Four winter buildings stand in this section, each of them rebuilt from snow and ice for part of the year. They are grouped by what that does to the approach: a river road, a valley road, a road that ends on a fjord shore, and a village of domes with no road at all. Hotels that only decorate a bar with ice are not here.
15
The winter building here is taken from the river each year and given back in spring
Icehotel
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
The arrival
From Kiruna the road runs east along the Torne, through flat forest and villages under snow, with the river a wide white line beside it.
Jukkasjärvi is the end of that road rather than a place you pass through on the way somewhere.
The last hundred metres
The last part is packed snow underfoot between low buildings, with the river bank on one side and the winter structure sitting on it.
In the dark months the walk is done under lamps and whatever the sky is doing above them.
What the building does with that
The entrance is cut into snow, not built onto it, and the temperature drops as soon as you are through.
Warm buildings stand separately alongside, so the plan keeps two climates apart and makes you choose between them at the door.
Set this up first
Bring the outdoor clothing you would want for standing still, not for walking, and confirm with the hotel what it lends and what it does not.
Source read: October 2027
16
The way here follows a salmon river inland until the valley narrows and the road quietens
Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel
Alta, Norway
The arrival
Alta sits at the head of a fjord, and the route to the igloo hotel turns inland from it, following the river up the valley.
Farm buildings and birch give way to open white ground, and the winter light does most of the describing.
The last hundred metres
The final approach is over snow, level with the river terrace, and the building is low enough that you see the roofline late.
Because it is rebuilt each winter, the shape of that last stretch is never quite the same twice.
What the building does with that
You come in through a snow tunnel rather than a hall, and the corridor beyond it stays at the temperature of the material it is made from.
Heated rooms are a separate walk away, which keeps the cold side honest.
Set this up first
Check the season with the hotel before anything else, since the snow building exists for part of the year and the site is a different place without it.
Source read: October 2027
17
Near the Russian border the road ends at a fjord shore that freezes every winter
Kirkenes Snowhotel
Kirkenes, Norway
The arrival
Kirkenes is far northeast, close to the border, and the snowhotel is outside the town on the edge of a fjord.
The road there runs through low arctic scrub and rock, past water that is ice for much of the year, and it stops at the shore itself.
The last hundred metres
The last part is a short walk over frozen ground between timber buildings and the snow structure itself, with dog kennels audible somewhere nearby.
The fjord lies flat and white beyond, so the horizon does not tell you where land stops.
What the building does with that
Entry is through a doorway cut in a snow wall, with a heavy curtain instead of a lobby.
Behind it the corridors hold their own cold, and the warm cabins outside are treated as separate buildings rather than a wing.
Set this up first
Arrange your transfer from the town in advance, because the site is outside it and walking out along that road is not the idea.
Source read: November 2027
18
No road reaches this village of domes, so the last part of the way is walked
Iglu-Dorf
Gstaad, Switzerland
The arrival
Above Gstaad the mountain is served by lifts, and the dome village is placed where they leave you rather than where a road could go.
You go up with skiers and walkers, gaining height in a cabin, and step out onto snow where the cabins stop.
The last hundred metres
From the lift station the rest is on foot across open snow, following a trodden line rather than a path.
There is nothing built along it, the ground is white in every direction, and the domes appear as low mounds before they look like rooms.
What the building does with that
A dome has no facade, so arrival is a low opening you stoop through.
Once inside, the curve of packed snow takes the wind away entirely, and the difference between outdoors and indoors is made by shape rather than by a wall.
Set this up first
Carry only what you can take up a lift and across snow on foot, and check with the operator which mountain station is in use.
Source read: November 2027
The way in is described as a shape, not as a timetable: no departures, no durations, no distances appear on this site. Everything is taken from published material and rewritten in our own words, with the month it was last read at the end of each entry.
