Ice Bar London (Winter Wonderland Pop-Up Bar) | Everything You Need To Know

Have you been to Ice Bar London? Best way to describe it, is a walk in freezer full of ice sculptures, carved by the same artists that do the IceHotel in Sweden. The bar is made of ice, the walls are ice, the tables and chairs are ice…even the glasses are ice (the floor isn’t ice so you don’t have to worry about slipping over)!  

Ice Bar London

**Looking for Ice bars in London? The permanent Ice Bar has now closed.

The only alternative option is the pop up ‘Bar Ice’ which is at Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, open for 6 weeks over the Christmas season**

• 📅17th November 2023 – 1st January 2024
• 🕘11am until 9.45pm

The photos in this post are from my visit to the old Ice Bar location. I have been to a couple of ice bars now and my tips and advice still remain the same. The experiences are all fairly similar. I have updated with the Winter Wonderland prices.

Not going to lie, it is expensive for what is it. Bar Ice at Winter Wonderland have an admission fee (with 1 cocktail included) priced at:

• Peak: £17.50
• Standard: £16.50
• Off Peak: £15.50

When I visited the Ice Bar in Queenstown, New Zealand, I had managed to find a 2-for-1 voucher which made it a bit more worthwhile.  Customers are only allowed to stay in the bar for 20 minutes but the entrance fee does include one cocktail and the use of a big warm cape and gloves.

Ice Bar London Dress Code

There isn’t really a set dress code for Ice Bar London, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter too much what you wear as the big ole cloak covers up everything anyway! The temperature in the bar is kept at -10c.

I’d recommend close toed shoes, just because of the temperature and the floor is chequer plate metal, so it’s not completely flat (if you were planning on wearing high heeled shoes).  

I didn’t see any specific dress code rules for Ice Bar while visiting and there’s nothing mentioned on their website about a dress code.  So I don’t think you have to worry too much, casual or smart casual would be fine.

(If you plan on hanging out in the bar or restaurant, you might want to dress a little nicer.  For example Ballie Ballerson ball pit bar say no athletic/gym wear, however trainers are fine.)

I visited Ice Bar when it was at its permanent location in Regent Street (now closed). For once we had a warm day in London, I was wearing shorts, everyone in the line was like ‘you’re going to freeze!!!’. It really wasn’t that bad, it’s roughly -10c…Iowan winters seem to not really get above that for close to 6 months of the year! 

Winter Cloak/coats

The Ice Bar cloaks are quite long too, I’m 5ft 4 and it came down below my knees.  Although my legs were fine for that short time.  I kept taking my gloves off to use my camera and by the end of my session, my fingers were a little numb.

The way I thought of it, was that I was going to dress for the weather outside.  It’d be no different if you were wearing a skirt or a dress.  The Ice Bar experience is only a maximum of 20 minutes but I knew I was going to be wandering around outside for a lot longer.

Bar Ice at Winter Wonderland provide winter cloaks and gloves.

Please be aware that different chains of Ice Bar may have different clothes. For example ‘Below Zero’ in Queenstown, NZ just provide just regular winter jackets and gloves rather than a poncho style cloak.

Personally I think the cloaks are more fun and cozy compared to the winter jackets. They feel a bit more unique.

Ice Bar London Cocktails

The most fun part of the Ice Bar experience, is that the glasses are made of ice! They are quite slippery so it’s worth using both gloved hands to hold them! The glasses don’t melt despite being constantly held onto, only the rim starts melting away but it then makes it easier to drink from!

These are the 2 we tried:

Monkey Wrench
Absolut Vodka, Blueberry Liqueur,
Tropical Fruit Juice, Lemon Juice,
Strawberry Syrup

Chop Suey
Absolut Vanilla Vodka, Blueberry Liqueur,
Apple Juice, Cinnamon Syrup

(Rock fans will notice that these are Foo Fighter’s and System of a Down songs!).  The cocktails roughly stayed the same with each theme, just their name changes!

Ice Sculptures

By the time we had finished our drinks, a lot of the people in our session had started to clear out (I guess there were around 20 of us altogether and it did feel quite cramped).  There was time to hang around and take a few photos. 

As mentioned above, this was my second visit to an Icebar, I’ve found that both of them have had ice props to play around with.  

The 2016 theme was ‘Ice Bar Rocks’ a Rock n Roll, which was perfect for mine and my sister’s visit because we both love music.  The current 2019 theme is ‘Valhalla Calling‘ with ice sculptures based around magic and myths!

For example, London had an ice guitar where you could stand behind it and look like you are playing it and a big skull you could climb inside. In New Zealand, there was an ‘air’ hockey table (minus the air…the ice was slippery enough!) and bear shaped chairs!

Bar Ice at Winter Wonderland is 80’s Apres-ski themed. It has tables and chairs made from ice too and DJ type music is played.

It’s definitely fun for a quick experience, I had bought this as a birthday present for my sister and she really enjoyed it.

Winter Wonderland

Bar Ice London is located within Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Not going to lie, Winter Wonderland is VERY expensive. As well as the Bar Ice entrance fee, unless you spend £25 on pre-booked attractions, you’ll also have to pay an entrance fee to Winter Wonderland too.

Entrance to Winter Wonderland is also TIMED. So you’ll have to book a Bar Ice slot that coincides with the entry time. You are expected to turn up 20 minutes before the Bar Ice session, so keep in mind any queues you may get stuck in.

When I visited Winter Wonderland, I had the 10am slot on a Saturday morning. The red entrance (the next entrance down from the gold one…which is closest to Marble Arch underground and extremely busy), had a shorter line to get in.

The later time slots get very long lines for both entrance and attractions and there are generally a lot more people about.

There are plenty of food and drink options around the park (although they do cost a small fortune too). The fairground rides and some of the best travelling rides I have been on. I went on Munich Looping (£10), Airborne (£9) and The Hangover (£9), all are really good.

Here are some other ideas for unique things to do in London!

• 🧗🏻‍♀️5 Unusual Things To Do In London
• 🛝Arcelormittal Orbit London: Riding the Longest Tube Slide in the World
• 🚡Riding The Cable Car in London!
• ⚡️Harry Potter Inspired London Itinerary: 4 Days

Have you ever visited an Icebar? Are there any ‘cool’ bars around the world that you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments below!

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Last Updated on April 24, 2024