12-day Arctic adventure Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge – Best of Svalbard

12 Days 11 Nights

Experience the ultimate Arctic adventure as you explore Svalbard and the Polar Ice Edge. Discover the best of Svalbard’s rugged beauty and unique wildlife on this unforgettable journey. Observe the Arctic Fox, Reindeer, and the polar bears. Join us for an unforgettable adventure that will take you to the top of the world.

12-day Arctic adventure Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge - Best of Svalbard
12-day Arctic adventure Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge - Best of Svalbard Svalbard Arctic

12-day Arctic adventure Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge - Best of Svalbard, accommodation in triple/twin sharing, private suite,

Product SKU: ARC12/LYR/LYR

Product Brand: RJ Travel - Tour Operator

Product Currency: USD

Product Price: 8895

Product In-Stock: InStock

Editor's Rating:
5
  • M/v Sea Spirit Cruise
  • Longyearbyen
  • Longyearbyen
  • Triple Sharing, Twin sharing, Private suite
  • Longyearbyen, Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge, Longyearbyen

12-day Arctic adventure

Welcome to Longyearbyen, the administrative center of Svalbard and starting point of our Arctic expedition! At the Longyearbyen airport, you will be greeted by our staff and transferred to the hotel, which has been arranged by us and is included in the price of the itinerary. You will then be free to explore the charming, walkable town center.

We recommend starting your discovery of this fascinating Norwegian High Arctic territory at the excellent Svalbard Museum, where you can also purchase hard-to-find polar books and maps. Afterward, you can enjoy an excellent dinner at one of Longyearbyen’s many delightful restaurants. If you are still awake at midnight, you will notice the sun has not set. In fact, the sun will not set for the entire duration of our time in Svalbard.

After breakfast at your hotel, the morning is yours to enjoy Longyearbyen. Take in the views of icy fjords and glaciated mountains surrounding this historic former coal-mining town. Take advantage of shopping for souvenirs or some last-minute necessities such as cold-weather gear. Remember, you will soon receive your own parka to keep and waterproof boots to borrow on board the ship. For lunch, Longyearbyen offers quick and easy meal options, including the most northerly pizzas and kebabs in the world.

In the afternoon, you will be transferred to the pier, where we will warmly welcome you aboard the deluxe expedition vessel M/V Sea Spirit. Get settled in your spacious suite and explore the ship that will be your comfortable home during the extraordinary adventure to come. After getting underway, a full schedule of events kicks off with informative briefings and introductions from your expedition staff. After the first of many delicious dinners on board, step out onto the open decks to admire the gorgeous scenery in 24-hour daylight as we pass through the wildlife-rich waters of Isfjorden.

Breakfast, Dinner

This voyage’s goal is to circumnavigate Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. We hope to experience the many facets of this incredible High Arctic territory along the way. Our exact schedule and route will be shaped by weather and ice. We also expect enough sea ice to support ice-dependent animals such as polar bears and walruses.

We expect to encounter significant sea ice concentrations in the enormous Northwest Svalbard Nature Reserve during this voyage. In this remote and isolated region, ice can persist very late into the summer, giving it a truly polar character. This reserve covers the rugged northwestern parts of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet, the second-largest island in Svalbard. Here we find the massive Austfonna ice cap, part of which meets the sea along the 45-kilometer ice cliff known as Bråsvellbreen—one of the great wonders of the Arctic world. The polar desert environment supports little vegetation but hosts prodigious numbers of seabirds at breeding sites such as the spectacular sea cliffs of Alkefjellet. The probability of encountering polar bears and walruses in this icy wilderness is very high.

Also on our route is Northwest Spitsbergen National Park, the crown jewel of Svalbard’s scenic wonders. Here we find deep fjords flanked by serrated mountain peaks and immense tidewater glaciers calving icebergs into turquoise waters. The whole area is alive with migratory Arctic seabirds. On this voyage, we are just in time to witness the return of millions of murres, guillemots, and little auks to the small islands, mountainsides, and sea cliffs where they breed within the park. This is also a great area to encounter marine mammals, including various kinds of whales and Arctic seals. Set among this incredible scenery and wildlife activity, we also find evidence of Svalbard’s earliest sealers and whalers.

Human habitation along our route can be found at Ny Ålesund, a former mining town and airship base that is now home to an international community of Arctic researchers. This is one of the world’s most northerly settlements, where we find a gift shop and a post office. We also visited a famous airship mast that was a starting point of the North Pole expeditions by Umberto Nobile and Roald Amundsen. This place played an important part in the history of polar exploration.

The ambitious Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge route offers a comprehensive view of the Arctic’s many faces. Every day offers something new and exciting. We will not miss a single opportunity to encounter amazing Arctic wildlife, witness incredible polar scenery, and walk in the footsteps of historic expeditions that came before.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After filling up with one last buffet breakfast on board, we bid you farewell in Longyearbyen. We provide transfers to the airport and flights to Oslo. By this time, you may be planning your next fantastic trip with us into the polar world!

Breakfast

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12-day Arctic adventure Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge – Best of Svalbard