Spitsbergen

Situated on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago is the capital, Longyearbyen. Home to around 1800 inhabitants, this is a modern city with an idyllic setting between two glacier tongues, near the head of Advent Fjord. Boasting good quality visitor facilities, this is a perfect place from which to explore.

It takes around 5 hours in total to fly from London to the High Arctic. Although the airport is quite sparse, don’t let first impressions fool you – Longyearbyen is the gateway to an Arctic adventure. The accommodation in the city, roughly a 10 minute drive, is of a very good standard and the establishments available for your ‘fly and stay’ trip, offer comfort and some excellent dining facilities. There are also a small number of bars and restaurants in addition to those provided in the hotels. Places to visit include the fascinating museum and gallery where much may be learnt about Svalbards rich history.

Longyearbyen has a ‘frontiers’ feel about it, with most heated structures built above rather than on the permafrost to prevent it melting. Hot water pipes run above ground too and everywhere are reminders of the cities humble beginnings as a mining town – Arctic Coal was set up in 1906 by American John Munroe Longyear. Tourism is now the major industry but it is also the main port and administrative centre for Svalbard.

This flexible 4-night itinerary includes flights from London Heathrow, an overnight in Oslo on the flight out, and also a day excursions by boat to Barentsburg and Pyramiden to Templefjord. It also gives you a choice of accommodation on a breakfast basis and days at leisure to pick and choose from the array of optional excursions, in fact with so many on offer, you may wish to extend your stay! You can either spend extra nights here or if you wish, stop over in Tromso on mainland Norway on the return.