Embrace the Arctic: Our Journey to the Top of the World!
Remote, icy, and hauntingly beautiful, Svalbard is an Arctic archipelago that feels a bit like a sci-fi outpost on the edge of the world.
Many Arctic cruises focus on this remote archipelago that’s situated almost 2000km north of Norway. It is an exceptional Arctic wilderness; stunning Arctic landscapes including massive glaciers and abundant wildlife including (if you’re lucky) polar bears!
Polar bears outnumber people in Svalbard.
Locals are required to carry rifles (or flare gun) when venturing outside settlements for self-defense against bears. But the supermarkets and pubs would prefer that you don’t bring them inside.
Flying into Longyearbyen, the biggest town on Svalbard, is a bit like landing on the moon, quite stark and really far away! It’s the world’s northernmost airport for commercial airlines. From Oslo, it’s a three-hour flight, but it’s worth it just to fly in over the mountaintops, fjords and glacier. The town sits on the east coast of Isfjorden, and when I land, at 1am, it’s as light as lunchtime. It takes some time getting used to, but we’re all happy we’re here in the summertime, rather then in deepest winter when you never see daylight and you need a headlamp to go to the supermarket. Longyearbyen is beautiful place, in an eerie way. A lot of the area is classed as a cultural landmark and there’s lots of abandoned equipment scattered around from when the island was a vital centre for coal mining.
But Svalbard’s mining days are long gone. Today, tourism is a big part of the financial eco-system up here and Ny-Ålesund, another Svalbard village, houses a research lab for 150 international scientists, which keeps the economy going. It’s here on Svalbard that the Global Seed Vault store a million seeds from all over the world in case a global emergency wipes out the existing ones. Its closeness to the Pole is also of interest to the Russians, who all live in a separate settlement on the island called Barentsburg.
Somewhere between Longyearbyen and the pack ice, someone pinned a map of Svalbard to the wall and started tracing our route in black marker. By the end of the expedition, that map told the whole story — a dashed line looping up the west coast, across the north, and down through the fjords of the east, with twelve stops marked in a scrawl that only makes sense once you've lived it.
Here's where we went, and what waited for us at each stop.
The Route
Our track started on the west coast of Spitsbergen and swung north before curling back down along the eastern side of the archipelago — a loop shaped by ice, weather, and wherever the wildlife led us. Twelve places, in order:
1. Smeerenburgbreen – our introduction to Svalbard's glaciers, named for the old Dutch whaling station "Smeerenburg" (literally "blubber town") that once stood nearby in the early 1600s. Kicked off with a zodiac cruise along the glacier front.
2. Amsterdamøya – a small island off the northwest tip of Spitsbergen, steeped in that same whaling-era history. Our first big wildlife hit: bears and walrus.
3. Alkefjellet – an early-morning landing at the towering dolerite bird cliffs, home to millions of Brünnich's guillemots — the noise alone is unforgettable. After breakfast, a long hike over boulder terrain, with sweeping views down the length of the fjord.
4. Faksevågen – a scruffy, sleepy bear spotted here, clearly unbothered by our presence.
5. Murchisonfjorden – Russing hunters (Pomors) used the area for hunting into the 19th century and left some visible traces. The most prominent ones are two orthodox crosses which are still standing on islands – the only original ones of their kind in the whole archipelago which are still standingchoice of a long walk or a shorter route across, deep in the polar desert landscape of eastern Svalbard. More walrusses than you can imagine! Polar Bear prints in the sand...attacking skuas, ider chicks, filled a zodiak with rubbish-ropes, buoys, plastics, most likley from Siberia, where all the drift wood comes from
6. Isflakbukta – "ice floe bay," near the Seven Islands. A hike up to a viewpoint with the archipelago spread out below.
7. Karl XII Island – pushed east here and were met with walrus everywhere — no kayaking today, but puffins made up for it.
8. The ice edge – the furthest north we went, to roughly 81°20'N, where the ship met the pack ice. This is where the polar plunge happened, plus a zodiac cruise weaving through the ice floes.
9. Nordbreen – walking, walrus, and a kayak swim in glacier meltwater.
10. Mosselbukta – a walk out to an old trapper's cabin, a reminder of Svalbard's hunting history.
11. Fjortende Julibukta-14th of July Bay – a full day here: a polar bear sighting in Kongsfjorden ("Kings fjord") on the approach, then a zodiac cruise across to see the carvings at 14th of July Bay itself, with both kayaking and zodiac options. Fjortende Juli-breen) features a dramatic 3-kilometer-wide calving ice front meeting the sea, stretching roughly 16 km long. Named by Prince Albert I of Monaco during his oceanographic expeditions between 1898 and 1907 aboard the Princesse Alice, honoring France's National Day
12. Ny-Ålesund – the world's northernmost permanent settlement, and a fitting place to close the loop. Served as the starting base for historic Arctic expeditions, including Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile's 1926 airship flight in the Norge over the North Pole. Hosts permanent research stations operated by institutions from more than 10 different countries, focusing on glaciology, marine biology, and atmospheric monitoring. Ny-Ålesund research station hosts research projects carried out by researchers from 100+ institutions from 20+ countries. Peak activity is in spring and summer, while in winter, Ny-Ålesund is home to around 40 persons. A number of famous polar expeditions have set out from NyÅlesund, including the first flight across the North Pole in 1926 led by Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Lincoln Ellsworth. Ny-Ålesund is home to Svalbard’s largest collection of protected
buildings.topped off with a BBQ Dance Party on deck infront of the most impressive glacier.
Bonus stop – Alkhornet: 'The Auk Horn,' a very fitting name. Not on the original route plan, but added along the way. A walk around the base of this striking mountain, with foxes and reindeer sightings along the tundra. Alkhornet is one of the largest bird cliffs in West-Spitsbergen and the second largest in Isfjorden with more than 60,000 breeding kittiwake and Brünnich’s guillemot, but also fulmar, glaucous gull, little auk, puffin and black guillemot. Pink-footed goose breed on the slopes. Common eider, purple sandpiper, Arctic skua, and snow bunting breed in the lower parts from Alkhornet toward Trygghamna. Reindeer feed on the vegetated slopes, which are also a den area for Arctic fox. Harbor seals can be seen resting on the rocks at low tide.
This trip was part of Women Embrace Adventure's Embrace the Arctic expedition, a 10-day, 9-night journey through Svalbard aboard the M/S Quest, run in partnership with Southern Sea Ventures and Polar Explorer. Ten women, a small ship, and a itinerary that changed daily depending on the ice, the weather, and the wildlife.
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