Ice Castle Locations
There are multiple locations across the US where you can experience the Ice Castles. We personally visited the ones in Woodstock, NH – located in the heart of the White Mountains! It’s 2-hours driving from Boston so it’s possible to do in a day trip but more advisable to spend a weekend. Additional Ice Castle locations can be found in Colorado, Minnesota, New York & Utah.
Ice Castles Tickets
Pricing for the ice castles depends on whether you’re visiting in Peak or Off-Peak times. Peak refers to weekends and school breaks and costs $30 ($23 for children). Off-peak is only $20 ($15 for children) and includes non-school break week-days. It is highly recommended to purchase your tickets in advance as they do sell out. When asking yourself, are the ice castles worth it – consider pricing and time of week you’re visiting. Even at it’s max price of $30 – it’s still fairly inexpensive compared to other winter activities. For more information visit: Ice Castle Tickets.
Exploring the Castles
The main event are the ice castles themselves. They look as though icicles have been stacked on top of each other (similar to a drip castles made of sand at the beach). There are caves to explore within the castles, as well as slides made of ice to bring out your inner child! In the evening, they light up the castles with different colored lights so the magic continues.
Activities
In addition to the ice castles, you can go Snow Tubing down a small hill, grab a hot drink & snack at a concession stand or take a stroll through a forest decorated with lights. While we didn’t feel like waiting in line for tubing, we did take the quarter mile-long loop in the forest and enjoyed all the colorful lights decorating the trees. For an additional $25 you can also take a short sleigh ride through the snow but it is not included in your ticket like the other activities are.
Tips for Visiting
The most important tip for visiting the ice castles is to dress warm! You’re walking through snow & crushed up ice (it’s almost a consistency of sand) so heavy boots with thick socks is recommended. (Our feet were the first thing to feel cold!) We wore multiple layers of pants (including a waterproof outside layer), as well as hats, gloves & scarves. We also kept hand warmers in our jacket pockets to help keep our hands warm. It was wild to see how inappropriately people were dressed for the castles (sneakers, heeled boots, etc.). If we felt cold with all our layers, we can only imagine how their visit was impacted (and most likely cut short).
A final tip when visiting the ice castles is to plan to go right before sunset. The sky was such a lovely color at golden hour so we could see what the castles looked like during the day. It gave them a very ethereal vibe. This timing also gives you the opportunity to see the ice castles lit up at night, as the lights start coming on shortly after sunset.
Are the ice castles worth it?
So, are the ice castles worth it? Overall, the ice castles are one of those activities that you only need to do once but are totally worth it! Our favorite part was definitely the ice slides and forest walk, but there’s so much to enjoy there. It’s perfect to go with family, friends or even as a date night. Exploring the castles felt like we’d stepped into a scene from the movie Frozen and really helped bring some magic to the Winter season.
