Svalbard in Depth: Circumnavigation of Spitsbergen

After a guided tour of Longyearbyen and time to explore, you embark your small expedition ship this afternoon and cast off into Isfjorden, beginning the long circle around Spitsbergen. You meet your expedition team of guides, naturalists and lecturers over a welcome briefing and dinner as the town slips astern and the glaciers gleam at the fjord heads. The ship sails west and then north under the endless golden light of the midnight sun, and the guides brief you on Zodiac procedures, polar-bear safety and the extraordinary days ahead. Already seabirds stream past and seals rest on the floes. Settle into your comfortable cabin as the Arctic works its magic and the sense of true expedition takes hold. Rest well, for tomorrow you begin exploring the spectacular fjords and glaciers of the northwest coast on the first leg of the circumnavigation.

Today you cruise into beautiful Kongsfjorden, ringed by pointed peaks and hung with great calving glaciers, and go ashore at Ny-Alesund, the world's most northerly settlement. Once a coal-mining outpost and now an international research station, it is a place of colourful wooden buildings, a tiny museum, the northernmost post office, and the airship mast from which Amundsen launched his pioneering flights toward the Pole. Arctic terns wheel overhead and reindeer graze the tundra. Back aboard, or by Zodiac, you cruise toward the great Kongsbreen glacier, dwarfed by its towering blue ice, watching for seals, kittiwakes and the possibility of beluga whales in the fjord. As the ship sails on northward under the midnight sun, the guides lecture on the history and ecology of Svalbard. As the day ends, savour the beauty of Kongsfjorden. Rest well aboard amid the glaciers.

Today you explore the dramatic northwest corner of Spitsbergen. You cruise into stunning Magdalenefjorden, perhaps the most beautiful fjord in Svalbard, its blue waters enclosed by sharp peaks and glacier fronts, and land near Gravneset, where the graves of 17th-century whalers lie amid the tundra, a poignant reminder of the brutal early history of these waters. You cruise by Zodiac beneath the glaciers and along the shore, watching for seals, seabirds and Arctic fox, while nearby cliffs shelter huge colonies of little auks and kittiwakes. The guides interpret the whaling history, geology and wildlife. As the ship continues north toward the pack ice, everyone keeps watch for the first polar bears. As the day ends, savour the drama and beauty of the far northwest. Rest well aboard as the ship pushes on toward the frozen sea at the top of the world.

Today the ship reaches the great objective of the northern leg, the edge of the drifting polar pack ice, the realm of the polar bear. Under the endless light, the ship noses carefully along the ragged white margin of the sea ice, and everyone gathers on deck and the bridge, binoculars raised, scanning the floes. This is the finest place on Earth to see wild polar bears, and the excitement grows with every mile. You may spot bears hunting seals across the ice, walrus resting on the floes, and ringed and bearded seals hauled out, while ivory gulls and fulmars wheel overhead. The scale, silence and shimmering beauty of the frozen sea are overwhelming. The guides interpret every sighting and the natural history of the pack ice. As the day ends, savour the magic of the ice. Rest well aboard amid the polar sea.

Today you cruise into the wildlife-rich Hinlopen Strait, separating Spitsbergen from Nordaustlandet, one of the great wildlife theatres of Svalbard. You cruise by Zodiac beneath the towering cliffs of Alkefjellet, where tens of thousands of Brunnich's guillemots nest in a deafening, wheeling colony, while Arctic fox patrol the scree below. In the surrounding waters you keep watch for beluga whales, walrus and polar bears on the ice, and land where conditions allow to walk the tundra with your armed guides amid Arctic flowers. The abundance of life in this remote channel is astonishing. As the ship threads the strait under the midnight sun, the guides lecture on the ecology of the High Arctic. As the day ends, savour the day's extraordinary encounters. Rest well aboard as the ship enters the wild, rarely visited eastern realm of the archipelago.

Today, ice permitting, you cruise along the front of Austfonna on remote Nordaustlandet, one of the largest ice caps in the world, whose sheer wall of ice stretches unbroken for many miles, often laced with dozens of cascading meltwater waterfalls plunging into the sea, a spectacle few ever witness. You cruise slowly by ship and Zodiac beneath the immense ice cliff, dwarfed by its scale, watching for seals, seabirds and polar bears on the floes. On the tundra of nearby islands you may find walrus hauled out and nesting birds, and land where conditions allow amid the profound stillness. This is among the most remote and pristine wilderness on Earth. As the ship turns southward along the eastern coast, savour the immensity of the ice. Rest well aboard amid the frozen grandeur of Nordaustlandet on the far side of the circle.

Today you explore the wild eastern islands of Edgeoya and Barentsoya, stark and magnificent realms of tundra, ice and abundant wildlife rarely visited by travellers. You land on the tundra with your armed guides to walk amid Arctic flowers and the ruins of old trappers' huts, watching for Svalbard reindeer and the ever-present possibility of polar bears, which roam these islands in good numbers. On remote beaches you may find walrus hauled out in a great snoring heap, an unforgettable close encounter, and cruise by Zodiac along the shore and beneath glaciers. The wildness and remoteness are profound, the sense of true expedition complete. The guides interpret the trapping history and rich ecology of these islands. As the day ends, savour the raw wilderness of the east. Rest well aboard as the ship sails on around the southern tip of Spitsbergen.

Today you cruise into spectacular Hornsund, the southernmost fjord of Spitsbergen and one of the most beautiful, a dramatic realm of soaring pointed peaks, immense glaciers and rich wildlife that completes the circle back up the western coast. You cruise by ship and Zodiac beneath towering glacier fronts that calve into the sea, land on the tundra to walk amid reindeer and Arctic flowers with your guides, and keep watch for polar bears, seals and the huge bird colonies that throng the cliffs. The scenery is among the finest in all Svalbard. As the ship sails northward toward Longyearbyen, the guides help you reflect on the extraordinary circumnavigation over a recap and celebratory dinner. As the day ends, savour a final evening among the ice with the friends you have made. Rest well aboard, ready to complete the circle tomorrow.

On your final full day at sea the ship completes the great circle, cruising back into Isfjorden toward Longyearbyen and making the most of every last opportunity for wildlife and landings along the western coast. You may cruise into a beautiful glacier bay, land for a final tundra walk amid reindeer and Arctic flowers, and cruise by Zodiac beneath a last towering glacier front. The guides share photographs and the remarkable tally of bears, walrus, whales and birds encountered on the circumnavigation over a farewell gathering. As the ship sails back into Isfjorden under the endless golden light, the wild beauty of Svalbard lingers all around and the sense of achievement is profound. As the day ends, savour a final evening among the ice with your expedition companions. Rest well aboard, ready to disembark and journey home tomorrow after completing the full circle of Spitsbergen.

This morning your expedition ship returns to Longyearbyen, and after breakfast and fond farewells to the expedition team and fellow travellers, you disembark and are transferred to the airport for your flight south to Oslo or Tromso and your onward journey. You leave having completed a full circumnavigation of Spitsbergen, the ultimate Svalbard voyage, the polar bears on the pack ice, the towering glaciers and vast ice cap, the teeming bird cliffs, the walrus, whales and reindeer, the wild eastern islands and the endless golden midnight sun. The images stay vivid long after you land, a great white bear against the ice, the miles-long wall of Austfonna, the deafening bird colonies, and the complete circle traced around the largest island of the archipelago. Svalbard offers the deepest wilderness and richest wildlife in the Arctic, and you depart already dreaming of a return to the top of the world.