Sleeping on a block of ice may not strike you as the most comfortable of short breaks but the Ice Hotel, which lies north of the Arctic Circle, is one of Sweden's leading attractions. Most guests spend a night in this amazing frozen palace, cocooned in sleeping bags and on reindeer skins, followed by a night or two in a more conventional hotel room. 
Recommended tour operator: Specialised Tours
Specialised Tours says
Each winter a brand-new Ice Hotel is built on the banks of the Torne River in Swedish Lapland. Bedrooms vary in size and include magnificent Ice Suites, sculpted by international ice artists (pictured top left). In the Ice Bar, guests can enjoy vodka cocktails in ice glasses, dressed snugly in thermal suits that are provided for the duration of the holiday.
Within the complex, an attractive restaurant offers delicious Arctic specialities, and there are cosy log cabins and more conventional hotel rooms so guests can spend a few days enjoying the wide range of activities available. These include husky safaris, Saab ice-driving, and the popular evening snowmobile safari in search of the Northern Lights.
Packages can be tailor-made as you wish, but most people opt to spend one night in the Ice Hotel itself, and then one or two nights in warmer accommodation. Prices start at £830 pp for a 2-night midweek break including flights from Heathrow, while the popular 3-night weekend break starts at £1,075 pp.
If you wish, you can start your break with a night or two in Stockholm, or with a couple of days in Tromsø in north Norway, before travelling into Sweden on a scenic rail journey through the Arctic wilderness.
Click here for more about breaks to the Ice Hotel.
