West Coast Spitsbergen in Luxury

Your adventure will begin this morning in Paris where you will meet your representatives and the rest of the passengers at the airport for your included flight to Longyearbyen. This 4.5 hour flight will see you landing in one of the most remote and enchanting settlements in the world, the capital of the Svalbard archipelago.

Upon landing you will then be transferred to the port to board your luxury expedition vessel. Spend some time settling in to your luxurious cabin and familiarising yourself with the ship as we prepare to sail away from Longyearbyen and into Isfjorden. Some time on deck should reward in excellent seabird sightings.

Our exploration of the west and north coast of Spitsbergen will begin in earnest today as we sail down the coastline and prepare for our first of many stops. As with all Polar expeditions, the sites visited and course taken throughout your time in Spitsbergen will mostly be determined by ice and weather conditions. Our route will be flexible, with your captain and experienced crew choosing the best course each day for unrivalled wildlife and scenic experiences, but there are many sites that we expect to be able to land at and explore. The first of these will be somewhere around the remarkable fjord area of Hornsund where we will hope to enjoy our first thrilling Zodiac cruise in search of wildlife including polar bears.

We will then sail back north to the Bellsund fjord to follow in the footsteps of the first explorers who came from the Norwegian coast. Your knowledgeable expedition crew will tell you tales of the past explorers as you enjoy your own exploration in search of sightings of the rich variety of wildlife that resides here.

An exciting day of cruising north through the icebergs close to the top of the world both by ship and by Zodiac boat. Each iceberg, sculpted by the waves, takes on diverse colours and shapes and at times are more than 60 metres high. The magical feeling of weaving your way through these imposing natural structures will be one to remember! There should also be great opportunities for wildlife observations here as birds, seals and polar bears are often seen on the ice floes.

Continuing our exploration of the northwest coast we will sail to the Monaco Glacier for a close-up look at this fantastic natural site. Noted as being Spitsbergen’s most beautiful and majestic glacier, the Monaco Glacier is the last glacier before reaching a latitude of 80° North and this far north we will hope for sightings of the polar bears and whales that have a special fondness for this area.

Cruising back southwards down the western coast the next stop on our list of enchanting landing sites will be the former mining town of Ny-Ålesund which is now an operational scientific base. We will visit here to learn all about the important work being carried out here and find out about how this was the starting point for numerous historical polar expeditions including those of the famous explorer Roald Amundsen. We will also hope to visit the museum and what is considered to be the most northerly post office in the world.

Later we will enjoy a relaxing cruise through Kongsfjorden, one of the most beautiful fjords in Svalbard where we will be accompanied by icebergs of every shape and size, and wildlife including bearded seals, reindeer, black guillemots and barnacle geese.

Upon arrival back into Longyearbyen you will disembark and transfer to the airport for your flight back to Paris. Numerous additional activities and excursions are available in Longyearbyen so please enquire for details should you wish to extend your stay in this unique Arctic town.