Islands and fjords, northern lights and polar bears, welcome to the archipelago at the end of the world. Explore Svalbard on an expedition cruise with mighty mountains, nesting birds, glacier crossing, kayaking fjords, and entering the high Arctic. Traveling within 620 miles of the North Pole, this tour takes you through a wild and wondrous landscape, where you are humbled by nature and feel the diaphanous beauty of a vanishing world. Click...
Customizable Itinerary
Day 1
Longyearbyen – A Charming Town Surrounded by Wilderness
The adventure begins, flying north from Oslo to the Arctic. Longyearbyen awaits, a small town between fjord and forest. While the surrounding landscape feels old and untouched, Svalbard’s main town has a modern facade, with contemporary architecture draped around the waterfront. It can seem like a strange juxtaposition, the wilderness surrounding such a modern urban landscape. However, it works well for your first night in Svalbard. The adventure is just beginning to settle into the modern amenities, glimpsing the fjords and snow world that exists beyond the waterfront. Now is the time to rest and relax, for there’s so much to come once you embark on the MS Fram.
What's Included:
Day 2
Longyearbyen – Two Urban Sides to the Arctic
Day 3
Kongsfjorden – Cruising Through the Fjords on MS Fram
Day 4
Mitrahalvoya – Crossing a Glacier and Encountering Reindeer
Day 5
Liefdefjord – Hiking, Kayaking and Sublime Arctic Landscapes
Day 6
Eastern Svalbard – Searching for Polar Bears and Journeys in Nature Reserves
Day 7
Eastern Svalbard – Exploring Edgeoya and Cultural Heritage of Kapp Lee
Day 8
Hornsund – Spitsbergen’s Southernmost Tip and Ice through the Fjord
Day 9
Phippsoya – Into the High Arctic
Day 10
Bellsund – Sounds and Fjords and Mountains
Day 11
Isfjord – Discovering Svalbard’s Most Prominent Fjord System
Day 12
Oslo – Departure
Trip Highlights
- Sail above 80 degrees north to the ice edges of the Arctic Ocean, just 620 miles from the North Pole
- Discover the land of the polar bear, watching them drift past on the ice or occupy high Arctic lands
- Walk across glaciers and become one with the ice, Svalbard a white world that’s beautiful to view and touch
- Cruise through countless fjords and witness mighty icebergs
- Travel on a contemporary cruise ship that’s been designed to provide comfort in polar waters
- Hike across uninhabited islands and kayak through shallow fjords (optional)
- Discover Svalbard’s cultural history, including blubber ovens, a Russian village and the serene town of Longyearbyen
- Spend time amid Eastern Svalbard Nature Reserve and South Spitsbergen National Park, where there’s an improbable congregation of wildlife
- Catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis
Detailed Description
Svalbard is the land of the midnight sun and the polar bear. It is an archipelago of seemingly endless fjords and islands. An Arctic landscape that’s painted white every month of the year. People have tried to tame this land but it remains one of the world’s final wildernesses, a frontier just 600 miles from the North Pole. There’s nowhere else like it. You feel humbled by the scale of nature, enlivened by the beautiful details that nature carves into every vista. Traveling to 80 degrees north you appreciate the solitude of these Arctic lands, silence and tranquility accompanies you at nearly every turn.
In Svalbard, there are 3,000 polar bears and 2,500 people, with humans inhabiting only one of the islands. This is nature’s realm, from glaciers calving icebergs to seabird colonies and staggering cliffs. An expedition cruise is just about the only way to explore and you travel in comfort on MS Bram, a boat that was custom built for traversing polar waters. With ten nights on board, this is the ultimate Svalbard expedition, incorporating the contrasts of the archipelago along with a wide range of landing sites and experiences. It’s all about the journey as you cruise through the fjords. It’s also about the destinations as you disembark on uninhabited islands and skerries.
Longyearbyen is the jumping off point. Spend a night and a day here before the cruise departs, chance to relax into the Arctic weather and appreciate a landscape of fjords. Discover the area’s human histories before days traversing the different fjords, Krossfjorden and Kongsfjorden fully immersing you in Arctic splendor. Spend a few days in the Eastern Svalbard and South Spitsbergen nature reserves, with lots of excursions on land and water. After visiting Svalbard’s southern tip, you cruise north to Phippsoya and Bellsund. Isfjord is a delightful little stop on the route back south, another of the fjords that never seem real on the photos.
You travel at a relaxed pace and just looking out of the window is an experience. It’s sunny and surprisingly warm out on the deck, where there’s a wider vantage point and chance to see polar bears out on the ice. Each day features multiple excursions, on land and on the water. You can kayak down shallow channels, cross glaciers on short hikes, and discover many different alpine birds and flora. While the fjords may have unknown and unpronounceable names now, a ten-night Svalbard cruise reveals all the subtleties and details to this remote world. Consider reading about the best Norway operators whom we work with.
Starting Price
$4,915 per person (excluding international flights)
What's Included
- Accommodations
- In-country transportation
- Some or all activities and tours
- Expert trip planning
- 24x7 support during your trip
Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.
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