Guided tour or ticket alone for the Kiruna Icehotel?
The Icehotel's own ticket costs a fraction of a guided tour, and inside the ice rooms you move at your own pace either way. A tour adds the ride and a morning around the village. On top of that, someone explains how a hotel comes out of a river. Which one suits you depends mostly on whether you have a car.
Two ways through the same ice rooms
Whether you come with a guide or with a ticket, you walk the same corridors of ice. Our pick's listing says you explore the ice art exhibition at your own pace, so the real difference lies around the visit rather than in it.
A tour wraps the hotel in a full morning out of Kiruna. A ticket gives you the hotel alone for ~$33 instead of ~$182, and you stay as long as you like.
What a guide adds
- The ride from Kiruna, about 20 minutes each way, with pickup at a hotel or a central meeting point
- Nutti Sami Siida, an open-air museum of Sámi life with reindeer to feed, about an hour on both tours
- The old church of Jukkasjärvi, whose oldest parts date from 1607
- Context from guides who talk about Sámi life and the way the hotel is built
On Scandinavian Sami Photoadventures' tour at ~$182, the guides are local Sámi. Reviewers rate the guide 4.9 on GetYourGuide, higher than any other score on the listing.
Lights of Vikings' day trip at ~$182 adds an hour and picks up at six Kiruna hotels. Its guides work in English and Spanish, and it holds 5.0 from 43 reviews on GetYourGuide.
A guide also takes care of the timing. Nobody in the group watches a bus timetable or books a return car, and with eight people at most there is room for questions.
Our reindeer camp guide covers that stop in more depth. Without a tour, the reindeer mean a separate visit to the museum, which the Icehotel ticket does not cover.
What the ticket alone gives you
ICEHOTEL's entrance ticket at ~$33 opens ICEHOTEL 365 with its art suites and deluxe suites, plus the Icebar. A room on how the hotel is built each year, and on its past, partly stands in for a guide's explanations.
From December to mid-April, the winter building is part of the ticket as well. Our summer and winter guide explains how the two parts differ and what each season shows.
The ticket is valid for one day, so you are not racing a clock. It holds 4.8 from 13 reviews on GetYourGuide, a small count but a steady score.
The ice rooms on your own schedule
ICEHOTEL's day ticket for the art suites and the Icebar, with the winter building added from December to mid-April. Getting to Jukkasjärvi is up to you.
How long you get inside the ice
Our pick gives about 70 minutes at the Icehotel, and Lights of Vikings about 1.5 hours. Most visitors see the suites in that time, though one reviewer of our pick wished for a few spare minutes at the end.
With the ticket, you can sit in the Icebar, go back to a favorite suite or wait for a quiet moment to take photos. Photographers and slow readers of every artist's note will likely prefer that freedom.
The Abisko coach day sits in between, with about 2.5 hours on site. The coach and the ticket are covered. A host rides along, but inside the ice you explore on your own.
Adding the church and the reindeer on your own
Ticket holders can still see the old church, which stands in the same village as the hotel. Without a guide, though, you read the building yourself, and its opening times are not part of any listing we compare.
Nutti Sami Siida is in Jukkasjärvi too, but it is a separate visit with its own entry. Check its hours before you plan a day around it, since we know the museum only through the tours that stop there.
Who should pick which
| You are | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Two or more with a car | Ticket | A 20-minute drive and a large saving per head |
| Staying at the Icehotel or in Jukkasjärvi | Ticket | You are already there; ask the hotel what your stay covers |
| Solo, without a car | Guided tour | Transport is included, and a taxi fare falls on one person |
| Short of time | Guided tour | One three-hour morning with the reindeer and the ice |
| Curious about Sámi life | Our pick | Local Sámi guides and about 70 minutes at Nutti Sami Siida |
| Family with small children | Either | The ticket allows breaks; our pick takes no children under 2 |
Families get the most from flexibility. Small children tire quickly in the cold, and the ticket lets you step out to the warm buildings whenever someone needs a break.
People with animal allergies should skip Lights of Vikings, whose listing says it is not suitable for them. Our pick is not suitable for wheelchair users, so ask the hotel about access if you go by ticket.
Getting there decides most of it
Without a tour, the 17 km (11 miles) to Jukkasjärvi are your job. Taxis and rental cars both work, the bus is a cheaper option, and our guide to getting from Kiruna sets out each one.
The ride changes the sums more than anything else. Our price comparison shows when a ticket plus a taxi stops saving money for a single traveler.
Based in Abisko for the northern lights instead? The Abisko day trip guide covers the coach day, which solves transport without adding a guide.
Where we land
With a car and an interest mainly in the ice art, buy the ticket. Without a car, a tour costs more and gives you a fuller morning. It also suits anyone who wants the reindeer and the stories of a Sámi guide.
Guests sleeping in the ice see the art suites anyway, so a separate day ticket may add little for them. Our overnight guide compares a night at the hotel with a daytime visit.