The Snowhotel staff were so friendly and accomodating, despite us not being hotel guests. They helped us with no hesitation whatsoever and were very patient as well. Our guide for the King Crab package, Dirk, was both extremely knowledgeable and witty. He was very kind as to help attend to our son and entertain him throughout the tour. The entire experience was a very informative and fulfilling one and I would highly recommend for anyone that is taking a stop in Kirkenes to, at the very least, take on one of their tour packages. You would not regret it.
Went on this excursion by default because there was not enough snow for our sleigh ride and ended up really enjoying it. Our hosts were experienced and knowledgeable. You travel out in the fjord in a small craft--after they have dressed you up in extra warm clothing. The crab are lifted out of traps and then brought ashore and cooked and served up to you with bread, butter and mayonnaise. An extra bonus--we saw the huskies being exercised pulling sleighs with wheels!
My family and I had the best time at the crab safari. The crab safari consisted of a ride to the Barent Sea where the sea was completely frozen. Before the went on the ride they made sure we were fully equipped with all the proper gear to keep us warm including warm boots and gloves in case you forget to bring your own gear! Dirk, our guide for the crab safari, was very kind and fun to talk to! He knows so much about king crabs and has so much more to share! The best crabs we ever had!!!
Other things we did at the snow hotel were petting the ski dogs and getting a tour of the actual ice hotel! Our guide for that was Milli who was also very kind and hospitable. :)
Our tour was hosted by Michael Decker and was both informative and entertaining.
A group of 13 of us were taken out in a studio pulled sleigh to a frozen lake at Kirkenes to collect king crabs from a crab pot as well as being briefed about the crabs, their history in the area and their environment. Then We came back to the hotel and ate as much as we wanted of freshly caught perfectly cooked crab legs for lunch. The taste was amazing and a very special foodie experience which is hard to beat.
Had pre-booked the king crab excursion with Snow Hotel.
Pick up was timely and right away upon reaching Snow Hotel (they were busy building their 2018 Snow Hotel expected to commence 20/12/2018.
We were guided to the changing and gearing up room where winter overalls, boots, gloves, helmets and “ninja balaclava” are also selected according to sizes and after general safety instructions we were quickly on our way to understand the giant king crab origin and to play our role to control the population by eating them. One of Norway export with commercial fishing only in Sept and Oct.
Still contributes 500 mil euros per annum in export.
After an amazing inspirational snowmobile driven sleigh ride through the white, fresh winter wonderland we arrive at our crab hole where traps were laid for tourism.
Our guide was comical in sharing the intricacies of the king crab with very detail and interesting facts on the crab. After pictures and our lesson we made our way back to the Snow Hotel Restaurant where our catch was cooked fresh into the boiling pot.
After waiting (with very nice hot ginger lemon drink) our huge crab legs au natural was delivered where we savoured to our needs all that you can eat.
The freshness is top notch and this contributes to the wonderful meal.
Word of caution as you cannot overeat as the crab legs are huge and very filling.
After lunch we took more pics of the very nice cabins, the reindeers and the huskies (quite a lot of them) and Snow Hotel allowed the various groups to play and interact with the huskies and other breeds to the delight of both the guests and the dogs.
What a day, it’s this moments that make the tour so much to treasure
