ice hotel and northern lights

ecclesto

Has anyone been to see Northern lights and stayed at the Icehotel. I would like to go the end of February but don't know if this is the best time to see the lights and stay at the hotel. Anyone any good sites to book through

bilty

We stayed at the ice hotel 3 years ago, booked through a company called http://www.kirunaguidetur.com We stayed in a nearby hotel in kiruna for 4 days then 1 night in the ice hotel. Unfortunatly we didnt get to see the northern lights when we were there. well worth the trip.

welshmoneylover

bilty wrote: »

We stayed at the ice hotel 3 years ago, booked through a company called http://www.kirunaguidetur.com We stayed in a nearby hotel in kiruna for 4 days then 1 night in the ice hotel. Unfortunatly we didnt get to see the northern lights when we were there. well worth the trip.

Was it berluddy cold when you stayed in the hotel?

poe.tuesday

seen the northern lights but not stayed in an ice hotel, if want to do it reasonably cheap look at going to saariselka in northern finland with inghams - do not go half term and wait for a deal as they will be about and then book to stay a night at http://kakslauttanen.fi/en/accommodation/

you could also go on with inghams to yllas or levi and they stay in this place http://www.snowvillage.fi/

I think that you will find it very expensive just to go for a few nights in an ice hotel, better to go for a cheapy last min deal with inghams to finland (which will be for a week and have flights and accommodation) and then book to stay a night or so in the ice hotels

if you are going to push the boat out you could also look to go on the sampo icebreaker http://www.sampotours.com/pages/kielet/english/icebreaker.php?lang=FI , it is near kemi which is some distance from the above mentioned resorts, however, I believe that there is also an ice castle near kemi http://www.snowcastle.net/en/ so you could look at going to that area instead but you will not be able to do it with inghams, you will have to do it independently

feb is a good time to go as the snow is plentiful, the more north you go the better the chance of seeing the northern lights but there is no guarantee that you will see them, I have been to finland 5 times and only seen them once ;-( they days are also longer in feb too so you are not in twilight all the time

as for the cold, it can vary from day to day, we have only ever gone in the winter and have had days of 0 and then down to -29, it does get bitter at that temp but anything down to -17 or so is easy to deal with, it is a dry cold so it does not feel as cold as the wet UK at -2 - layering is the most important thing - look here on info on what to wear https://www.lapland.fruitbandit.com


good luck

bilty

welshmoneylover wrote: »

Was it berluddy cold when you stayed in the hotel?

they will provide outdoor clothing for you so if wrapped up and wearing plenty of layers it didnt feel cold.

motherofstudents

I bought a trip to finland for my son for his 21st birthday and his brother went with him. I had been looking for a few months but finally chose Inghams as they were so much cheaper. They went to Saariselka and saw the northern lights which they said was absolutely brilliant. they had some bad snow storms one day so couldn't do the snowboarding lessons but got extra the next day. Temperatures were around -20C which was ok they said. The only downside for them was that the cost of living is very high and at their age that means it cost a lot when they went into bars. The snowmobiles were good and husky rides.

poe.tuesday

tax on food in finland has come down from 22 % to 13 so the cost is now a lot less which is a good thing

emwar

Hi!
I my opinion the Snorrisniva Igloo ice hotel in Alta, Northern Norway is a much nicer place than the one in Northern Sweden.
(This is where JOanna Lumley stayed when she was in Norway for that Northern LIghts documentary!)
Not only is it further north (better for northern lights) but also many packages include cruises along the Norwegian coast, visits to the North Cape (the most northern point in mainland Europe) and sometimes also Tromso, which is a great little city with loads of stuff to do and a lively nightlife.
At snorrisniva there are loads of activities such as reindeer racing, snowmobiling and dog sledding - so should the northern lights fail to show up, you would still have had a great time. the rooms are amazing - all ice!! so cool! LIterally!
There are loads of package deals available from the UK, and you just really have to find out what activities/places you want to include and how long you want to go for, but on the iGlobetrotter.com website there is a good overview of northern lights package holidays from different providers. (sorry, wasn't allowed to post the link! - hope you can find it still!)

Good Luck!!

richardc1983

poe.tuesday wrote: »

seen the northern lights but not stayed in an ice hotel, if want to do it reasonably cheap look at going to saariselka in northern finland with inghams - do not go half term and wait for a deal as they will be about and then book to stay a night at http://kakslauttanen.fi/en/accommodation/

you could also go on with inghams to yllas or levi and they stay in this place http://www.snowvillage.fi/

I think that you will find it very expensive just to go for a few nights in an ice hotel, better to go for a cheapy last min deal with inghams to finland (which will be for a week and have flights and accommodation) and then book to stay a night or so in the ice hotels

if you are going to push the boat out you could also look to go on the sampo icebreaker http://www.sampotours.com/pages/kielet/english/icebreaker.php?lang=FI , it is near kemi which is some distance from the above mentioned resorts, however, I believe that there is also an ice castle near kemi http://www.snowcastle.net/en/ so you could look at going to that area instead but you will not be able to do it with inghams, you will have to do it independently

feb is a good time to go as the snow is plentiful, the more north you go the better the chance of seeing the northern lights but there is no guarantee that you will see them, I have been to finland 5 times and only seen them once ;-( they days are also longer in feb too so you are not in twilight all the time

as for the cold, it can vary from day to day, we have only ever gone in the winter and have had days of 0 and then down to -29, it does get bitter at that temp but anything down to -17 or so is easy to deal with, it is a dry cold so it does not feel as cold as the wet UK at -2 - layering is the most important thing - look here on info on what to wear www.lapland.fruitbandit.com


good luck

Great post... I really want to get something booked but not sure what to put in on the INghams website when searching. Is it a ski holiday or a santa holiday.

I like the kakslauttanen in the first link that looks great.

Not bothered about skiiing but the other activities look great... mainly wanting a winter wonderland to explore etc.

PLease help.;

Thank you.

poe.tuesday

go to the inghams site and put in ski and then put in lapland/finland as the resort and it will then bring up all the options - you will need to research your resport though as they are all very different

what do you think you want from this holiday and why type of resort eg village, rural, town etc

richardc1983

poe.tuesday wrote: »

go to the inghams site and put in ski and then put in lapland/finland as the resort and it will then bring up all the options - you will need to research your resport though as they are all very different

what do you think you want from this holiday and why type of resort eg village, rural, town etc

The kakslauttanen looks perfect it has lots of different activities, walking, trecking in the snow, huskies, riding the motorised snow mobiles, and also relaxation.

Kakslauttanen seems to cover most of that plus it looks lovely as well and I have read many good reviews of the place.