauna with a bathtub, so the extra spend buys warmth and privacy a few steps from your ice bed rather than a bigger sleeping space. If you dislike the idea of crossing a cold corridor at night, the deluxe rooms are the practical choice.

Sleeping at minus five degrees

The hall holds a constant indoor temperature of minus five degrees Celsius, colder than any normal hotel room but far milder than a Lapland night outside. Icehotel supplies a warm expedition sleeping bag and reindeer skins on each ice bed, and a morning sauna and shower plus warm lingonberry juice follow the cold night. Read the hotel's own how-does-it-work and how-to-dress pages before you arrive so the cold hour or two before sleep feels routine.

Bathrooms and warm space

Art Suite 365 guests use shared toilets inside the hall and store belongings in lockable space at Riverside Lobby, the warm building beside the hotel where day tickets are also sold. Deluxe guests stay warmer still: Johka has its own shower and toilet, Hilla adds a sauna, and Jáuvre includes a sauna and bathtub within a private relaxation area. The pattern across all room types is a cold sleeping space paired with somewhere warm to change and wash.

ICEBAR by Icehotel

ICEBAR by Icehotel sits inside Icehotel 365, serving champagne and cocktails in glasses carved from Torne River ice in a room kept below zero. It is the original of the brand's ice bars, with a second location in Stockholm, so the Jukkasjärvi version is the one tied to the river and the hotel's history. Treat it as an hour of the evening rather than the whole night, then move to warm space before your cold sleep.

Warm rooms and cabins on site

Icehotel's warm accommodation runs year-round in separate buildings of six to eight hotel rooms sharing an entrance, alongside cabins grouped on the hotel grounds. Options include Kaamos hotel rooms, superior and deluxe rooms and Arctic cabins, which give you a heated base for the nights either side of a cold one. Icehotel's own recommendation is one night cold and a couple of nights warm, booking the cold room first or last so you change rooms only once.

Winter aurora nights versus summer light

From December the winter ice hotel is rebuilt and packages such as ICEHOTEL Northern Lights Winter and the three-day Icehotel Winter Package open from December 1, timed to the dark months when the aurora can appear. Those weeks bring short daylight, snow and the best odds of a dark, clear sky, though cloud can settle over the Torne valley for days at a time. Book a guided night drive or snowmobile chase as backup rather than relying on the sky above the hotel.

In summer the hall is cooled by a solar array covering 875 square metres, capturing the continuous daylight of May to July and converting it into cooling power. The midnight sun shines over Jukkasjärvi for 47 days each summer, so you get ice art and 24-hour light rather than aurora. Sleeping on ice in July is a curiosity and a design story, not a northern lights trip.

Pairing the ice night with winter activities

Icehotel's activity programme covers dog sledding, snowmobiling and other wilderness outings, with thermal gear and transport handled by Icehotel's own guides, letting you build a full day around a cold night. Packages bundle accommodation, activities and breakfast, which suits travellers who would rather not stitch together bookings from Kiruna. For a sense of what a wider winter itinerary looks like across the region, see swedish lapland in winter.

Guided aurora chases from Kiruna typically run in the evening and can drive toward clearer sky when cloud covers the village, while snowmobile and sled tours combine transport with dark-sky stops. If you want the widest choice of operators and dates, compare swedish lapland northern lights tours before committing to a package.

Where to watch the aurora around Jukkasjärvi

After a night in the ice, the easiest aurora watching is a short walk from the lit buildings toward the river bank and open ground, where the sky opens up without a long drive. Kiruna's surrounding forest and lakes give more horizon and less light pollution, and operators know the local road network for cloud dodging. Further afield, Abisko National Park is the region's classic clear-sky base if the forecast over Jukkasjärvi stays stubbornly cloudy.

Day visits and tickets

You do not have to sleep cold to see the suites: day visitors can buy entry tickets at Riverside Lobby, next to the hotel, and walk the ice art while the rooms are on display. Pair a day ticket with a drink at ICEBAR for a short, warm-coated introduction to the ice hotel before deciding whether to book a night. Check the tickets and opening hours page on Icehotel's site for current times on your date.

How many nights to plan

Give yourself at least three nights in Jukkasjärvi or Kiruna, with one cold night at Icehotel 365 and the rest warm, so a cloudy first evening does not end your chances. Aurora depends on solar activity and clear skies, and a multi-night stay simply gives you more rolls of the dice. If you want more context on the site and its seasons, the Icehotel Jukkasjärvi page covers the full picture.

Who Icehotel 365 suits

The year-round hall suits travellers who want the ice-suite story without committing to deep winter dates, and couples who prefer privacy, since Deluxe Suite 365 adds a heated bathroom and, in Hilla or Jáuvre, a sauna. It also works for a summer visitor curious about ice art under the midnight sun. Choose Icehotel Winter instead if you want the ephemeral, newly built hotel and the darkest aurora nights.

Travellers who feel the cold, or who want maximum aurora time with minimum discomfort, may prefer a warm cabin on site with a day visit to the suites, or a smaller aurora camp elsewhere in Swedish Lapland. A Jokkmokk winter market stop can add a Sámi cultural thread to a longer northern trip.

Cost versus comfort

Icehotel does not publish room rates in its core pages, so compare Art Suite 365 and Deluxe Suite 365 prices on the booking page for your dates, where package inclusions such as activities and breakfast affect the total. Budget for warm nights as well as the cold one, since Icehotel's own guidance is one cold night plus several warm. Deluxe rooms cost more but buy back comfort with private bathrooms and saunas.

Plan Your Ice Night

Book Icehotel 365 for one night and surround it with warm accommodation, ideally placing the cold night first or last so you only change rooms once. Add a guided aurora chase as backup and keep three nights or more in the area so cloud over the Torne valley is not the end of the story. Check the tickets and opening hours page on Icehotel's site for current dates and prices before you book.