Longyearbyen, Norway Travel Blogs

25 days of adventure in the true north!!!!
Sep 13, 2008 (5 photos)

... brief details of our trip from 20.7-15.8.2008 to svalbard spitsbergen, 1. day plane: vienna - munich - oslo - longyearbyen 2. day resting and organizational matters 3. day boattravel to the ghosttown pyramiden 4.-8. day hikes around pyramiden 9. day ...

Leaving Svalbard
Apr 4, 2008 (6 photos)

We had a sleep in, getting up at 8.30am and had breakfast at the hotel. We then packed our bags and checked out at 11am and put our bags in storage until the bus was to pick us up at 1pm to take us to the airport. Walked down the main street and ...

Friendly seagull
Jun 6, 2004 (3 photos)

A very nice seagull...standing on the balcony of our Norwegian and Danish friends, Hilde and Sigve. They even liked to eat from their hands (what Bea checked personally).

Longyearbyen, the solitary Norwegian town
Aug 1, 2003 (36 photos)

... It was a wise choice to start with such a difficult trip, because this would contribute to make easier the following experiences. Longyearbyen is special in many different ways. To start with something, it has a difficult access; it is only reachable by ...

Arctic fox
Apr 15, 2004 (2 photos)

Arctic fox... One of the most interesting (and few) mammals in Svalbard. It is quite evasive, partially beacause it needs it (they can feed from the remains left behind by polar bears), but beautiful as well, both in its summer and its winter coats. As ...

Polar Bear!!!
May 8, 2004 (2 photos)

From the R/V Jan Mayen (although it took us a while to get the camera ready, and the pics are not from very close), we saw a polar bear. Those were very tense minutes, because before we saw it, the captain of the ship warned us about the high probability ...

Reindeers
Jan 15, 2004 (10 photos)

Our favourite arctic herbivorous animal! We have a special affection for these "little" boys, maybe because they are cruelly killed there by biologists and hunters who think that it is a nice sport! We had a lot of nice experiences with them because they ...

Arriving in Svalbard
Apr 1, 2008 (5 photos)

Clear weather as we approached Svalbard meant we got some good pictures from the plane. Arrived in Longyearbyen a little late due to the extra passenger issue at Tromsø. We had to walk across the tarmac in Longyearbyen, -19C when we arrived so it was a ...

And Even Further North...
Jul 12, 2009 (5 photos)

... to walk to town...never did see a bear there but I did see an arctic fox!  Very cool! Despite the warm weather in Longyearbyen, I was nervous about whether I had enough clothes for on the ship - the wind chill on deck would be a factor.  I had ...

Land of the midnight sun
Aug 23, 2008 (9 photos)

... 3 days due to fog.  I was very glad when our flight was able to proceed.  On arrival at Longyearbyen, the usually sleepy little airport was packed solid with people trying to get a flight out that day.  You could hardly move!! ...

Svalbard
Jul 13, 2007

... flew north to Longyearbyen, and I did not see darkness again until I returned to London almost 2 weeks later.  The flight upto Longyearbyen from Oslo took just under 3 hours, and was on a standard jet (Boeing 737 to be exact), which surprised me, I ...

Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous...and Polar Bears!
Jul 14, 2009 (34 photos)

Tuesday afternoon I boarded the Prince Albert II which would be my home for the next 10 days.  And what a home!  I had, of course, booked the most economical cabin.  The pictures on the website looked nice but I've been fooled by that ...

Snowmobiling to East Coast of Svalbard
Apr 3, 2008 (4 photos)

We got up at 6.15am and breakfast at the hotel before being picked up by tour company at 8.15am and driven the their office to change into snow suits and have a very brief introduction into driving a snowmobile. We left at 9.45am for a 10 hour trip to ...

Dogsledding in Svalbard
Apr 2, 2008 (3 photos)

We got up at 7.30 and had breakfast at the hotel then were picked up by the tour company for our dogsledding trip at 9.30am. Driven to tour company office where we changed into snow suits and then drove on to kennels. Harnessed dogs and attached them ...

