There's no place better for snuggling than a snow or ice hotel.  The threat of hypothermia  works its wonders on even the most reluctant romantics.

But there's more to these hotels than their amazing sculpted interiors and ice furniture. Several also offer the opportunity to head into the Arctic wilderness by snowshoes, skis, dogsled or snowmobile.

So where do you find these architectural wonders?  Europe's Arctic north has several hotels constructed from either snow or ice.  The Mammut Snow Hotel in the Lapland community of Kemi, Finland keeps its hotel rooms at a cool -5 degree C.  At the hotel's Snow Restaurant, you can enjoy a romantic meal while sitting on an ice bench lined with reindeer fur.  Weddings are held in the Snow Chapel.

In Norway is the Alta Igloo ice hotel, 250 kilometers from North Cape.  Rebuilt each year, this hotel has thirty rooms and two suites, each decorated with ice sculptures and ice furniture. 
Even cocktail glasses are made from ice.  And on a clear, cloudless night you may be able to see the aurora borealis or northern lights.

Sweden's Icehotel in the village of Jukkasjarvi in northern Lapland boasts the famous Absolut Icebar as well as a theater.  The hotel offers wilderness tours to the winter grazing grounds of elk and moose.  Or you can take a
reindeer sleigh ride to a
traditional Saami village.

Romania is host to the first ice hotel in eastern Europe - a small igloo shaped hotel in the Fagaras Mountains in Balea Luc. The only winter access is by cable car, and the mountains support populations of brown bear, bison, lynx and wolves. Across the Atlantic, east of Quebec City,  a new ice hotel opens each January.  The hotel provides warm arctic sleeping bags on ice beds lined with deer fur.  Outdoor activities include ice fishing, dog sledding, wildlife observation (black bear) and cross-country skiing.