West Svalbard Expedition Cruise

Departure Longyearbyen

Your journey will start in Longyearbyen, the northernmost town in the world. In this tiny arctic city the streets have no names and it's not unlikely you'll encounter reindeer crossing the road. But also polar bears are never far away. For this reason you are not allowed to leave Longyearbyen without a guide that's carrying a rifle.
While in Longyearbyen, we recommend you visit the Svalbard Museum which has an interesting collection on the history of Svalbard, the mining industry and polar exploration.

In the afternoon of the first day you will embark the ship and depart on your expedition cruise along the coast of west Svalbard. There are many spectacular sites that are worth visiting, but please keep in mind that each expedition cruise is different and that the exact route depends on the weather, sea and ice conditions and the ship you have choosen. Below we have gathered a few places you might visit on your West Svalbard expedition cruise. On these locations you might go out for shore hikes or zodiac rides and on some expedition cruises it is even possible to go kayaking.

Isfjorden

Departing from Longyearbyen you will sail through Isfjorden, the gateway to the western coast and the largest fjordsystem of Svalbard. Almost the full spectrum of Svalbard's history, geology and biology can be found in this area. From here you will be able to see wide coastal plains, steep glaciers and characteristic plateau-shaped mountains that are so unique to Svalbard.

Barentsburg & Pyramiden

Alkhornet

Bellsund fjord system

Sailing south along the western coast of Svalbard we will find Bellsund, a large fjord system consisting of two branches (Van Mijenfjord and Van Keulenfjord) and two smaller bays (Recherchefjord and Fridtjofhamna). The landscape here is fascinating. In the middle of Van Mijenfjord you'll see a long narrow Island calles Akseløya that almost completely blocks the entrance of the fjord and there are several glaciers in the area. The glacier Recherchebreen ends at a lagoon which is frozen most of the year, with many smaller icebergs floating around. In Fridtjofhamna we will find the calving glacier Fridtjofbreen which is surrounded by steep mountains. In the past we have spotted Beluga Whales here, and also Polar Bears are likely to be present anywhere in the Bellsund area.

Bourbonhamna

Prins Karls Forland & Poolepynten

A unique location we hope to visit during this expedition cruise is Poolepynten, a 1.5 kilometer long headland on the eastern coast of the island Prins Karls Forland. This location is famous for the large walrus colonies that often come ashore here, making it easy to admire them from close range. It's a spectacular sight to see these huge animals in their natural environment.

St. Jonsfjorden

Kongsfjorden & Ny Ålesund

We might make our way into Kongsfjorden where you will find Ny Ålesund on the southern coast and the Kronebreen glacier at the end of the inlet. Ny Ålesund is one of Svalbard's four permanent settlements, situated on the southern shore of Kongsfjorden. This former mining town was also the starting point for several Arctic expeditions by the famous polar explorer Roald Amundsen. There are many cultural and historical remains for you to explore, as well as a museum, post office and gift shop.

Ny London (Camp Mansfield)

Smeerenburg on Amsterdamøya

Of the northwest coast of Svalbard there's an uninhabitat island with some remnants of Dutch history. In 1614, the island was occupied by a Dutch group of whalers on a mission to explore the whaling potential around Spitsbergen. They named it Amsterdam Island and founded the settlement Smeerenburg (Blubber Town) where they built ovens to turn blubber into whale oil which was then shipped back to Europe. In its heyday the town consisted of 17 houses and had approximately 200 inhabitants during the summer seasons. Today, pieces of wooden structures and the bases of the blubber pots are all that remains.

Fuglefjorden