Norway Part 8: A Tour Around Kirkenes Snowhotel.

It is quite common to find hotels and restaurants that are constructed from snow and ice in places with very cold climate. Recently I visited one such hotel located many miles north of the Artic Circle.

Kirkenes Snowhotel from which we took our King Crab Excursion offers very unique accommodation for its guests. A tour around the hotel does not come free though and is charged a rather exhorbitant fee of NOK600 per person for individual walk-ins. (You do get a free drink with this fee). Coming here as a group of 20, we probably enjoyed a good group discount.

The two types of accommodation available are the rooms and the cabins. The rooms are constructed out of ice and snow and are only available during the winter months. (20th Dec to 2oth April). The cabins are however opened to guests the whole year round.

This is the entrance into the snow hotel that houses the rooms.

The interior is rather dark and has structures that are sculptured out of ice and snow.

An interesting passageway in the hotel

Room walls are built from compacted snow and are individually sculptured with various themes and designs. Other than this, the setting is rather simple. There are beds with mattresses but there are no wardrobes, toilets or showers.

I can't help but noticed that the rooms are without doors. Instead, fabric veils are hung at room entrances.

There is an ice bar at one end of the hotel.

Chairs, tables and bar counters are sculptured out of ice and the walls are decorated with snow carvings. Come spring and summer, the ice rooms and bar will melt away but will be reconstructed again when winter sets in, with totally new designs.

I am sitting at the ice bar with a big wall sculpture carved out of snow.

The Gamme Cabins are individual units and are available for rent throughout the year.

The cabins are better equipped compared to the rooms. However it costs less to rent the cabins. (Price for 1 night stay in a cabin is NOK4400 vs NOK5300 for the room).

This hotel is located away from town and encompasses a big area.

There is a dog yard in the hotel vicinity as the hotel does offer activites like husky sledging, king crab excursion, etc.

Hotel ground

HØyloftet Restaurant is one of the hotel restaurants.

Hotel ground.

Hotel Ground

Hotel Ground

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Norway Part 1: My Fleeting Visit To Oslo

Norway Part 2: Viking Ship Museum, Oslo

Norway Part 3: The Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo
Norway Part 4: Radisson Blu Alna, Oslo
Norway Part 5: From Oslo To Kirkenes
Norway Part 6: My Top 30 Favourite Winter Pictures Of Kirkenes
Norway Part 7: King Crab Excursion At Kirkenes
Norway Part 8: A Tour Around Kirkenes Snowhotel
Norway Part 9: Thon Hotel, Kirkenes
Norway Part 10: Photos Of The Journey From Kirkenes To Finland