Would you dare to sleep in a room made from ice and snow only, temperature between 0 and -5 celcius degrees? We did.
WHAT IS IT?
SnowVillage is something different to experience during your visit in Finnish Lapland. About 30-40 people start to build the village around November – and it takes only about one month to be ready. Although it takes 20 million kilos of snow and 400 000 kilos of crystal-clear ice to build it! The constructors create the artificial snow and ice by themselves and the water and ice is from the local river Lainiojoki in Kittilä. They can’t use natural snow as it’s too dry and therefore unsafe to use for constructions.
Snow Village – Ice and snow
The area of SnowVillage is about 20 000 square metres and it consists a snow hotel with rooms made of snow and ice, lobby, ice restaurant, ice chapel (you can actually get married there for real!), ice slide and the spectacular sculptures and art made from ice and snow. This year it’s the 19th SnowVillage and this year’s theme is optical illusions and surreal visions (maybe you remember the place from the last year, when they were co-operating with HBO with a theme of Game of Thrones). This season is open for visitors from 12.12.2019 to 12.04.2020.
Inside the snow village
We went to explore and be amazed for one night in SnowVillage. From outside of the building you couldn’t imagine what it would look like inside – there was only a massive shapes of snow. Once we got inside, there was first a warm lobby area and friendly stuff welcoming you in. We got the guided tour by really friendly guide Max, who told us everything we would like to know and he also guided how to survive through the night in a snow room. There are 16 suites, each and every decorated differently.
SnowVillage and the reception are open for visitors from 10am. to 10pm., so during that time everyone can see and visit the suites. For the people who stay there overnight, there are a warm place with a small kitchen, toilets and showers to hang out before going to sleep. The atmosphere in the SnowVillage was cozy – even though it was cold and the sculptures and art made it feel like being some other world. The optical illusions were sometimes seen easily, but sometimes you had to really have a good look to realize what it was all about. For some pieces of art only way to recognize the illusion, you had to take a look through the camera to get it.
Dinner in the Ice Restaurant
We also enjoyed dinner in the Ice Restaurant, where is 112 seats all made from ice. The experience was quite funny actually; we were sitting there in a cold and beautiful restaurant with full clothing on and enjoying the different tastes of Lapland.
I was a bit worried how fast the food would get cold, but the plates were pre-warmed well and it kept the food warm long enough to enjoy it all.
For a starter we took Delicacies of Lapland – some reindeer, mushrooms, salmon, pickled red onion and goat cheese.
As a main course we ate some reindeer (of course) as a beef and also inside the sausage with some bolete.
For the dessert we enjoyed sweet Crème Brule and also some delicious chocolate cake with ice-cream.
STAYING OVER NIGHT AND SLEEPING IN A SLEEPING BAG
For the overnight guests there are sleeping bags, extra fleece bag and pillow included for the stay. During the guided tour Max showed us where we could get all these and how they are used.
Those sleeping bags are made to feel comfortable even for -30 degrees. After the dinner we spend some time in this warm house playing games and drinking tea and also getting know to a couple who were spending their 20th anniversary of marriage in Lapland.
The ambiance in the warm house was really warm and relaxing. I enjoyed drinking the hot tea and playing games in a good company before going to sleep.
Warm cloths are important
We also changed some clothes in the warm house. I wanted to have my set of underwear made from merino-wool (long sleeved shirt and pants) with a woolen socks inside the sleeping bag to stay warm. When we went to our room, we just took the top winter clothes off and set them to the bed under our legs (so they wouldn’t get wet during the night) and left the shoes next to bed. Then hopping into your fleece and sleeping bags as Max told us and ta-daa! Ready to sleep!
I didn’t get cold at all during the night, only my nose was a bit frozen (but I just dived deeper in to my sleeping bag and it was okay). The friend who was staying there with me said that he actually got hot during the night. We came to the conclusion that sleeping in a cold (or outside) gives you the best and deepest dreams. Only in the morning it was a bit chilly to get up from the sleeping bag, but gladly we had a nice wake-up with warm drinks from the hotel and the breakfast was served in a warm restaurant.
I would definitely recommend to pay a visit to @snowvillagefinland! Maybe just for the day trip and see the gorgeous art made from snow and ice (they look amazing in the pictures but believe me – it’s something really different to experience those in real) but I’m quite sure you would be amazed if you stay there the night also. Even if you are not used to sleep in the cold, you’ll survive and even get the diploma from that!
Ready for the challenge?
By Jenna Käppi / Visit Lapland
Take a tour inside of the Snow Village in Youtube. https://youtu.be/jwXjWXKop20
