Svalbard – The Northernmost Permanent Settlement on the Planet
Introduction
This year marks the 10th anniversary of our International Travel. In the beginning, we traveled to the usual tourist destinations like Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris, London etc. Over the years, we started developing an affinity to offbeat destinations. Lesser crowds give you more time to enjoy your vacation and not feel like you are coming back from a busy market or something that resembles like work(Looking at you Anaheim Disney). This year we returned to one of our favourite destinations. Svalbard is simply an incredible hidden gem.
The Location
Before we get into specifics lets clarify a few details. There are a few more settlements norther than Svalbard in Canada (Alert, Nunavut) and Station Nord (Greenland) but there is hardly any civilian population. Most of the them are research/military bases where ordinary people like you and me may not be able to visit. So how North are we really talking about ?
Svalbard has a latitude of 78 degrees North and is located at a around 1000 kilometres (600 miles) from the North Pole. Locations above 66 degrees North are typically counted as part of the Arctic Circle with the North Pole at 90 Degrees.
Reasons to Visit
Apart from boasting to your friends that you visited the Northernmost settlement on the planet here are a few other reasons why this place should be on every travellers bucket list
- Experience the Polar Nights – How does no Sunlight for 24 hours sound ? Visit between November and January
- See the Polar Bears – Svalbard has an approximate population ratio of 2:1 (Polar Bears : Humans)
- See the Arctic Fox – If you are really lucky (We saw it on our second visit)
- See the Northern Lights
- Dog Sledding with Huskies – They simply love to run
- A Short Snowmobile Trip over the glaciers
- Explore the Raw Arctic Beauty on an Epic multi day expedition to the East Coast (Still on our bucket list)
- See the majestic wildlife – Walrus / Birds / Reindeers
- See the Global Seed Vault from outside (Unless you are really well connected to be able to go inside)
What about the weather
Svalbard is probably as North as you are going to get but it does not get as cold as you would expect. We have been there twice in the Winters and the the temperature did not drop below -25 C (-13 F). Some of the coldest places in the world routinely drop to -50 C (-58 F) like Oymyakon in Russia and the Siachen Glacier in India. The reason why Svalbard is not so cold is because of the Gulf Stream which carrier warm Atlantic Water from Norway and towards the East Coast of Svalbard
As you can see all the Settlements are on the East Side with the Airport and Main City located on Longyearbyen. The Polar Bears typically stay on the East side of the Island which is not touched by the Gulf Stream and has really thick ice.
How to get here
Svalbard is served by direct flights from Oslo & Tromso
- SAS (Star Alliance) – OSL-LYR (Except Wed/Sat) & TOS-LYR (Sun/Tue/Thu)
- Norwegian – OSL-LYR (Mon/Fri)
Svalbard does not require a VISA for entry. The only problem is you need to transit via Norway which will require a Schengen VISA.
A look at Svalbard
You arrive at the Longyearbyen Airport in Svalbard (Weather Permitting)
Can you guess what time is it? It was 1 PM and extremely dark. We took a taxi to our Hotel and immediately headed out for a walk. The city also has a tourist information centre which you should definitely check out. It will give you all the important information you need to know. A word of caution here. Longyearbyen is not a place where you can just wander around wherever you want. While Polar bears are found mostly on the east side of the Island they do wander around near the settlement sometimes. On our first visit to Svalbard around 3 years ago a Mother Polar bear and her cubs were spotted near the settlements and helicopters were flying over the settlement constantly trying to drive them away.
The city has a designated area highlighted in pink in the map above where polar bear protection is not required. You are supposed to go out of these areas only when accompanied by someone who has a rifle and knows how to use it. There have been a very few cases of tourists camping outside these areas on their own and being killed by polar bears. So don’t do anything stupid and you shall be safe. There is one street in the centre of the city where most of the main shops are located.
We headed off to the department store (Norwegian had misplaced our luggage) on this road called the Svalbardbutikken. It stocks most of the essential items and we were able to find everything here except slippers. It is common to see people carrying rifles here but they are not allowed inside the buildings and the store has an area for their storage. Dogs are a big part of the culture here and we met quite a lot of huskies. At the hotel, there was a separate dog parking area as well.
This is a great place to walk as long as you are in the right clothing. Some people also rent cars but we don’t really see the point here. We started walking to the nearby church and immediately saw this…
These are Arctic reindeer and we have never been this close to wildlife before. They were a bit apprehensive but started crossing the road as we went back a little. The chapel was probably closed but we did enjoy sweeping views of the city
While we mostly travel during the winters and have seen our fair share of snow, we have never seen anything like this ever. The snow felt like it had been mixed with diamond particles and simply shines in your face. We then headed off to Nybyen which is a good 2 km walk to the other edge of town. We were hoping to see the northern lights but the weather was playing spoilsport with a lot of cloud cover.
