Luxury Arctic Expedition: Spitsbergen in Style

This morning you enjoy Longyearbyen at leisure before, in the afternoon, you embark your luxury small expedition ship and are welcomed with champagne as you settle into your spacious private-balcony suite. As the town slips astern, you begin cruising the vast Isfjorden, meeting your expert team of naturalists, guides and lecturers, and your attentive butler and crew, over a welcome reception and a gourmet dinner paired with fine wines. Already the wilderness surrounds you, glaciers gleaming at the fjord heads, seabirds streaming past, and seals on the floes, all admired from the comfort of the elegant lounges and observation decks. As the ship sails north under the endless golden midnight sun, you savour the blend of adventure and refinement. Rest well in your suite, for tomorrow the expedition truly begins amid the glaciers of the northwest coast.

Today you cruise into beautiful Kongsfjorden, ringed by pointed peaks and hung with great calving glaciers. You cruise beneath the towering fronts of the Kongsbreen glacier by ship and Zodiac, dwarfed by the blue ice, watching for seals, kittiwakes and beluga whales, then go ashore at Ny-Alesund, the world's most northerly settlement, to walk among its colourful buildings and stand beneath the airship mast of the pioneering polar flights, with expert commentary throughout. Back aboard, you are welcomed with warm drinks and treats, and perhaps unwind in the spa as the ship sails on. This evening, a gourmet dinner paired with fine wines celebrates Arctic produce as the glaciers glide past the windows. As the day ends, savour champagne on deck beneath the midnight sun. Rest well in your suite amid the beauty of Kongsfjorden, the ship pushing gently toward the pack ice.

Today you explore the dramatic northwest corner of Spitsbergen, with the chance for the most serene of Arctic adventures. You cruise into stunning Magdalenefjorden, its blue waters enclosed by sharp peaks and glacier fronts, and land near the poignant graves of 17th-century whalers, guided across the tundra amid Arctic flowers. In a sheltered, silent glacier bay you may take to a sea kayak, gliding in profound stillness among the drifting ice past the blue walls of a glacier, an unforgettable experience, or cruise by Zodiac beneath the ice cliffs and seabird colonies. Expert photographers help you capture it all. Back aboard, the spa and elegant lounges await. This evening, savour another gourmet dinner as the ship continues north. As the day ends, take in the endless golden light from your balcony. Rest well in your suite as the frozen sea draws near.

Today the ship reaches the great objective of the voyage, the edge of the drifting polar pack ice north of Spitsbergen, the realm of the polar bear. Under the endless light, the ship noses carefully along the ragged white margin of the sea ice, and you keep watch in comfort from the spacious observation decks and the warmth of the lounge, or from the Zodiacs, as the expert naturalists scan the floes. This is the finest place on Earth to see wild polar bears, and the excitement is electric with every sighting, a bear across the ice, walrus on the floes, seals hauled out, ivory gulls wheeling overhead. Warm drinks, fine service and expert commentary accompany the search. As the day ends, savour a celebratory dinner and champagne on deck amid the ice. Rest well in your suite amid the magic of the polar sea.

Today you cruise into the wildlife-rich Hinlopen Strait, one of the great wildlife theatres of Svalbard. You cruise by Zodiac beneath the towering cliffs of Alkefjellet, where hundreds of thousands of guillemots nest in a deafening, wheeling colony, while Arctic fox patrol the scree below, and keep watch in the surrounding waters for beluga whales, walrus and polar bears on the ice. Where conditions allow, you land to walk the tundra amid Arctic flowers with your guides. Back aboard, you unwind in the spa and elegant lounges, and the naturalists give an illustrated lecture on High Arctic ecology. This evening, a gourmet dinner paired with fine wines celebrates the day's encounters. As the day ends, savour the golden light from the observation deck. Rest well in your suite as the ship begins its leisurely return south through the pristine wilderness.

Today the ship explores farther into the pristine wilderness, cruising, ice permitting, toward remote Nordaustlandet and the front of the great Austfonna ice cap, whose sheer wall of ice stretches for miles, laced with cascading waterfalls, a spectacle few travellers ever witness. You cruise slowly by ship and Zodiac beneath the immense ice cliff and into silent glacier bays, dwarfed by the scale, watching for seals, seabirds and polar bears on the floes, and may land on the tundra amid Arctic flowers with your guides. Back aboard, the spa, sauna and elegant lounges await, and expert photographers help you capture the immensity of the ice. This evening, a gourmet dinner paired with fine wines celebrates the day. As the day ends, savour the endless golden light from your private balcony. Rest well in your suite amid the frozen grandeur of the remote Arctic.

On your final full day at sea the ship cruises back southward, exploring more of Spitsbergen's spectacular coast in unhurried comfort. You may cruise by Zodiac into a beautiful glacier bay, land for a final tundra walk amid reindeer and Arctic flowers, or simply savour the passing wilderness from the spa, the lounges and your private balcony, with fine wines and afternoon treats. The naturalists help you reflect on the voyage over a recap and a gala farewell dinner, sharing photographs and the tally of bears, walrus, whales and birds encountered. As the ship sails back into Isfjorden toward Longyearbyen under the endless golden light, the wild beauty of Svalbard lingers all around, wrapped in effortless comfort. As the day ends, savour a last glass of champagne on deck with the friends you have made. Rest well in your suite, ready to disembark tomorrow.

This morning your luxury expedition ship returns to Longyearbyen, and after a leisurely breakfast and fond farewells to the naturalists and crew, you disembark and are transferred by private car to the airport for your flight south to Oslo or Tromso and your onward journey. You leave having experienced Svalbard at its most magnificent and most refined, the polar bears on the pack ice, the towering glaciers and calving ice fronts, the teeming bird cliffs and abundant wildlife, the serene kayaking among the ice, and the gourmet dining, fine wines and impeccable service under the endless midnight sun. The images stay vivid long after you land, a great white bear against the ice, the blue wall of a glacier, champagne on deck at midnight, and the effortless comfort of your suite. Svalbard offers the wonder of the Arctic wrapped in luxury, and you depart already dreaming of a return to the top of the world in style.