Spitsbergen in Depth Tour: Big Island, Big Adventure

Your Arctic experience begins in Oslo, Norway’s vibrant capital city. Combining natural splendour and abundant green spaces with a glittering skyline and cosmopolitan vibe, take some time before your adventure to explore this dynamic city. If you arrive early, there are numerous museums, art galleries, forests and restaurants to keep you busy. Retire at your included airport hotel for a night’s rest before your Arctic adventure begins.

The following morning, you’ll meet your group and be transferred to the airport, where you will board a private charter flight to Longyearbyen, a small coal-mining town and Spitsbergen’s largest settlement. Here, you’ll have some time to explore before embarkation - learn about the region’s culture and history at one of the local museums, wander the multi-coloured houses, and observe how people live in this remote polar town. Later on, you’ll meet at the designated point in town and be transferred to the pier. As the ship sets sail, take in your first view of the island’s rugged, glacier-topped mountains rising majestically from the icy Arctic waters.

Each day of this incredible tour will bring new adventure as the cruise circumnavigates by heading north, and around the island of Spitsbergen, exploring the smaller, outlying islands. The cruise plans to circle Spitsbergen, but if conditions are favourable, the ship will also circumnavigate the whole Svalbard archipelago, allowing you to really get a sense of one of Europe’s last great wildernesses. Every Arctic experience is different - depending on the weather, sea and ice. Some of the other locations that may be visited include the 14th of July Glacier, Ny London, Phippsøya, Alkefjellet and the seldom-visited Kvitøya. While the names of the places may seem strange, each site has its own unique appeal and wonder.

There is no shortage of natural beauty in Spitsbergen, where colorful stretching tundra meadows meet immense glaciers and towering mountain ranges. For the bird enthusiasts, the 14th of July Glacier is home to a wide variety of birds, including puffins, purple sandpipers, common eiders, barnacle geese and arctic terns; while Alkefjellet’s cliffs are teeming with nesting Brünnich’s guillemots (thick-billed murres).

With majestic wildlife wherever you look, be sure to have your camera poised at all times. Snap the gentle snow reindeer at sites like Ny London, Sundneset and Alkhornet. Join the activities of the Expedition Team as they search for the iconic polar bear. With Phippsøya and Isbukta two of the bears’ favourite hunting grounds, there is great potential for you to witness these majestic creatures and capture them in action.

A significant part of appreciating Spitsbergen comes from understanding the culture - not just how people live today, but also how this land was first explored. Whaling was a key industry in the region, and you will see remains of outposts from the 16th century, as well as other evidence of whaling at historic landing sites such as Smeerenburg - where remnants of blubber oil ovens point to the location's history as a Dutch whaling settlement.

As the cruise meanders through the icy realm, there are plenty of opportunities for some polar fun, including a daring polar plunge, optional sea kayaking and paddling excursions and numerous onboard lectures from Arctic experts.

Your Arctic experience ends in the frontier-style settlement of Longyearbyen, where it began. After a last breakfast onboard, you’ll have time to wave farewell to your Expedition Team and fellow passengers, before completing disembarkation. From here, we’ll transfer you to the airport for your return group charter flight to Oslo. Or, if you’ve booked additional accommodation in Longyearbyen for the end of the trip, you’ll be transferred to your hotel.