At Nybyen we met Mr. Olaf Storo who had sculpted this beautiful statue on the left and the role model was his beautiful dog. His name is Bozz and I had an absolute blast playing with him. On our way back, I saw some movement and it felt like a really small dog. It had white fur but the tail was a bit too round. It was actually an Arctic Fox. These are majestic creatures and we had just fulfilled one of our bucket list items to see an Actual Arctic fox in the wild. I could not take any photos but here are some paw prints.
It may not seem like much but this was the highlight of our trip. Seeing animals in their natural environment without causing any disturbance to them. Plus they are so cute. Search instagram “Arctic Foxes” if you really want to know what I’m talking about.
The Northernmost Collection
At Svalbard, you are definitely going to find some of the Northernmost places in the world. Here are the ones we visited.
Travel Tips
- Multiple Entry VISA Required – Svalbard does not require a VISA for entry. However, you will need to exit Schengen immigration and reenter Schengen again. You need a double entry Schengen VISA at the minimum and a multiple entry VISA is recommended. A Single entry VISA is going to land you in trouble. Be very careful!!
- Keep an extra day or two for the weather – The weather in Svalbard is very volatile. Flights are often not able to land during storms and you absolutely need to keep an extra day or two to account for unforeseen delays. SAS is kind enough to arrange accomodation free of cost to those passengers who are stranded on the island.
- Travel by SAS instead of Norwegian – SAS is more expensive than Norwegian but are definitely the airline to stick to in case of any issues. We learnt this the hard way. They have more frequent connectivity and you can also earn points across Star Alliance.
- Taxi to Hotel – There is a bus which costs around 60-75 NOK per passenger. It you have a group of 2 or more then a Taxi will cost only 120-150 NOK. Much more convenient option compared to the bus which will make various pitstops across all hotels in the city.
- Dress in Layers – Stating the obvious here but in case if you have never been to super cold climates, you need to carry a base / mid / top layer to protect yourself from the extreme cold. A jacket will definitely not suffice.
- Buy Clothing from Decathlon – If you are in India, we would definitely recommend you to visit a decathlon store or order from their online site in India. Their quality to price ratio is probably the best and they have plenty of gear to withstand such harsh climates.
- Interact with other tourists/locals – The true way to explore a destination is to make friends. In fact, we have met some of our best friends at some of the most remote places in the world like Svalbard and Faroe Islands. You get to meet like minded tourists and the locals are also wonderful and very helpful. Don’t be afraid to start a conversation.
- Stay Connected – If you are traveling from India, I would recommend you to use the Airtel Post Paid International roaming plans. Sure at INR 4k ($ 60) for 30 days it is a bit expensive for 5 GB Data and 500 mins to India + Local calls but it still is the best way to keep in touch across most of Europe and Svalbard is also included.
Some Recommendations
- One Arctic Adventure – After coming this far you definitely need to do at least one arctic adventure. We did two on our first trip (Husky Ride and a Snow Mobile Trip). Beware of the weather. We did it in the middle of a storm with a visibility of less than 10 metres. If you let go of the dogs they will continue to run and not stop for you !!! They will only stop once they are tired. The snowmobile trip over the glaciers was also extremely wonderful although it felt a bit risky with absolutely no visibility and only one gun for protection. It would have been difficult to see the polar bear even if was standing right next to us. If this scares you a bit, then avoid the polar nights and visit in the summer for 24×7 visibility. Also, be sure to inform dietary restrictions like vegetarian/vegan on such tours. Our Guide had packed reindeer heart for us and was quite apologetic when he found out we were vegetarians.
- Where to Stay – We have stayed in both the Radisson Blu & the Svalbard Hotel. Radisson has more dining options and slightly more variety for Vegetarians and Vegans. Both were excellent overall. Do remember to get an extra pair of shoes as you need to keep your winter boots near the reception itself.
What about Vegetarians/Vegans
For a place as remote as Svalbard we were able to manage on our own without any food (Norwegian misplaced our luggage which had our food). We were surprised to see Vegan options as well. Here are some photos of the food we had.
Our Experience
Svalbard is one of the few offbeat places that we have returned to. It is simply an amazing feeling to be in the middle of nature at its best. The variety of options on offer to spend your time is amazing and we are definitely going to return there a third time for a Summer Arctic Adventure. It is an unforgettable journey and we have nothing but great things to say about this beautiful hidden gem.
Conclusion
If you want to experience the true Arctic, then look no further. It is a great place to experience mother nature in its best and raw form. If you have any further questions, please feel free to comment in the section below and we will try and answer your queries at the earliest. Suggestions welcome. What do you think of Svalbard ?
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2 Comments
Yogi
lovely travelogue. absolutely loved reading it. and its very helpful too.
spedieduck
Hi Yogi, thanks a lot and glad you liked the post. It is indeed a very beautiful place to visit and experience. Thanks again!