This voyage's goal is to circumnavigate Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Along the way, you hope to experience the many facets of this incredible High Arctic territory. Your exact schedule and route will be shaped by weather and ice. You also expect enough sea ice to support ice-dependent animals such as polar bears and walrus.
You expect to encounter significant sea ice concentrations during this voyage in the enormous Northwest Svalbard Nature Reserve. Ice can persist very late into the summer in this remote and isolated region, giving it a truly polar character. This reserve covers the rugged northwestern parts of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet, the second-largest island in Svalbard. Here, you find the massive Austfonna ice cap, part of which meets the sea along the 45-kilometer ice cliff known as Brasvellbreen—one of the great wonders of the Arctic world. The polar desert environment supports little vegetation but hosts prodigious numbers of seabirds at breeding sites such as the spectacular sea cliffs of Alkefjellet. The probability of encountering polar bears and walrus in this icy wilderness is very high.
Also on your route is Northwest Spitsbergen National Park, the crown jewel of Svalbard's scenic wonders. Here, you find deep fjords flanked by serrated mountain peaks and immense tidewater glaciers calving icebergs into turquoise waters. The whole area is alive with migratory Arctic seabirds. On this voyage, you are just in time to witness the return of millions of murres, guillemots, and little auks to the small islands, mountainsides, and sea cliffs where they breed within the park. This is also a great area to encounter marine mammals, including various kinds of whales and Arctic seals. Set among this incredible scenery and wildlife activity, you can also find evidence of Svalbard's earliest sealers and whalers.
Human habitation along your route can be found at Ny Alesund, a former mining town and airship base that is now home to an international community of Arctic researchers. This is one of the world's most northerly settlements, where you can find a gift shop and a post office. You can also visit a famous airship mast that was a starting point of the North Pole expeditions by Umberto Nobile and Roald Amundsen. This place played an important part in the history of polar exploration.
The ambitious Svalbard and Polar Ice Edge route offers a comprehensive view of the Arctic's many faces. Every day offers something new and exciting. Do not miss a single opportunity to encounter amazing Arctic wildlife, witness incredible polar scenery, and walk in the footsteps of historic expeditions that came before.
