From Longyearbyen to Tromsø · Northern Europe · 9 nights
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This is the world's northernmost city and the base for tourism in Svalbard. A bit quirky, as you would expect from somewhere that spends four months of the year in near darkness, Longyearbyen doesn't take long to explore. Its brightly coloured wooden houses are built on stilts, as the ground in Svalbard is permafrost. When you enter a building, you are normally asked to remove your shoes, and leave your gun at the door. Gun carrying is more or less essential for the locals, as with 3,000 local hungry polar bears, it is said that you never know when you might need protection. That said, we visited safely without a gun!
The Svalbard archipelago is a true wilderness, a land of snowy peaks, frozen tundra and glassy seas. You’ll likely have no fixed itinerary here, due to the unpredictable nature of an Arctic expedition; be prepared to drop everything and rush up to the top deck for the chance of a polar bear sighting!
Bjørnøya, or Bear Island, is the most southerly island in the Svalbard archipelago, marooned in the Barents Sea halfway between Spitsbergen and the Norwegian mainland. Despite the name there are no polar bears permanently resident, and the island’s most impressive sight is the huge bird colonies nesting on the cliffs.
Skarsvåg is the world’s most northerly fishing village, situated on the north coast of the Norwegian island of Magerøya. The village is less than 10 miles from the North Cape, where the Arctic and Atlantic oceans meet, and you may spot reindeer grazing on the surrounding tundra.
Tromso’s location well within the Arctic Circle means the summer months are lit by the Midnight Sun, a compensation for long dark winters. Explore the streets with their multi-coloured wooden houses, see the amazing architecture of the Arctic cathedral, or take the cable car up to Mount Storsteinen for a fantastic view.
