Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel: Visiting by Day vs. an Overnight Stay [2026]

Of all the things I wanted to do on my winter trip to Alta, visiting the famous Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel was at the top of my list! Besides seeing the Northern lights, of course.

I’ve been to several ice hotels around the Arctic, including the Ice Domes in Tromsø, IceHotel 365 in Jukkasjärvi, and the Arctic SnowHotel in Rovaniemi, and I find them fascinating each and every time.

I mean, the scale and concept is wild: sculpted entirely from snow and river ice, rebuilt from scratch every single winter, in the dark days preceding polar night? And yet it works, year after year.

While some places like the Ice Domes are more like ‘snow parks’ — strictly for show and you can’t actually stay there — that’s not the case here.

You can actually stay at Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, but with a few caveats: namely, super-late check-in and that you should be careful which room you select if you want the best experience.

Personally, I was just fine visiting the Igloo Hotel as a day visitor and staying elsewhere in Alta (we chose the Thon Hotel downtown) but if staying at an igloo hotel is on your bucket list, this would be one of my top choices for ice hotels because it’s absolutely beautiful inside!

About the Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel

Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel is a seasonal ice hotel located about a 20-minute drive from downtown Alta, built from scratch every winter using ice harvested directly Sierravann and snow from the Alta River.

It’s a massive undertaking, as the igloo hotel is rather large at 2,500 square meters. To make an igloo that massive, 250 tons of ice and 7,000 cubed meters of snow are used in its construction!

It typically opens in mid-December and operates through late March or early April, depending on temperatures. For the 2025-2026 season, it is open from December 20th until April 7th.

While some things remain the same, like always having an ice bar and a chapel (yes, you can get married here!), the ice décor inside the igloo hotel and deluxe suites change annually, with both local and international ice artists tapped to carve everything from scratch each year.

It is attached to the “warm hotel” Sorrisniva Arctic Wilderness Lodge, which is an upscale boutique hotel that is very cozy and comfortable… but expensive, about the same price as staying in the ice hotel. My personal preference would be to stay at the lodge or somewhere else and visit the ice hotel as a guest, but I also have very little interest in sleeping on a block of ice!

Visiting vs. Staying Overnight

During the day, the igloo hotel functions almost like a museum that accepts visitors. From noon to 8 PM daily, visitors can purchase a ticket (costs below) to visit all the rooms, the bar, the chapel, and the inside art installations such as the aurora display and the ice sculpture hall.

And because of this, overnight guests are not allowed to check in until after 8 PM, once the hotel closes to the public.

So your regular 2 or 3 PM check-in? Not happening here. However, you can spend the day enjoying the amenities of the wilderness lodge, like its restaurant and reading room with all its roaring fireplaces and cozy corners to enjoy, as well as its sauna and jacuzzi.

Note that the sauna and jacuzzi is private and only for guests: there is an extra cost of 395 NOK/$39 USD per adult per hour.

So you can arrive and enjoy the lodge facilities and have an early dinner at the excellent on-site restaurant. If you arrive extra early, you could even book yourself an activity with Sorrisniva like a snowmobile ride or snowshoe hike, or do another activity like go dog sledding with Holmen Husky.

Then, when you finally go to the igloo hotel, it’ll just be you and a handful of other overnight guests: no wandering tourists, just peace and quiet.

Visiting Costs

The cost of visiting can change but as of the 2025-2026 season, the current prices are:

Tickets: Adults pay 395 NOK (roughly $39 USD), while children are 180 NOK (around $18 USD).

Ice bar drinks: Served in ice glasses, a drink at the ice bar cost 165 NOK for adults (about $16 USD) and 120 NOK for kids (about $12 USD).

What the Rooms Are Like

Every room in the Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel is carved entirely from ice, right down to the bed frame. The sleeping surface is topped with a reindeer leather sleeping pad and an expedition-grade sleeping bag.

No matter what the temperatures are outside, the interior of the igloo, the interior of the igloo hotel stays stable, generally around -4 to -7 °C (20-25 °F). You’ll definitely need to bring warm thermals that you can sleep in!

Now, this is the most important thing to note: there are two very different kinds of room at the ice hotel,

• the double room (100 square feet only, just a bed with a door) and
• the exclusive suite (160 square feet, which also has art and ice carvings)

Check current room prices here — being sure to check the room types!

Below, you can see the difference between a double room and exclusive suite, and I think the pictures alone will tell you why I think the value is better in the suite

The double room is rather affordable, but it is not very aesthetic… at all. While the rest of the ice hotel is really lovely, you won’t be able to take very nice pictures inside your room unless you choose to stay in an exclusive suite… and the price for that is not that much higher, so it’s what I would strongly recommend given the huge difference in room quality.

As of my search on January 8, 2026, the prices for the different room types are as follows:

• Double room starts at approximately $440 USD (plus 12% VAT)
• Exclusive suite starts at approximately $600 USD (plus 12% VAT)

Check room prices and availability here!

Igloo Amenities: Ice Bar, Chapel & Art

The interior layout includes:

• A full ice bar (of course, drinks are served in ice glasses)
• A chapel carved entirely from snow and ice
• Long corridors lined with sculptures that change every year based on the theme

Unlike some ice hotels that feel cramped, Sorrisniva is surprisingly spacious. My friend I was traveling with, who has pretty severe claustrophobia, never felt anxious or claustrophobic inside this igloo hotel.

Though, that said, I’m sure the story would be different if she spent the night in one of the smaller rooms!

Waking Up in a Snow Hotel

OK, but what about the morning? Before you check out, you can go back to the warm lodge where you can take hot showers and enjoy a delicious on-site breakfast, included in the price of your stay (and let’s face it, at those prices, it definitely should be included!)

You can extend your time in the area a bit by choosing one of the activities or head back into Alta for city exploration and if you want to check into a more traditional warm hotel.

How to Get to Sorrisniva

Sorrisniva is located about 20 minutes from Alta town, making it far more accessible than many Arctic ice hotels, which tend to be a bit further out from the main city centers.

You can drive yourself if you rent a car (roads are well-maintained but you still have to be a confident driver in winter conditions), take a taxi, or arrange a transfer through Sorrisniva.

Frankly, I strongly recommend driving yourself if you can safely do so, as the Alta attractions are all rather spread out and not having your own set of wheels limits your mobility.

Is Staying Overnight at Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel Worth It?

Short answer: yes, but only if you understand what you’re booking.

This isn’t a just a photo opportunity — you can get that for far cheaper if you just want to explore and walk through its rooms and see the photos. It’s a full-on, freezing Arctic bucket list experience. It’s more about novelty and uniqueness than comfort. You probably will not be able to sleep well, but it’ll be an extremely memorable stay.

If you want to see the igloo hotel, but crave luxury, comfort, and most importantly warmth while you sleep? Stay at the attached Sorrisniva Wilderness Lodge (or any of the other luxe accommodations in Alta) and visit the igloo during the day.

Personally, I’m happy to just visit ice hotels during the day and don’t feel particularly pulled to stay overnight in one, but I also struggle to sleep in a normal bed in ideal circumstances: I think I wouldn’t sleep a wink in an ice hotel.

But if it’s on your bucket list, I’m not here to dissuade you, just to offer a healthy dose of reality and remind you that you can also visit during the day, too, if you just want to see it.

Convinced it’s right for you? Book your stay at the Igloo Hotel here!

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016, visiting 75+ countries in total. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. As a former educator, she merges her writing and educational experience to encourage ethical, sustainable travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and TBEX. Her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. When she’s not on the road, she lives in Bangkok, Thailand.