Arrive in Oslo, Norway’s modern capital city, and transfer to your hotel before meeting your local guide for an afternoon walking tour. In the evening, gather for a private welcome reception at your hotel.

Board a charter flight to Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard, also known as Spitsbergen, the sovereign Arctic archipelago of Norway. It is one of the most remote groups of islands on the planet, with nearly two-thirds of its surface covered in luminous glaciers. Tour the tiny town and its Arctic Museum. Following lunch, board your expedition cruiser.

Very few people have the opportunity to view the remote wilderness of the Svalbard Islands. In the Svalbard archipelago, polar bears, walruses, Svalbard reindeer and an incredibly rich variety of birds are abundant, as are cathedrals of ice, glaciers and craggy mountain peaks. An amazing amount of diminutive flora surrounds this barren landscape, which comes alive with color under summer’s midnight sun. Your Captain and Expedition Team determine the day’s best sightseeing opportunities, which may include these extraordinary regions:

Magdalenefjoren: A stunning fjord with rugged rock walls, Magdalenefjoren surmounts blue-hued glaciers crisscrossed by crevasses, with birds perched in the high cliffs. This “glacier coast” provides magnificent views of the slow-moving ice masses travelling out to sea as well as beaches frequented by walruses.

Ny Alesund: Once a mining town and launching pad for early Arctic expeditions, Ny Alesund is now home to a polar research station where scientists study meteorology, seismology, atmospheric sciences, and marine biology. Conditions permitting, visit the small community, including a museum, art gallery, and the northernmost post office in the world.

Hinlopen Strait: ‘Le Boreal’ navigates this passageway between the main island of Spitsbergen and the island of Nordaustlandet to deliver you to the Alkefjellet, or “auk cliffs,” towering rock faces that drop directly into the sea and provide a home to colonies of auks.

Wahlbergoya: Located in the center of the southern entrance to Hinlopen Strait, this island, named after Swedish botanist Peter Fredrik Wahlberg, is a favorite summer haul-out for walrus.

Monaco Bay and Glacier: Located in Northwest Spitsbergen, Monaco Bay is frequented by a variety of wildlife populations, including polar bears, walruses, harbor and bearded seals, and a multitude of seabirds.

Liefdefjorden (Loves Bay): In far northern Svalbard, this is an excellent area for spotting polar bears and other Arctic wildlife. Throughout your landings and days of cruising in Spitsbergen, your primary objective is to search for polar bears as they hunt in their true natural habitat — be it on land or among the ice floes. Each landing is under the close supervision of your bear guardians, who have the best knowledge about where to find the white giants.

As Le Boreal plies toward remote Greenland, spend the day at sea with new friends and the Expedition Team, who continue an engaging lecture series.

For the next two days, explore the rarely visited east coast of Greenland and Scoresby Sound, the largest and longest fjord system in the world. Embark on twice-daily Zodiac excursions through the fjord’s glistening and intricate network, taking in its islands and icebergs, and searching for common residents that include the musk ox and reindeer. Ice conditions permitting, disembark for a visit to Ittoqqortoormiit, a small settlement founded in 1925 and one of the most isolated villages in Greenland.

Enjoy a relaxing day at sea cruising the relatively narrow strip of water that separates Greenland from Iceland, and connects the Arctic Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Watch for seabirds and whales from the deck in between insightful lectures presented by your Expedition Team.

Today, explore the spectacular, unspoiled wilderness on Iceland’s remote West Fjords. Designated as a nature reserve in 1975 and free of any roads, Hornstrandir still appears as it would have when the Vikings first arrived. Your treks this morning reveal tranquil wildflower meadows, striking waterfalls and other geological features. This afternoon, visit the small village of Hesteyri, where you are welcomed by the local villagers.

The glacier-carved Westfjords continue to provide a scenic backdrop as you journey to the Langjökull Glacier. Disembark for a memorable adventure in the tiny port of Akranes, where you board special glacier trucks for an exciting trip to the Langjökull. Stop en route at the shimmering Hraunfossar waterfall before arriving at Langjökull, where you enter a labyrinth of ice tunnels and caves that lead to the heart of the glacier, all revealing breathtaking depths of ice and shades of blue. Following lunch in Húsafell, return this afternoon to Akranes to board Le Boreal.

This morning, arrive in the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar), a rock-studded, volcanically active archipelago on the south coast of Iceland. Explore the volcanic landscape of Iceland’s Heimaey Island, home to all of Iceland’s seabirds, among them the iconic puffin. Visit remote Heimaey Island, where a new mountain, Eldfell (“Mount Fire”), was created during a 1973 eruption. Excavations of the ruins suggest there were inhabitants as early as 100 BC. Today, the island’s 4,500 locals reside alongside upwards of eight million puffins each summer. Visit the local village, seeing ruins of historic farmhouses from the year AD 650. Later, trek to Helgafell to observe the volcanic landscape with your insightful guides. This afternoon, conditions permitting, board your Zodiac for an up-close view of Surtsey Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Iceland’s southernmost point.

This morning, disembark Le Boreal in Reykjavik and transfer to the airport for your return flight home, or continue on in Iceland with a Reykjavik extension.