Snowhotel, Kirkenes: Pre-Cruise Hotel Review

The verdict

The Snowhotel is the night people talk about afterwards. Dinner and breakfast come with the Snowhotel 365 stay, per the resort, and there’s a sauna and a lounge that stays warm all night.

It scores third because the rest works against a sailing. It’s about 10 km from town, per Hurtigruten, check-out is 08:00, and the resort’s transfers go to Thon and Scandic, not the quay. With no luggage storage at the quay, that’s a long morning with bags.

It fits better the night after a northbound voyage, when Hurtigruten’s programme collects from the port at 09:00.

Book it if

You want the night to be part of the trip
You want dinner and breakfast covered
Your children are 7 or older for a snow room, or 4 or older for a cabin

Look elsewhere if

You want an easy morning before a southbound sailing
You’d rather walk to the ship

Sail Morning

Your night before, from here

From check-in to the gangway, using only what Snowhotel publishes and our own map estimates.

Evening

Check in and settle

Dinner at 19:00, a warm lounge open all night, the sauna, then a sleeping bag in a room kept at about -4°C.

Before bed

Line up your morning

No ride to the ship is listed. The Snowhotel 365 stay includes transfers to and from Thon and Scandic at set times, per the resort; from there it’s Hurtigruten’s Barents Buss or a taxi. The quay is about 8.5 km away in a straight line by our map.

Sail morning

Breakfast

Included in the Snowhotel 365 package, per the resort’s booking page: a buffet 07:00 to 10:00, or 08:00 to 10:00 from April to November, after a three-course dinner at 19:00.

Heading out

To the quay

Check-out is 08:00, per the resort. Take its transfer into town to Thon or Scandic, then the Barents Buss or a taxi to Kaiveien 4. There’s no luggage storage at the quay, so you’ll carry your bags until check-in.

While you sail

Your car

The resort lists free parking for your stay. Nothing says you can leave the car for a voyage, and it’s about 10 km from town.

Score

Night-Before Score: 31 of 100

31No. 3 of 6

Distance to the ship15/30

Getting to the ship0/25

Parking while you sail0/20

Free breakfast10/10

The evening before6/15

Every point comes from the hotel’s own pages or its brand’s; the hub explains how the Night-Before Score works.

To the Ship

Getting here, and on to the ship

By our map estimate Snowhotel is about 5.5 km from Kirkenes Airport in a straight line, and about 8.5 km from Kaiveien 4. Every question mark below is a ride you book yourself.

Leg 1 · Kirkenes Airport to the hotel

In Hurtigruten’s package

Hurtigruten’s Snowhotel programme collects from the hotels or the airport at about 13:00. Booked direct, the resort’s transfers run from Thon and Scandic, not the airport.

Leg 2 · Hotel to the ship

Shuttle not stated

From KKN without a hotel shuttle

Barents Buss and Flybussen meet flights for the ride to the centre, about 20 minutes, per Havila, and a taxi from the rank outside arrivals takes 15 to 20 minutes. Barents Buss lists NOK 150; no taxi tariff is published. The airport page has the fares.

Leg 1 · Drive in and park

Cruise parking unconfirmed

The resort lists free parking for your stay. Nothing says you can leave the car for a voyage, and it’s about 10 km from town.

Parking for your stay: Free parking, per the resort’s booking page.

Leg 2 · Hotel to the ship

Shuttle not stated

Flying in the morning you sail? You can skip the hotel entirely; the airport page has the landing check.

Which quay

Kaiveien 4

Both coastal lines board at Kaiveien 4: Hurtigruten gives “Kaiv. 4” and Havila “Kirkenes Terminal, Kaiveien 4”. Snowhotel is about 8.5 km from our pin for the quay in a straight line, and about 7.8 km from the town centre. Neither line publishes the quay’s exact position, so treat both as estimates; the Kirkenes cruise guide has the rest.

Source: havilavoyages.com

Distance

~8.5 km, straight line

About 8.5 km from Kaiveien 4 in a straight line between our map pins. That’s a ride, not a walk.

Airport bus

Not stated

The hotel doesn’t say where the airport bus stops.

Source: snowresortkirkenes.com

Parking

Parking while you sail

Cruise parking

Cruise parking unconfirmed

The resort lists free parking for your stay. Nothing says you can leave the car for a voyage, and it’s about 10 km from town.

In town

Airport P1, 305 spaces, no price published

We found no car park for passengers at the Kirkenes quay; Cruise Norway’s 2022 port sheet lists only 30 bus spaces. The nearest published parking is at the airport: P1 at the terminal has 305 spaces, four of them accessible, and a cheaper P2 is 500 m away, per Avinor, which shows no prices. The airport is about 15 km from the port by road.

The Night Before

The evening and the morning

The evening

Food or bar on site

A three-course dinner at 19:00 comes with the Snowhotel 365 stay, and the resort has two restaurants, Låven and Gabba.

Breakfast

Included

Included in the Snowhotel 365 package, per the resort’s booking page: a buffet 07:00 to 10:00, or 08:00 to 10:00 from April to November, after a three-course dinner at 19:00.

Address

Sandnes, about 10 km from town

Sandnesdalen 14, 9910 Bjørnevatn
Hotel website

Fact Sheet

The fine print, in one place

Times, fees, rooms and the small stuff, as Snowhotel publishes it. We couldn’t confirm where hurtigruten’s gamme cabins 11:30 return transfer drops you, a stand-alone day-visit price, so ask when you book.

Check-in and check-out

Check-in17:00 (Snowhotel 365)

Check-out08:00

Breakfast

Included in the Snowhotel 365 package, per the resort’s booking page: a buffet 07:00 to 10:00, or 08:00 to 10:00 from April to November, after a three-course dinner at 19:00.

Parking for your stay

Free parking, per the resort’s booking page

Pool

No pool mentioned on the pages we read

Pets

Not stated on the pages we read.

Food and drink on site

Three-course dinnerIncluded, 19:00
LåvenRestaurant
GabbaRestaurant

Rooms

Snow rooms kept at -4°C, open all year, with a sleeping bag, a warm lounge open 24 hours, a sauna and showers, per the resort. The Gamme Cabins are Sami-hut style with their own bathroom and big windows. Booking.com shows check-in 15:00 and check-out 11:00; Hurtigruten’s Gamme Cabins programme gives check-in 15:00.

Accessibility

Snow rooms are for ages 7 and up and the Gamme Cabins for ages 4 and up, per the resort. Its pages we read don’t detail accessible rooms.

On site

GymNot stated
Sauna or spaYes
Family roomsNot stated
Pets allowedNot stated

Also worth knowing

Hurtigruten sells it as a programme: a snow suite from EUR 250 a person, Gamme Cabins from EUR 260
Hurtigruten puts the snow rooms at -4 to -6°C
Open 365 days a year

Worth Knowing

Before you book

Worth knowing

Dinner and breakfast are in the Snowhotel 365 stay, per the resort.
Check-in 17:00, check-out 08:00.
Hurtigruten’s programme picks up at the port at 09:00, suited to the end of a northbound voyage.

What we couldn’t confirm

Where Hurtigruten’s Gamme Cabins 11:30 return transfer drops you
A stand-alone day-visit price

Every hotel fact here comes from Snow Resort Kirkenes’s own booking pages, with Hurtigruten’s programme pages, read October 2026, unless we name another source. Distances are straight lines between our own map pins.

Compare