When you visit Sweden's Ice Hotel, you can be absolutely sure of getting a drink on the rocks.
The world's biggest igloo, also known as the Jukkas Jarvi Ice Hotel in Lapland, Sweden, is unique in more ways than one. Each autumn, the hotel is rebuilt from scratch after melting down in summer. "The number of guest rooms varies from one year to another," said Swedish Travel and Tourism Council representative Susanne Andersson.
About 1,000 tons of ice and 2,000 tons of snow are used in the privately-owned hotel, built to a different design each year, with an art gallery, chapel, ice golf room, cinema, guest rooms and the "Absolut Ice" bar, where drinks are served in glasses made of ice.
Andersson said the hotel was very popular Americans and Japanese, although not everyone visiting stayed overnight. Guests at the hotel sleep in sleeping bags on reindeer skins, but more conventional accommodation is available next door. Activities available at Jukkasjarvi include travelling by dog sled, reindeer sleighs, snow scooters, or ski, seeing the midnight sun in summer, or the aurora borealis, going river rafting and relaxing in a sauna. Midsummer is celebrated traditionally, involving the whole family in dancing, games and good food. Jukkasjarvi's annual Autumn Market on the first weekend in August has been held since the 16th century and is one of Lapland's oldest.
Further south, the Dalarna area, home to Sweden's carved and painted Dalarna horses, is famous for its folklore and handicrafts, according to Andersson. Dalarna is dotted with lakes, forests and villages, each with its own handicraft stall, she said.
Stockholm, designated Europe's 1998 "cultural capital" by the European Community, has many cultural events planned, according to Stockholm Information Service marketing manager Robert Nygardhs.