Winter Ice Castles in Lincoln, NH

Hello & Happy Friday,

My family and I recently traveled up north to Lincoln, New Hampshire to see the ice castles for the second year in a row.  If you are looking for something fun to do this winter, it is a must see in my opinion.  The tickets sell out pretty quickly but if you want to secure tickets in advance and not have a limited selection for dates and times, go to their website a few weeks ahead of time and purchase their pre-sale tickets.  The pre-sale option not only gives you the opportunity to buy discounted tickets in advance but you also receive a notification 24 hours before the general public to get first pick on a date and time you want to check them out.  If you are a planner like me, then this is the way to go.

The ice castles are hand-crated and made with 25 million-pounds of ice. There are frozen slides, thrones, archways, tunnels and they even get lit up with colorful led lights in the evening.  It is pretty remarkable to see this sight up close and personal.  The photograph below was an archway that I photographed with my wide angle lens.  I have to say, I was almost going to trade in this lens but it does come in handy in certain situations.  This was one of my favorite shots aside of the ones I took of my children of course.

It just so happens that they also have occasional visits from the cast of Disney’s “Frozen” on the weekends as well.  We did not plan it but we were lucky enough to meet Elsa, Anna and Olaf shortly after our arrival.  Considering, I have two younger girls, this was a GREAT surprise.  We waited in a pretty reasonable line and got free pictures with my own camera.  I thought this was a great addition to visiting this spot.  They also have a professional photographer taking photographs at the entrance for purchase as well.  Either way, a camera of any kind to capture moments here is a must.

This was definitely a great activity for all ages.  Plan to spend about an hour there to really explore and enjoy it.  Since it about a 2 hour + ride from where I live in Massachusetts, I would try to make a day out of it or spend the night and check out loon mountain nearby for skiing.  There is also a place not too far for sledding as well if you are not a skier.  More fun winter updates coming soon! Stay warm my friends!