Ice hotel in Sweden

Hi,

I have been looking into visiting the original ice hotel in the north of Sweden and was hoping to get some advice on this. So far, im thinking of flying into Stockholm fom the UK, spending a couple of days in Stockholm before getting the train up to Kiruna (home of the ice hotel). I would buy a rail pass which allowed 5 days of travel in sweden. I know that the jounrey would take around 17 hours, so was wondering if anyone knew of any places on the way up where i could stop for a night to get off the train and to get more of a feel for Sweden. Somewhere with cheap accomodation would also be great. Also, im only planning on staying in the ice hotel for 1 night - my budget cant afford ne more - so does anyone know of any hostels / cheap hotels in the area tht i could stay at for 3 nights or so, so that i can explore the area a bit more.
Ive also been reading about how in winter it doesnt really get light that far up north. Are we talking properly dark like night time, or just not very light as there is no sun?? Is it still possible to do stuff at this time of year? The ice hotel is only open / standing from Dec to April, so we have a tight schedule.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Nicola

so was wondering if anyone knew of any places on the way up where i could stop for a night to get off the train and to get more of a feel for Sweden.

It doesn't really work like that, sadly. Most of the places which the train passes through are tiny and irreleavnt. The only place between Sundsvall and Boden/Luleå of any relevance and that you can get to on the train is Umeå, a big student town and decent place. BUT, you still have to take a night train to get that far, so if you just wanted a night between two days travelling, it doesn't work.

so does anyone know of any hostels / cheap hotels in the area tht i could stay at for 3 nights or so, so that i can explore the area a bit more.

The IceHotel itself also has a number of log cabins etc which are much cheaper (most people only stay in the Hotel itself for one night, as there isn't a huge amount of point doing it for longer). Failing that, head into Kiruna and stay there (the Yellow House is probably your best bet)

so that i can explore the area a bit more.

As you are unlikely to go to the area or anywhere like that again, you really MUST go on a dogsledding tour. At least one, ideally 2 or more Overnights, spent out in the real wilderness (but in cabins which are toasty warm). And driving your own husky sled instead of just sitting in it. An amazing experience and memory. But it's not always cheap, sadly.

Are we talking properly dark like night time, or just not very light as there is no sun??

Properly dark for several weeks, with the obvious exception that because everything is covered in snow, it's still light-ish (unlike night time when everything is dark around you]. But it starts getting light quite rapidly, so if you go in sometime like Feb or March you still get a pretty decent day and amount of daylight.

The ice hotel is only open / standing from Dec to April,

The way winters have been here in the last few years is tricky. Last winter was very late (and it's been a mild one), and there was a worry of the hotel would open on time as it just wasn't cold enough. May is becoming more possible. Safest is probably from mid Jan to mid March