Svalbard
 

We visited Svalbard for several days. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen, really the world's most northern inhabited town (2500 people). There is a smaller Russian settlement of Barentsburg. Coal mining built the towns, but that has essentially ended as of this year. Now instead of literally fueling the town's powerplant with coal mined in the adjacent mountains, diesel fuel is shipped in every week. Research and tourism drive the economy. Everything is shipped or flow in; Longyearbyen has multiple daily flights from Oslo and Tromso and charters from elsewhere. Longyearbyen is surprisingly touristic and well stocked for it's remote location. The grocery store is large with fresh fruit and flowers. There are multiple hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops.

A treaty has made Svalbard an open territory, and countries are allowed to mine coal there. There is no passport control entering. It's not Schengen and alcohol prices are lower than in Norway. Longyearbyen is wildly culturally diverse with many nationals coming to seek their fortune here.

Flying into Longyearbyen is interesting. The west side of the archipelago gets the vestiges of the Gulf Stream so is a bit warmer and has less snow/ice. The east side is very glaciated
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The town only has about 10 miles of paved roads. But they host a marathon. I ran the course. Once you pass the polar bear signs you are supposed to have an armed escort.
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Many of the tourist activities involve boat trips to see wildlife, glaciers, etc. We saw some walruses and a lot of ice.
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We also took a day long tour to the abandoned Russian mining town of Pyramiden. It's slightly more north than Longyearbyen, so at about 78,40 degrees. The Russians abandoned the town abruptly in 1998 and it's full of Soviet kitch. Papers, pictures, books, litter the hallways of what was once a "model" workers town.
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In its heyday Pyramiden had 1500 residents and was the largest town in Svalbard. It had a gym, movie theater and indoor pool. All of that is still there. We played a pickup game on the world's most northern basketball court. I hammered out Chopsticks on the world's most northern piano. We saw the world's most northern Lenin statue. And drank the most northern coffee from the most northern hotel. Etc. Etc. Seabirds have taken over some of the abandoned buildings but the town is well preserved by the Artic cold.

The sun never sets in the July sky so we hiked at 9pm. Hiking is rough as the snow melt fills the rocky paths with water. Your waterproof hiking boots get wet. The trail, as if it ever was one, is a scramble straight up over glacial till. And you have to use an armed guide, so it's not cheap. Afterwards we jumped into the fjord, which is technically part of the Greenland Sea and Artic Ocean. Cold. But there is also a public Sauna in Longyearbyen.

Cruise ships can dock or tender at Longyearbyen and various expedition cruises go even further north at a steep price. Really 3 days was plenty. We found Greenland more beautiful. That said, the winter time would be fantastic here...multi day snowmobile tours!

What a fascinating place, and excellent trip report. Thank you for posting; it's definitely on our to-do list!

Anyone take HX to Svalbard?
considering an expedition.
Would appreciate any comments on HX.

HX? Hong Kong Airlines? :confused:

Hurtigrutin's expedition ship line. Trips to Arctic, Antarctica, Galapagos...

I know some people that did. Depends on what you like. There are certainly more "upmarket" ships that visit, Viking even.

After having been in Tromso in Feb 23, I've had a desire to go further north. You've provided great information. Thanks for posting!

Cecilia
 

We will be going there on a Crystal cruise next month. It will be luxury in the way north. There is a beautiful book about it:

Life on Svalbard: Finding Home on a Remote Island Near the North Pole.

By Cecilia Blomdahl

A steal from Amazon for only $16.80

Another fascinating book is Christiane Ritter's 1934 account of her year spent with her husband, an explorer and researcher, in a tiny hut through the winter. That one's called Woman in the Polar Night. Well worth a read!

Is HX still allowed in Svalbard? I assume their guest capacity is well below 200?
I visited Svalbard last summer on Seabourn Venture (220 guests), but apparently the 2 Seabourn expedition ships are too big and can no longer venture into Svalbard because of new regulations.