ice hotels (4)

Norway's Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel

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It’s not uncommon to visit a hotel that wasn’t here last year. It’s less common, though, to visit a hotel that wasn’t here last year … and won’t be here next year. That’s how it is with Scandinavia’s ‘ice hotels’; they’re actually dug out of a snow bank at the beginning of winter, and are gone with the first thaws of spring. And, usually, they’re completely rebuilt the following winter.

The concept isn’t new, of course. For generations, the Inuit of North America have been building their igloos f

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That time of year again — starting next week, chilly chic is back once more, thanks to those clever Swedes and crafty Quebecois. First up, from December 10 to mid-April, the Swedish Lappland town of Jukkasjärvi, up north of the Arctic Circle, will be the site of the 59,200-square foot (5,500-square-meter) 21st edition of the original ICEHOTEL (you fly into Stockholm, then connect onward to Kiruna; British Airways can also whisk you direct to Kiruna from Heathrow, believe it or not). For rates fr

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Many travelers traverse the planet in search of unique adventures, places to eat, and the out of the ordinary places to stay. One adventure, only a lucky few will ever get a chance to experience is to stay at a hotel made of ice, Every winter in Sweden, Norway, and in Quebec, Canada you can go to sleep on a bed made of ice. But you better get there fast before the snow melts your hotel away and you have to wait 9 months, as Ice Hotels are open for business for around three months. Hotels sculptu

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Folks in large swaths of the USA’s Northeast have been shellshocked by the so-called “snowpocalypse” (or is it snowmageddon?) these past several days, but meanwhile, up here in southern Quebec, I’ve been witnessing firsthand how little the locals let a little weather slow them down. In fact, they take it up a notch. Even with average annual snowfalls of 14 feet (4 meters) and subfreezing temperatures, for the past 55 years Quebeckers have thrown their own pre-Lenten Carnaval d’Hiver, falling aro
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