Things to do in Svalbard
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Huset
It’s something of a walk to work up an appetite for the Huset’s highly regarded restaurant, on whose menu (Nkr495) reindeer and grouse feature regularly. The bar serves up pizzas (Nkr85 to Nkr100), whale in pepper sauce (Nkr165) and seal stew (Nkr155) and its signature hamburger med alt (Nkr96) – a meaty burger with all the trimmings, so juicy, a researcher told us, that lonely scientists in their tents dream of it. A curiosity for a place so far from the nearest vineyard: its wine cellar has over 20,000 bottles.
reviewed
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Kroa
This pub and restaurant was reconstructed from the elements of a building brought in from Russian Barentsburg (the giant white bust of Lenin peeking from behind the bar – and sporting a Liverpool FC scarf when we were last here – gives a clue). Service is cheerful and mains verge on the gargantuan. Starters are more modest in size. Try, for example, the cured seal (Nkr78) or Arctic char (Nkr92).
reviewed
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Spitsbergen Travel
One of the giants of the Svalbard travel scene, Spitsbergen Travel runs three-day guided cruises between mid-June and mid-September aboard the former Hurtigruten coastal steamer Nordstjernena, putting ashore at both Barentsburg and Ny Ålesund. Prices, not including airfare, start at Nkr7930/12,875 per person without/with private shower. It also offers seven-day cruises with the smaller Polar Star, which penetrates more deeply into Svalbard’s so lightly travelled areas. Prices begin at Nkr32,600 per double cabin.
reviewed
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Pomor Museum
The simple, appealing little Pomor museum outlines (in Russian only) the historic Pomor trade with mainland Russia, plus Russian mining and history on Svalbard. Especially worthwhile are the excellent geological exhibits and the collection of artefacts suggesting Russian activity in Svalbard prior to the archipelago’s accepted European ‘discovery’ by Willem Barents.
reviewed
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Basecamp Spitsbergen
Basecamp Spitsbergen mainly offers winter activities, including a stay aboard the Noorderlicht, a Dutch sailing vessel that’s set into the fjord ice as the long freeze begins each autumn. It also offers winter and summer stays at Isfjord Radio, the ultimate remote getaway on an upgraded, one-time radio station at the northwestern tip of Spitsbergen island.
reviewed
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Svalbard Museum
The Svalbard Museum is an impressive, recently inaugurated exhibition space. Themes include the life on the edge formerly led by whalers, trappers, seal and walrus hunters and, more recently, miners. It's an attractive mix of text, artefacts and birds and mammals, stuffed and staring. There's a cosy book-browsing area too where you can lounge on sealskin cushions and rugs.
reviewed
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Mine No 3
Sign on for a journey deep into Mine No 3. Productive from 1971 to 1996, this was the last shaft to be worked manually, thrusting itself 5.5km deep into the heart of the mountain. The side spurs, from whose veins the coal was hacked, were only 80cm high. You can crawl into one to sense what life at the coal face was really like.
reviewed
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Galleri Svalbard
Galleri Svalbard features the Svalbard-themed works of Norwegian artist Kåre Tveter, so pure and cold they make you shiver; reproductions of early maps of Svalbard; and a 10-minute film, The Arctic Nature of Svalbard, which gives a glimpse of Svalbard’s other, winter persona.
reviewed
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Brasseri Nansen
Longyearbyen has two excellent hotel restaurants: Brasseri Nansen at the Radisson SAS Polar; and Funktionærmessen Restaurant in the Spitsbergen Hotel. These apart, locals will tell you that the two best places to eat and drink are the pub and the house. But not just any old pub or house…
reviewed
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Svalbard Wildlife Service
Offering many of the usual and several unusual trips, Svalbard Wildlife Service can take you on three days of camping, hiking and kayaking around the Esmark glacier (Nkr6400), or seven days among the glaciers, seals and walruses of Prins Karls Forlandet island (Nkr13,500).
reviewed
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Svalbard Villmarkssenter
The experts in dog mushing are Svalbard Villmarkssenter, whether by sledge over the snow or – OK, it’s not the same thing but it gives you a feel of what a wintertime dog-sled experience must be like – on wheels during summer.
reviewed
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Wilderness Guide, Poli Arctici
Wilderness Guide, Poli Arctici is the trading name of Stefano Poli, originally from Milan and with 13 years as a Svalbard wilderness guide under his belt. Specialising in multiday treks, he also offers guided day hikes and, in winter, snowmobile sorties.
reviewed
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Karls-Berger Pub Café
Enter Karls-Berger Pub Café, put on your shades and prepare to be dazzled at the sight of over 1000 bottles of whiskies, brandies and sundry spirits shimmering behind the bar of this snug pub.
reviewed
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Atelier Aino
Follow the sign directing you off the main pedestrian street to the gallery and workshop of Danish artist Aino Grib. A resident of Svalbard, she captures in her canvases the hues and tones of the Arctic seasons.
reviewed
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Orthodox Chapel
The small wooden Orthodox Chapel commemorates the twin disasters of 1996 and 1997. Above the football pitch and set aside from the community's other buildings, it merits poking your nose inside.
reviewed
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Fruene Kaffe Og Vinbar
Fruene Kaffe og Vinbar ‘The Missus’, run by three sprightly young women, is a welcoming café, serving decent coffee, baguettes, pizza and snacks.
reviewed
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Mine Museum
The town supports a neat little Mine Museum in the old Tiedemann’s Tabak (tobacco) shop, relating the coal-mining history of this area.
reviewed
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Svalbard Explorer
In summer Svalbard Explorer runs trips once or twice daily to Longyearbyen's last producing coal mine, 15km east of the town.
reviewed
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Longyearbyen Heated Pool
If you've energy left at the end of the day, plunge into Longyearbyen Heated Pool at the Sports Hall.
reviewed
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Discover the World
This is a UK travel operator but they can arrange guided cruises around the archipelago.
reviewed
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Jewels of the Arctic
15 days (Oslo)
A voyage that offers wonderful opportunities for tundra and glacier walking, fjord exploration, dramatic landscapes and Arctic wildlife viewing.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$8,670 -
Spitsbergen & Northeast Greenland
13 days (Longyearbyen)
Experience the raw beauty of Spitsbergen and the magnificent east coast of Greenland.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$6,250 -
North Spitsbergen
8 days (Longyearbyen)
Experience the magnificent wildlife and scenery of Spitsbergen.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$3,900 -
Spitsbergen Odyssey
12 days (Longyearbyen)
Cruise around Spitsbergen on this amazing voyage of discovery.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$7,650 -
North or Around Spitsbergen
10 days (Longyearbyen)
Experience the magnificent wildlife and scenery of Spitsbergen.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$4,950
