Ice Bars of The Week

Andy Lynes tells you where to find this winter's coolest bars

Even if you are more Joe Pasquale than George Clooney you can't help but feel cool when surrounded by tons of frozen water in one of the growing number of the world's ice bars.

For example revellers at the Arctic Ice Bar, Uniq, Yliopistonkatu 5, Helsinki (00 358 9 278 1855; uniq.fi) don hooded silver cloaks to protect themselves from the cold.

Escape the chill from the bank of wall-mounted fans at Ice Bar, 296 Russell Street, Melbourne, (chillon .com.au) by moving upstairs to the venue's more conventional Funk Bar.

And, from 23 November to 15 January, the Marble Courtyard at the Four Seasons George V, 31 Avenue George V, Paris (00 33 1 49 52 70 00; fourseasons.com) will become an ice bar offering such delights as a cinnamon-flavoured cocktail in a frozen armchair.

You may find yourself next to the likes of Sir Roger Moore and Dame Shirley Bassey when drinking at the Ice Bar, Ice Hotel, 143, route Duchesnay Pavillon Regie, Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cariter, Quebec (001 418 875 4522; icehotel-canada.com).

The Ice Bar at the ICEHOTEL, 981 91 Jukkasjarvi, Sweden (00 46 980 66 800; icehotel.com) first opened in 1994 and is built from scratch every year with crystal-clear ice from the nearby Torne River.

And 1,000 tons of ice and snow, goes to create the Aurora Ice Museum is home to the Stoli Ice Bar, Chena Hot Springs Resort, Fairbanks, Alaska (001 907 45 18 104; chenahotsprings. com) where your martini is poured from a fish - also made out of ice.

If you're looking for a winter sport that's not too strenuous, try a shot or two from the liquor luge at the outdoor ice bar at the Rusty Nail Bar, 1190 Mountain Road, Stowe, Vermont (001 802 253 6245; rustynailicebar.com).