Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
bags are supposed to keep you warm in temperatures down to -35°C. However, as
they enclose your entire body and head (bar a small area for your eyes and nose) they
are rather claustrophobic. You should take off all the clothes you're still wearing and
sleep naked to prevent sweating; stuff your clothes into the bottom of the sleeping
bag to keep them warm and place your shoes on the bed with you to stop them
freezing. Don't expect to sleep - you won't - it's simply too cold and uncomfortable.
In the morning, you can refresh yourself with a sauna and have a hearty breakfast at
the restaurant across the road, though you'll soon notice from people's faces that
nobody else has slept a wink either.
Activities
There are seemingly countless organized
activities
from the
Icehotel
and the range varies
from year to year; full details are online at
W
icehotel.com. Generally, though, they
include a dog-sledding trip through the neighbouring forests with a short stop for
coffee and cake
(1390kr); an accompanied daytime drive on snow scooters down the
Torne River and into the wintry forests (895kr); or a night-time snowmobile spin to
see the northern lights (1750kr). In
summer
there are generally organized fishing and
hunting tours as well as canoeing, though exact details change once again from year to
year and prices are available on the website.
The church
Marknadsvägen 3 • Daily: June-Aug 8am-10pm; Sept-May 8am-8pm
A traditional sight awaits at the end of the dead-end Marknadsvägen: an old wooden
Sámi
church
, parts of which date from 1608, making it the oldest surviving church in
Lapland. Check out the richly decorated altarpiece by Uppsala artist Bror Hjorth,
depicting the revivalist preacher,
Lars Levi Laestadius
(see p.349), alongside the woman
who inspired him to rid Lapland of alcohol, Maria of Åsele. The triptych was given to the
church in 1958 by the mining company, LKAB, then celebrating its 350th anniversary.
Under the floor are the mummified remains of villagers who died here in the
eighteenth century (not on display). The sandy ground and frost are thought to have
been responsible for keeping the bodies, including that of a woman dressed in a white
wedding dress and high-heeled shoes, so remarkably well preserved. The organ above
the door is made from reindeer horn and birch wood; the artwork in the centre of the
organ, suspended over the pipes, symbolizes the sun rising over the Lapporten (see p.
000), the two U-shaped mountain-tops near Abisko which are one of Lapland's most
enduring images.
Nutti Sámi Siida
Sámi Homestead Museum • Marknadsvägen 84 • Daily 11am-5pm • 100kr
Across the road from the church, the wooden houses of the rather pedestrian
Nutti
Sámi Siida
contain the usual suspects: a stuffed reindeer, an old sleigh, a rickety
spinning wheel and other equally dull paraphernalia.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
JUKKASJÄRVI
By bus
To get to and from Jukkasjärvi take bus #501 which
links the village with Kiruna (20min;
W
ltnbd.se).
By dog sledge
Undoubtedly the best way to arrive is by
dog sledge from Kiruna airport; for a hefty 5900kr (price
includes up to four people) you can be met at your plane
and pulled all the way to your room; you can arrange this
via
Icehotel
(see below).
ACCOMMODATION
Icehotel
Marknadsvägen 63
T
0980 668 00,
W
icehotel.com.
Warm and cold accommodation can be
booked through the website and you should book well in
advance.
Icehotel
is open from early Dec until it thaws, and
the dubious pleasure of spending a night in the freezer
doesn't come cheap - we've given the high-season Thurs-
Sun prices (less expensive rates Mon-Wed), which apply
from Dec to March; the low-season rate is applicable for