Skidoo, seal and sun
Apr 26, 2007 (22 photos)

After a lot of hesitation again due to the high price of excursions, I've booked for the whole day an excursion with snowscooter (skidoo). At the end it was a very good choice! Program: Riding a 400 CC skidoo at around 60km/h during 8 hours ...

Midnight sun
Apr 25, 2007 (9 photos)

78' 12,100N 015' 35,237 (3308km from home) If you check one position in my trip you can check this one with google earth First of all, if you are going near the north pole, please make sure that there is no marathon! I arrived in Svalbard ( ...

Retour par l'autoroute
May 6, 2005 (6 photos)

Nous voilà déjà sur le retour, 2 jours de skis pour retourner au bercail. Le guide qui voulait qu'on reste groupé, a maintenant récupéré la pulka avec les chiens et se laisse traîner par les chiens 500 mètres devant nous. Cool la vie. De plus, à moins qu'il soit ...

Nightswimming in the Arctic
Jul 9, 2007 (8 photos)

For the remaining few days i stayed closer to Longyearbyen. Taking 2 day-hike into Longyearbyen glacier. This involved getting wet feet when crossing the river and when i have wet feet which become sweaty from all the walking, my socks really do stink. ...

Cercle Arctique : Spitzberg
May 1, 2005 (3 photos)

... 78° Nord Mon billet d'avion sous les yeux, je m'envol pour Oslo puis d'Oslo envol pour la grande ville du Spitzberg : Longyearbyen, soit 1500 habitants. Au fait, j'ai 6 heures d'attente à l'aéroport d'Oslo top.   Me voilà à l'aéroport d'Oslo sans ...

Préparation
May 2, 2005 (3 photos)

J'ai bien du dormir 5 heures... Tu te réveilles le matin, il fait soleil dans la chambre, tu penses qu'il faut te lever à cause du jour, tu regardes ta montre, et non il est 5 heures du matin. Le matin est prévu pour la préparation du matériel, j'ai amené ...

Spitzberg by night
May 8, 2005

Avant de repartir, j'ai demandé au guide où ça bougeait le soir en ville. Alors, avant d'aller guincher, on est allé dans un resto histoire d'essayer un plat un peu différent : On trouve de la baleine (importée car pas de pêche dans le coin), alors en ragoût ...

Secret Arctic Island Under the Clouds
Aug 10, 2005 (5 photos)

Maybe I could be forgiven for having high expectations of this legendary place. I had traveled alone for what seemed like days, hauling a giant overpacked suitcase of brand new "arctic" gear and a fellow scientist's packer filled with pipettes, baggies, ...

Dog Sledding
Aug 11, 2002 (2 photos)

Sunshine, Shrinking Sea Ice, Stalking Wild Species
Jul 5, 2009 (45 photos)

... connection is there between carbon in the atmosphere, a warmer climate, disappearing sea ice and retreating glaciers? We are in Longyearbyen because it is the northernmost city in the world and the jumping off point for arctic exploration. At 78° North, ...

Barentsberg & Esmark Glacier
Aug 10, 2002 (2 photos)

Travelogue is up and running...
Apr 29, 2005

Well, I just set up this travelogue and hope to start posting more entries throughout the year. Right now, life's pretty busy, leaving on an UNIS cruise to the north-western coast of Spitsbergen to do some seismic recording and sediment coring. And ...

Svalbard, Norway
Nov 10, 2008

Svalbard

Longyearbyen
Dec 28, 2007

Denne turen skulle jeg ønske at jeg husker, men jeg var bare to år da vi reiste for å besøke onkel og tante i Longyearbyen. Forhåpentligvis klarer jeg å spa opp noen bilder for å dokumentere besøket.

Lectures in Longyearbyen
Jul 8, 2008

... we went to the Svalbard Museum. The museum was really nice. It gave a great overview of Svalbard in general and Longyearbyen specifically. It went into some detail on the Russian role in Svalbard's history, which I had never heard before. It also went ...

Fossil Hunting on Spitsbergen
Aug 9, 2002 (1 photos)