Every year, when the frost sets in, a team of builders and ice sculptors at Sinettä packs snow over moulds to raise a hotel on the shore of Lake Lehtojärvi. By about mid-December it is ready: corridors, vaulted bedrooms with beds of ice, decorated suites, a restaurant with ice tables, a bar, a chapel. By April it has begun to sag, and by summer it has melted back into the lake.
You do not have to sleep here to see it. The Arctic SnowHotel takes day visitors, serves dinner in the ice restaurant, and has a year-round restaurant and lakeside saunas alongside. Next to the snow building is a village of heated glass igloos — the more comfortable way to spend a night under the northern sky. The easiest visit is a tour with transfer from Rovaniemi.
What to see and do: Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos
Tour the snow hotel
Day visitors can walk through the snow rooms and suites, each carved with a different theme by the sculptors, and see the chapel, where weddings are held. The interior stays a few degrees below freezing whatever the temperature outside — so it can feel almost mild when it is −25 °C on the lake.
Eat in the ice restaurant, drink at the ice bar
The restaurant seats guests at tables of ice on benches spread with reindeer hides, for a set menu of Lappish dishes. Drinks at the ice bar are served in glasses made of ice. Dinner should be reserved in advance; tours that include it are available.
Spend a night in the snow
Overnight guests sleep in thick, expedition-grade sleeping bags on mattresses laid over ice beds. It is quiet, dark and less cold than you fear. Warm rooms, showers and luggage storage are in the main building, and it is perfectly acceptable to retreat there in the night.
Sleep in a glass igloo
The glass igloos are heated, with proper beds and a small bathroom, and a roof of thermal glass that stays clear of frost. They are fitted with an aurora alarm that wakes you if the northern lights appear. They cost a good deal more than an ordinary hotel room and sell out early for the winter months.
The snow sauna and lakeside saunas
The SnowHotel is known for a sauna built of snow — hot steam inside walls of ice — along with more conventional lakeside saunas and outdoor hot tubs. These are booked separately.
How to get to Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos
- The SnowHotel is at Lehtoahontie in Sinettä, about 26 kilometres north-west of Rovaniemi — half an hour by road.
- There is no convenient public bus. The hotel runs its own paid transfers, and guided visits with hotel pickup are the simplest option for day visitors.
- Drivers take road 79 towards Kittilä and turn off at Sinettä; roads are well ploughed but icy, and it is dark for most of the winter day.
Insider tips
- The snow hotel is generally open from about mid-December to the end of March. The glass igloos have a longer season. Check exact dates for your year.
- Away from the city’s lights, the frozen lake in front of the hotel is a good place to watch for the aurora. An evening visit with dinner gives you a chance of both.
- If you want to sleep in snow but also want comfort, split a two-night stay: one night in a snow room, one in a glass igloo.
- Compare all of Rovaniemi’s igloos and cabins in our where to stay guide.
Best tours & tickets for Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos
These top-rated experiences pair well with a visit to Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos:
Guided visit with transfer from €37 Rovaniemi: Arctic SnowHotel Visit
A visit to the hotel that is built from snow and ice each winter beside a lake at Sinettä, about half an hour from Rovaniemi. You tour the carved rooms, the ice restaurant and the chapel, and can try the ice bar. Open only in the snow season, roughly mid-December to the end of March.
- Snow rooms, ice sculptures and an ice bar
- Rebuilt from scratch every winter
- Transfer to Sinettä included
Private dining experience from €145 Rovaniemi: Private Lappish Dinner in an Aurora Igloo
If you are not sleeping in a glass igloo, this is a way to borrow one for an evening. A private, heated glass dome is set for dinner, with a menu built on northern ingredients. Aurora cannot be promised, but the setting is memorable on any clear night.
- A glass-roofed igloo to yourselves
- Lappish menu
- Sky views while you eat
Small-group aurora hunt by minibus from €70 Rovaniemi: Northern Lights Tour with Guarantee & Photos
Rovaniemi’s most-booked aurora tour, with well over 4,000 reviews. Instead of waiting at one fixed spot, the guides study the cloud and solar forecasts and drive — sometimes a long way — to find a gap in the weather. The listing carries the operator’s guarantee if no lights are seen; check exactly what it covers before you book.
- Guides drive to wherever the sky is clearest
- Photos of you under the aurora included
- Operator’s sighting guarantee — read the terms
Sauna experience from €80 Rovaniemi: Traditional Sauna and Ice Swimming Experience
The most Finnish thing you can do. You heat up in a traditional sauna, then — if you dare — lower yourself into the water through a hole in the ice, and repeat. Hosts explain the etiquette. Nobody is obliged to swim, and most people who do are glad they did.
- Traditional Finnish sauna
- Optional dip in a hole in the ice
- Rated 4.9
