Ice Hotel Romania- amazing and unique experience!
Enjoy a once in a lifetime stay at Transylvania’s Ice Hotel and absorb some of Romania’s most picturesque views!
The Ice Hotel, Romania's newest hotel is (re)built every year using four-feet long 'bricks'
made from ice from the nearby Balea Lake.
The Romanian hotel - the first of its kind in Eastern Europe - offers visitors a North Pole
experience where they even sip their drinks from glasses made of ice - so there is no
need for ice cubes to keep the drinks cool.
Every winter since 2005 the Hotel of Ice in the Fagaras Mountains is rebuilt from natural
materials and features a new design. Local craftsmen painstakingly carve huge blocks of
ice that have been cut and removed directly from the Balea Lac to construct the walls and
are used to raise the walls and snow from the mountain blocks is packed in to keep the
walls together. And it's not just blocks of the frozen stuff - local artists add beauty by
carving sculptures in the style of Romanian modernist sculptor, Constantin Brâncuşi, in the hotel.
The Ice Bar and the Ice Restaurant at the hotel, which typically has between 10 and 14 rooms, are situated at an altitude of 2,034m.
Next to the hotel, there is an Ice Church decorated with ice sculptures in high-relief
where youngest guests can get baptized, young (age or / and heart) guests can get
married and the most experienced guests can celebrate their Silver, Gold or Dimond
wedding anniversary!
All rooms have ice beds with comfortable mattress, covered with bed-sheets and soft
furs. Guests will also be provided with a sleeping bag for the night.
The most comfortable way to get to the Hotel of Ice in winter is the cable car, due to
the rough weather conditions and to the amount of snow falling in Fagaras Mountains.
The boarding takes place near Hotel Balea Cascada.
You can get here by car even in winter, as the road is constantly cleared of snow.
Further above from Hotel Balea Cascada, Transfagarasanul road is closed for cars during
winter, but not for hiking, if you wish to go on foot from Balea Cascada area
(altitude 1234m) to Balea Lake (altitude 2034m).
However, you need to take into consideration the long distance and the big height
difference.
We would suggest this option only for experienced mountaineers and climbers.
In high winds or extreme weather conditions the cable car may not be able to run,
although this is very rare.
Drift through the clouds as you ascend the Faragas Mountains by cable car up to the
magical Ice Hotel past snow-capped peaks and frosty forestland. Once on the cable car
look out for ‘The Balea Cascade’, the beautiful frozen waterfall that runs the length of
the pine clad valley below. Children use to say that stepping out of the cable car is like
stepping out of the wardrobe into Narnia.
The atmosphere is truly unique. The last cable car of the evening descends as the winter
sun sets the ice and snow aflame. The remoteness of your destination becomes tangible.
Dinner can be taken actually in the Ice Hotel or in the nearby Balea Lac Chalet Restaurant.
A variety of drinks, cocktails and hot mulled wine are also available from the
‘Bar Sub-Zero’.
The perfect place to have a nightcap to round off an Amazing day.
With little light pollution the show of stars is spectacular as night draws in.
Once you’ve chosen your snow suite or igloo and explored the fairytale hotel of ice, get
your heart racing with some snow-activities like sledging and snowmobiling or simply
kick back with a hot drink and just enjoy the sunshine, snow and scenery.
Brace yourselves for dinner ‘on ice’. Guests will seat on ice chairs and most cold dishes
are served on (even colder) ice plates.
With its frosty furniture and glittering white walls, this Romanian ice hotel certainly
attracts visitors keen to experience the unusual surroundings.
Even the beds are made from ice, so guests best not bring a hot-water bottle.
Sleeping on a block of ice could be a life time experience! You will feel surprisingly warm
during the night, with thermals and a jumper on, a very warm sleeping bag (which is
provided) and 2 blankets on top of that. There are blankets and sheepskins below you to
keep out the cold as well.
If you need the bathroom during the night, you just head around the back of the ice
hotel to the cable car where there is a toilet, warm seating area, and a hot drinks
machine as well.
Features & Activities:
Snow-shoeing, ice sculpting, ice skating, tubing, sledging and snow mobile.
There are also rafting and banana boats as well - where you are pulled along behind
a snowmobile. All of these are great fun.
You can aso enjoy a 900m walk through a tunnel through the mountain - to see the
road on the other side. The tunnel trek well worth for breath-taking views
(and the epic snowball fight!).
Guests can be certain of having a truly unique stay, as the Hotel of Ice near the glacial Balea Lac in the Romanian Carpathians is rebuilt every year, guaranteeing it never stays the same.
Unique. Magical. An absolute must.
