• Antarctica
• Arctic
  • The North Pole
  • Northwest Passage
  • Tanquary Fjord
  • North of 80°
  • Fury and Hecla
  • Spitsbergen & Subarctic Islands
    • Spitsbergen Explorer
    • Spitsbergen, Greenland, Iceland
    • High Arctic Explorer
    • Heart of Northwest Passage
    • Polar Bear Quest
    • Around Spitsbergen
    • North Spitsbergen
    • South Spitsbergen
    • Spitsbergen & Northeast Greenland
    • Circumnavigation of Spitsbergen
    • Greenland, Svalbard & Iceland
    • Orca Safari
    • Scoresby Sund
  • Our Vessels
• Latin America
• Galápagos Islands
• Canada's Maritime Islands
• Bhutan & Sikkim
• Spirit of India
• Ethiopia & Kingdom of Jordan
• Borneo - Sarawak & Sabah
• Classic Cruises
• North Africa
• Australia & Oceania

Polar Bear Quest

Itinerary

Day 1

Oslo - Longyearbyen

Fly Oslo to Longyearbyen (flight not included, contact us for fare details). On arrival, transfer to the Radisson SAS Polar Hotel, a unique hotel furnished as a traditional hunter’s cabin with driftwood, slate stone and furs.

Day 2

Longyearbyen

This morning is at leisure to explore on your own until lunch at your hotel. In the afternoon we take a tour of this High Arctic capital including a stop at the fascinating Svalbard Museum. Embark MS Origo or MS Stockholm this afternoon and sail to the Russian coal-mining settlement of Barentsburg, several hundred miles away from mainland Russia.

Days 3-7

Spitsbergen Archipelago

Our exact itinerary will depend on weather and ice conditions and the wildlife we encounter. Our experienced Captain and Expedition Leader will make the best advantage of these factors to maximise your Arctic experience. We will travel east and spend more time in the pack-ice. This is the natural habitat of the polar bear and our chances of spotting this impressive animal are increased. There is also a good possibility of a landing on White Island, the island easternmost to the main island of Svalbard, where very few people have ever set foot. In ideal sea and weather conditions we may circumnavigate Spitsbergen.

Each day you will make one or two landings by Zodiac and the following outline is an approximate description of what we hope to achieve:

Hornsund

A bay to the south of Longyearbyen, where we cruise along stunning glaciers which wind their way down to the sea. Polar bears have been sighted in the area.

Ny Alesund

Founded in 1916 as a coal mining centre, Ny Alesund is the world's northernmost settlement. Today, the old coal town has been transformed into a scientific community. Send your postcards from the most northerly post office in the world.

Danes Island

Once a booming whaling station, this was also the starting point for two of the most courageous attempts to reach the North Pole. A local guide will take us around the site with its many remnants of past heroic expeditions.

Moffen Island

Continuing north we will cross the 80th Parallel and head for Moffen Island, usually an excellent area to view walrus.

East Spitsbergen

Sailing to the east we will encounter our first pack-ice and a vast untouched wilderness area. It is here that our odds of locating polar bears are the greatest and we will keep a constant vigil from the bridge during our time in the ice.

White Island

If conditions permit we will land on White Island, the most easterly island of the archipelago and the place where Swedish balloonist Andree perished in 1897. You visit the monuments of that expedition and admire the beautiful scenery.

Nordaustlandet

We will cruise along the southern part of this large island which is covered by a massive ice-cap stretching down to the sea. Here it forms a long glacier front intersected by hundreds of melt-waterfalls. Seals and seabirds such as puffins, guillemots and little auks will be our constant companions on this trip and with some good fortune we will also encounter some whales.

Day 8

Homeward Bound

It is time to retrace the route to Longyearbyen. We make a last landing on Prins Karls Forland. In the evening, we anchor in a sheltered bay to enjoy our captain's farewell dinner.

Day 9

Longyearbyen - Olso

Early this morning transfer to the airport for your outbound flight.

The itinerary descriptions reflect the plans for this expedition and should be read as general guides only. These are expeditions to remote and rarely visited regions of the world, and flexibility is required. Our exact program will vary based on local weather and ice conditions, availability of local permissions, and government orders.