New Hampshire Ice Castles - Best Tips & Tricks!
Cross-posting this article here on my own personal Substack, for easy reference for my fellow moms.
WHAT TO BRING:
Make sure to wear snow pants, so that you can slide down the ice slides. Make sure to wear all other snow gear as well - snow boots, gloves, scarves, hats, sweaters, coats and even ski masks.
For the “polar ice bar” - an alcoholic bar in an igloo, with bonfires in front - make sure to bring ID!
Bring a sled or toboggan on which to pull toddlers. Strollers are not a possibility!
TO GET THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK:
When planning your visit:
Sign up for their email list, and they’ll tell you in advance what time and day ice castles will go on sale online. In 2024, tickets went on sale online on a November morning. The off-peak weekdays were the cheapest - make sure to compare all the dates on the rate calendar. Kids age 3 and under are free!
In early February, the ice castles often send out a “20%-off of non-peak days” sale in an email. Keep an eye out for this!
Make sure to see the ice castles fully, both by day AND by night. Arrive early, significantly before sunset, and stay through dark!
You can type your desired stay dates in Google to compare all local motel and hotel prices in the Woodstock NH area through many different booking websites. (I’ve almost always found the best pricing to be on Expedia!). If you stay somewhere cheap (we stayed at a lovely $53/night motel!), perhaps you can justify having a drink at the well-known Woodstock Brewery after your ice castles visit!
Ice Castle tickets are nonrefundable and non-transferable. If you can no longer make it to the ice castles and need to sell your tickets, consider joining different “White Mountains” Facebook groups and posting your ticket there, seeing if anyone would like to buy them.
When visiting:
Make sure to see and enjoy all the parts of the ice castles - there are at least 2 adult slides, kids slides, tunnels/caverns, thrones, and ice sculptures. Make sure also to do the lighted forest walk and snow tubing, and make sure to see all the ice sculptures surrounding the outside of the ice castles.
Although there is an additional fee to take the horse-drawn sleigh ride, you might find the experience well worth it.
The ice castles feature a wonderful soundtrack that sounds like it was Disney-produced! Make sure to get some videos and reels, in order to capture the whole experience.
Regarding other FREE entertainment in the area:
At your motel or hotel will be a pamphlet for The Christmas Loft, a year-round Christmas store with locations in both North Woodstock and North Conway. On that pamphlet will be a coupon that says “free ornament” with the purchase of another item! The Christmas Loft’s Woodstock location is just a few minutes from the ice castles!
The Museum of the White Mountains in Plymouth, NH (about 25 minutes south of the ice castles) offers free admission!
The one public beach on Squam Lake is the Ashland Town Beach. The gate door is open in the winter, and you can walk down to the shoreline! The famous wooden-covered Squam River Covered Bridge is located right here as well - make sure to take a picture of/under it!
About 25 minutes east of Squam Lake is the Loon Center & Markus Wildlife Sanctuary, a free nature center in Moultonborough, NH.
The New England Ski Museum, which offers free admission, has two locations, and the western one is located in Franconia NH (about 25 minutes north of the ice castles)!
The Franconia Heritage Museum (also of course in Franconia) also offers free admission!
Although not an indoor location, the Franconia Iron Furnace is a historical landmark that is free to view and visit!