The ice castles are located in five different states Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin. A perfect weekend escape from Boston visiting the one in Lincoln, NH. The ice castles are made out of gorgeous formations of icicles hand placed by professional ice artists. The ice castle is an enchanting winter attraction with everything made of ice from ice tunnels, slides, thrones, and ice fountains I truly felt like a kid again. There is snow tubing at the ice castles included in ticket price. There is also a peaceful wooded outdoor walking trail. Finally, for an additional fee you can book a horse drawn carriage ride through the snow. More than 25 million pounds of ice to create this ice castles, more than a million people have come to the ice castles to view the work, and artist spending over more than 4,000 hours to build the castle in the last seasons. Each year the ice castles are changing so you’ll never see the same castle. 

Plan Ahead: 

Dress Warm, Bring Layers:The ice castles are a lot colder than expected especially when viewing the tunnels. Best to bring a merino wool sweater for a base layer. Adds extra warmth. I wore fleece lined leggings under my jeans. Highly recommend, fleece lined or wool leggings. Wool coat or down feather coat. Finally, insulated boots. If you plan on just visiting and do not have highly insulated boots you can add shearling inserts to your shoes for warmth. Linked all the items below. Finally, hot hands placed in your mittens are always a life saver. 

Buy Tickets in Advance:

Tickets sell out fast. My sister came to visit during the winter season and visiting the ice castles were top on her list. She was able to grab the last viewing time, if I remember correctly it was at 10 p.m. However, the tickets were selling out so fast I had no idea. There seemed to be larger crowds during the night viewing than day and of course more crowded on the weekend. Admission costs are $20 Monday-Thursday and $27 Friday-Sunday. The ice castles opening in January book tickets here. 

Parking: 

Arrive twenty minutes early to find parking. Parking is free in the parking lot. However, depending on crowds and lines it could take time to park, walk to entrance, and then wait in line for admission.