Kiruna is Sweden’s northernmost city, about 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, and it exists because of iron ore: it was founded as a mining community in 1900. That same ore is now undermining the old centre, so the town is moving. A new centre 3 km east was inaugurated in 2022, and the church was rolled to a new site in August 2025. You come here for three things: a tour of the world’s largest underground iron-ore mine, the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, and the sky, which means the northern lights from September to March or the midnight sun from late May to mid-July.
Getting oriented
Kiruna municipality covers 19 447 km², but almost everyone lives in the central town: about 18 000 of roughly 23 000 residents, with the rest spread over some 50 villages. The town is compact and walkable, and the mine’s terraces rise directly above it.
The layout is changing under your feet. LKAB told the municipality in 2004 that mining would reach the town; the council decided on 19 September 2011 to shift the centre east, and the new centre with its shops opened on 1 September 2022. LKAB’s August 2025 prognosis doubled the affected area: about 12 000 people are now expected to move within ten years, against an original estimate of 6 000. The move is expected to be complete by 2035. The new city hall, Kristallen, has been in use since August 2018, when the old “Igloo” closed, and it doubles as the Norrbotten county art museum. Streets and shops on your map may be out of date, so start at the tourist centre, Kiruna Lappland, at Malmvägen 9B; the mine tour departs from there too.
Pack for the season you are in. Winter in town usually runs -12 to -20 °C, while Jukkasjärvi in the Torne valley often drops below -30. Summer days sit at 10–20 °C. The sun stays below the horizon from 11 December to 1 January and never sets from 26 May to 18 July, by the tourist board’s dates. For the country-wide picture, see the Sweden climate guide.
Highlights
LKAB mine tour
The iron-ore mine under Kiruna is the largest underground mine of its kind in the world, and LKAB runs a visitor centre at the 540 m level. You cannot walk in on your own: tours are booked through Kiruna Lappland and leave from the tourist centre at Malmvägen 9B. The trip takes 3 hours including the bus transfer, a guide and a coffee break, and costs 590 SEK for adults, 490 SEK for students and seniors aged 65 and over, and 190 SEK for children aged 6 to 15, who must be at least 110 cm tall. Under-sixes are not admitted. Tours run all year, but days and languages vary, so check the schedule before you fix your dates.
Kiruna church
Built between 1909 and 1912 to a design by Gustav Wickman and shaped like a Sámi hut, the wooden church was the town’s landmark for a century. It made world news on 19 and 20 August 2025, when LKAB rolled the 600-tonne building along a 5 km route to a plot between the cemetery and the new centre. It was rotated 180 degrees on the way, so the altar now faces west. The church is closed to visitors and is expected to reopen in the first half of 2027. Until then LKAB suggests Jukkasjärvi church, Poikkijärvi chapel or the cemetery chapel instead.
Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi
The Icehotel stands beside the Torne river in Jukkasjärvi, 18 km from Kiruna, and has been rebuilt from river ice every winter since 1989. The seasonal ice hotel is open from mid-December to mid-April; the year-round ICEHOTEL 365 keeps ice suites and an ice bar frozen through summer. You do not need to sleep in it. A day visit between 13 April and December 2026 costs 325 SEK for adults and 39 SEK for children aged 4 to 12, with under-fours free alongside a paying adult; the art exhibition is open 11:00–18:00 and the ICEBAR keeps the same hours. Winter-season admission is not printed on the ticket page, so ask when you book. Overnight guests get in free. Rooms, sleeping bags and the art suites are covered on the Icehotel page.
Jukkasjärvi church and the Sámi Siida
Jukkasjärvi village has about 800 inhabitants and, by the tourist board’s count, more than 1 000 dogs, which tells you what most of the yards are for. Its church dates from 1726, with parts from 1607, and it is one of the places LKAB recommends while Kiruna’s own church is shut; details on the Jukkasjärvi church page. Next to it, the Sámi Siida Márkanbáiki is a Sámi open-air museum. Combine both with the Icehotel in one trip on bus 501.
Getting around
Kiruna Airport (KRN) has direct flights to Stockholm. From the terminal, an airport coach run by Falcks Omnibus follows the flight schedule into the centre along Hjalmar Lundbomsvägen and Malmvägen. Länstrafiken’s bus 91 between Kiruna and Riksgränsen also calls at the airport, but it runs to its own timetable and will not wait for a late plane. From spring to autumn the Nikkaluokta Express runs out to Nikkaluokta, and Visit Abisko runs a door-to-door shuttle to Abisko. The alternative to flying is the SJ night train from Stockholm, with one departure a day; our Sweden transport guide covers booking.
Local buses run daily, all year, with tickets sold in the Länstrafiken Norrbotten app, on board, or as the annual Kirunakortet. A single adult fare is 32 kr for anyone 26 or over, 24 kr for ages 20 to 25 and 16 kr for ages 7 to 19; two children under seven ride free with each paying adult, and a 10-trip card costs 288 kr. There is no day ticket, either locally or on the regional Länstrafiken network, so budget per ride. The regional 30-day Länsbiljett costs 3 036 SEK, halved to 1 518 SEK from 1 July to 1 December 2026 under a government discount, and only pays off for a long stay; single regional fares are distance-based, so check the journey planner.
For Jukkasjärvi, take bus 501 and pay by card on board; weekend departures are limited, so plan around the timetable. The Icehotel is about 15–20 minutes from both the airport and the railway station by transfer bus or taxi, and from December to April the hotel sells a dog-sled airport transfer that takes 75 minutes.
Where to stay by area
The new centre, east of the old one, is where the shops and the city hall are, and it is where the town’s life is heading; stay here if you want to walk to dinner and the bus stops. The old centre around the former church site still has hotels and guesthouses, but check current addresses before booking, because streets in the mining zone are being closed in stages. Jukkasjärvi is the choice if the Icehotel is the point of the trip: you sleep in a cold room or a warm chalet, wake up beside the ice, and let the hotel’s transfers handle the airport run. Abisko, to the west, suits aurora chasers and Kungsleden walkers, with the STF mountain station rather than city hotels.
Day trips
Abisko National Park lies about 100 km west of Kiruna, and both the E10 road and the railway pass straight through it. The bus from Kiruna to the Abisko Turist stop takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, and Visit Sweden puts the train or drive at just over an hour. From the station it is an 800 m walk to the STF mountain station and the naturum visitor centre. The park was founded in 1909 and covers 7 700 hectares; the Kungsleden trail runs through it along the Abiskojåkka river to Lake Torneträsk, so you can walk a section and be back for the evening bus. The Abisko National Park page has the trails.
The Aurora Sky Station on Mount Nuolja is the reason many people go to Abisko in winter. Night visits run from 19 October 2026 to 27 March 2027, starting at 20:30 and ending no later than 01:00, and the price includes the guide, the roughly 2 km cable-car ride to 900 m above sea level, and warm clothing. The price itself is not printed on the season page, so book in advance and read the confirmation. If you are here at midsummer instead, look out for the Kiruna Festival, a free city music festival under the midnight sun; the 2026 edition ran on 26 and 27 June, so check Visit Sweden for next year’s dates.
Stockholm is a night train away; see the Stockholm city page if you are combining the capital with the north.