Your Arctic adventure begins in Helsinki, renowned for its extraordinary architecture and intriguing mix of eastern and western influences. If you arrive early, explore the many museums, galleries, and restaurants; relax at a Finnish sauna; or wander the vibrant Design District before retiring at your included hotel.

This morning, the group will transfer to the airport and board your private charter flight to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen’s largest settlement. As your ship sets sail, enjoy your first view of the island’s rugged, glacier-topped mountains rising majestically from frigid waters.

Expect a new adventure every day as you begin your journey by heading north and around the island of Spitsbergen, exploring smaller, outlying islands. It is planned to circumnavigate Spitsbergen, but if conditions are favorable, you can also attempt a larger circumnavigation of the archipelago, including many of the outer islands in the Svalbard archipelago. Every expedition will be different, depending on the weather and ice, but some of the places you may visit include the 14th of July Glacier, Ny-London, Phippsøya, Alkefjellet, and the seldom-visited Kvitøya.

These names may seem strange to you, but each site has its own unique appeal. There is no shortage of natural beauty in Spitsbergen, where colorful tundra meadows are complemented by immense glaciers. For birders, 14th of July Bay is home to puffins, purple sandpipers, black-legged kittiwakes, pink-footed geese, and barnacle geese, while Alkefjellet’s cliffs are teeming with nesting Brunnich’s guillemots (thick-billed murres).

Always on the lookout for wildlife, be sure to have your camera ready to capture reindeer when you visit sites like Ny-London, Sundneset, and Alkhornet. Searching for the iconic polar bear is a constant activity for your expedition team. Phippsøya and Isbukta are often home to sea ice, the bears’ preferred habitat for hunting, which translates into great potential for you to view and capture them in action.

A big part of appreciating Spitsbergen comes from understanding the history—not just how people live today but also how this land was first explored. Whaling was a key industry, and you can see remains of outposts from the 16th century, plus other evidence of whaling at landing sites such as Smeerenburg.

Your adventure ends in the frontier-style settlement of Longyearbyen. From here, transfer to the airport for your return group charter flight to Helsinki, included in the transfer package.