In December 2000 Ruth and I took a six day holiday to the Ice Hotel at Jukkas järvi, northern Sweden. Temperatures swung wildly from -25°c to -2°c, following a late freeze that meant the hotel was being built at lightning speed while we were there.

We spent a couple of full days snowmobiling, wondering at countryside that looked like Narnia; we went out on a dogsled and spent a day learning about Sami culture. We fed on reindeer meat - seemingly the staple diet of Lapland, breakfast smörgåsbords and Absolut vodka.

And we spent a night in the Ice Hotel itself - toasty warm in our sleeping bag, despite the -5°c of our room. The hotel's suites were in construction, thirteen planned in total, and you can see a few of them on the following pages.

The rest of the time we spent in an Aurora cabin, with a glass panel in the roof. The northern lights are truly beautiful - if waftier than we had expected - a magical and unforgettable experience, beyond our capacity to capture on camera.

We hope you enjoy this photographic tour.

All pictures taken with a Sony DSC-F55E Cybershot at 1856x1392 pixels (reduced for this site). The colours are real!
Links: The Head-Space Project, Felix's home page, The Ice Hotel