Svalbard (Longyearbyen)
An Arctic town at 78°N, where you can cruise to glaciers and the abandoned Soviet mining town of Pyramiden, follow polar bear tracks by snowmobile, and experience the polar night and northern lights in winter or the midnight sun in summer.
The Svalbard archipelago lies between 74° and 81°N under Norwegian sovereignty. Longyearbyen, its capital and main gateway, has around 2,500 residents and is one of the world's northernmost permanently inhabited towns. About 60% of the archipelago is covered by glaciers, and polar bears outnumber people; leaving the settlement requires an armed guide, so almost all outdoor activities are done on guided tours. Activities depend on the season: from March to May the sun returns and snow conditions are at their best, with snowmobile trips to Tempelfjorden and the east coast, dog sledding and ice cave excursions; June to August brings the midnight sun, with boat trips on Isfjorden to the Nordenskiöld Glacier, Pyramiden and Barentsburg, and summer is also the season for hiking and whale watching; November to February is the polar night, centred on the northern lights, sledding and the town's museums. The town's sights are close together and easily explored on foot: the Svalbard Museum, the North Pole Expedition Museum, Svalbard Church and the Cableway Centre; the Global Seed Vault can only be seen from outside. Getting there: flights from Oslo or Tromsø take about 3 hours, and an airport bus covers the roughly 5 km from the airport to the town centre. Svalbard itself requires no visa, but transiting mainland Norway requires a Schengen visa. Plan 3–5 days; popular tours should be booked in advance, costs are high and the weather is changeable, so leave slack in your itinerary. Remove your shoes when entering buildings.
Top sights
- Svalbard Museum – A comprehensive museum housed in the same building as the University of Svalbard. It tells the story of the archipelago's nature, hunting…
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault – The "Doomsday Seed Vault" is built into a mountain of permafrost and stores millions of crop seed samples from around the world. Visitors c…
- Pyramiden – A Soviet mining town abandoned in 1998, preserving the world's northernmost statue of Lenin and an intact complex of Soviet-style buildings.
- Nordenskiöld Glacier – A wide blue glacier at the end of Billefjorden, with towering ice walls. It is often combined with a visit to Pyramiden in summer.
- Tempelfjorden & Tunabreen – The end point of the classic snowmobile route, where you can get close to the blue ice wall of Tunabreen on a frozen fjord.
- Adventdalen – A wide, flat glacial valley east of Longyearbyen, and the main area for dog sledding, aurora viewing and reindeer watching.
- Svalbard Church – One of the northernmost regular churches in the world. Its wooden interior is warm and comfortable, and it is open to everyone for warmth a…
- North Pole Expedition Museum – Tells the story of the Arctic expeditions of Amundsen, Nobile and others, who set out from Svalbard and flew over the North Pole in airship…
- Mine 3 (Gruve 3) – A coal mine that closed in 1996. Visitors follow a guide into the tunnels to experience the coal-mining life of Svalbard.
- Barentsburg – A Russian mining town still in operation, with a Lenin statue, an Orthodox wooden church and Russian-style food.
- Isfjorden – The largest fjord on Spitsbergen Island. Longyearbyen lies on its shore, and summer boat tours offer whales and glaciers.
- Kjell Henriksen Observatory – An aurora research observatory on Breinosa mountain. During the polar night, group tours offer visits and expert explanations of the northe…
- Longyearbreen Glacier Hike – A glacier-valley hiking route behind the town, where moraine stones can yield fossil plant leaves about 60 million years old.
- Larsbreen & Sarkofagen – A glacier and a coffin-shaped peak south of the town. From the summit you can look over Longyearbyen and Adventfjorden.
- Platåberget – A flat-topped mountain west of Longyearbyen. From the summit you overlook the fjords and the white radomes of the SvalSat satellite station.
- Hiorthhamn – An abandoned mining settlement across Adventfjorden, with wooden cabins and the remains of coal-transport cableway towers preserved in thei…
- Skansbukta – A bay on the shore of Billefjorden with remnants of an abandoned gypsum mine, a hunters’ hut and bird cliffs. Tour boats often stop here.
- Esmarkbreen – A tidewater glacier on the north shore of Isfjorden. Summer boat tours often combine it with Barentsburg, offering close views of calving i…
- Ny-Ålesund – The northernmost permanent research town in the world and the departure point for Amundsen’s airships. It is home to China’s Yellow River S…
- Taubanesentralen – The hub of the coal-transport cableways from the 1950s, with wooden towers reaching out to the mines in the valley. A landmark of industria…
- Polar Bear Warning Sign – A polar bear warning sign at the edge of town reading “valid throughout Svalbard.” It is a must-photograph landmark for visitors.
- Svalbard Brewery – The northernmost brewery in the world. It brews beer with glacial meltwater and offers tours and tastings that must be booked in advance.
- Galleri Svalbard – An art gallery in Nybyen showing the Arctic light paintings of Norwegian painter Kjell Tvedt, along with a collection of old maps.
- Huset – A community hall dating from 1951 that is now Svalbard’s best-known restaurant, serving Arctic cuisine and housing a huge wine cellar.
Where to eat
- Huset – A fine dining restaurant housed in a 1951 mining community building, famous for its Arctic-ingredient tasting menu and…
- Gruvelageret – A set-menu restaurant housed in a restored mining warehouse, filled with mining memorabilia and offering a frequently c…
- Kroa – A long-standing restaurant and bar in the town center open for lunch and dinner, serving everything from whale meat and…
- Stationen – A casual pub-style restaurant at one end of the mall, famous for its burgers and also serving local specialties like fi…
- Fruene – Opened in 2003 in the town center, this café doubles as an artisanal chocolate workshop and is a budget-friendly spot f…
Itineraries
- Svalbard Midnight Sun & Fjords – Based in Longyearbyen, enjoy glacier cruises, guided hikes, and coal mining history.
- Svalbard Winter Snow & Northern Lights – Dog sledding, snowmobiling to Tempelfjorden, ice caving, and chasing the aurora.