Northern Europe
Svalbard – What You Will See There and Why You Should Go
The first thing you will see on Svalbard is not a glacier or a polar bear. It is a reindeer walking down a street in Longyearbyen as casually as if it were waiting for the green light at a crossing. At that moment you realise that you have just landed in the northernmost town on the planet, and that from here on the world follows completely different rules.
This article is not a guide or a comparison. It sets out the facts that will help you understand why Svalbard should not be missing from your list of trips.
Svalbard – Five Reasons Why It Is Worth Visiting
Longyearbyen, the northernmost town in the world with more than a thousand inhabitants, lies only about 1 300 kilometres from the North Pole.
One of the best places in the world to see polar bears in the wild, not behind glass in a zoo.
Polar day and polar night. In summer the sun does not set even at midnight, in winter it does not rise at all, and the sky is decorated by the northern lights.
Global Seed Vault, a vault in the permafrost that protects more than 1.4 million seed samples.
Glaciers that break off straight into the sea, and ice caves whose appearance changes every year. The view you see, nobody else will ever see again.
What Awaits You on Svalbard
Longyearbyen is not a forgotten place somewhere on the map. It is a town where the harsh Arctic and human life meet on every corner: cafés, museums and a lively community among the glaciers. This contrast makes the journey unique from the very first step.
Longyearbyen – The Northernmost Capital on the Planet
You will walk past colourful houses and meet reindeer as often as you meet locals. After a few minutes these encounters grow on you, and after a few hours you will take them for granted. People and animals live side by side here. What may surprise you, however, is that locals routinely carry a rifle as protection against polar bears when travelling outside the town.
Longyearbyen is one of those places where it is worth slowing down. Visit the Svalbard Museum and listen to the stories of polar expeditions, look into the abandoned mines where the hard story of coal mining was written, or sit down in one of the northernmost restaurants in the world or in the northernmost brewery, with a view of mountains that seem within arm's reach.
Global Seed Vault – A Place That Protects the Future of the Whole Planet
A short distance outside the town, carved deep into the permafrost, lies one of the most important vaults on Earth. The Global Seed Vault holds millions of seed samples from all over the world. It is an insurance policy in case humanity should one day lose its crops.
Visitors are not normally admitted inside. Even so, standing in front of its entrance is an experience that will stay in your memory. Brutalist architecture set in an Arctic landscape looks dramatic, to say the least.
Dog Sledding Across a Tundra Without End
Sitting on a sledge pulled by a pack of enthusiastic huskies across an endless white plain is perhaps the closest you can come to the feeling of the first polar explorers. You hear only the barking of the dogs and the creak of snow under the runners, and around you is the silence of the tundra, which has no equal in civilisation. Dogsledding is a tradition that is still kept alive here today.
Snowmobiles Along the East Coast
Riding a snowmobile along the east coast of Svalbard is an adrenaline rush that cannot be replicated anywhere else in Europe. Ice plains stretch as far as the eye can see, and majestic glaciers and fjords flash past on both sides. Then, when the engine falls silent, comes a silence as powerful as the adrenaline before it.
Meeting the King of the Arctic – Home of the Polar Bears
Svalbard is home to the largest concentration of polar bears in the world. With a bit of luck, you will see a female with cubs, a bear hunting on an ice floe or an individual resting after a hunt, always from a safe distance and always with an expert guide at your side.
Glacier Trekking and Entering an Ice Cave
Putting on crampons and setting off directly onto a glacier means touching a landscape that ice has been shaping for thousands of years. And then comes the ice cave, an entrance into a world of blue and turquoise shades where only subdued light penetrates. Every cave is different and constantly changing.
Sailing Among Ice Giants
Setting out on a boat expedition around Svalbard means getting close to glaciers that rise tens of metres above the sea. On the way you pass seals basking on ice floes, seabirds and, with a bit of luck, a whale. The landscape is raw and beautiful.
A Walk Through Bear Valley and the Last Evening in Longyearbyen
The last day is for a slower pace. Bjørndalen, literally Bear Valley, offers a walk through one of the most beautiful landscapes of Svalbard, where reindeer, polar birds and even Arctic foxes await you. The evening is for a gastronomic experience: a plate of reindeer meat or Arctic fish and a glass of craft beer from the northernmost brewery in the world. In other words, getting to know new destinations with all the senses.
What a Trip to Svalbard with Meraki Tours Includes
Everything you have just read is not a random list of attractions. It is a palette of experiences from which we at Meraki Tours build an individual trip to Svalbard. We always take each client's preferences into account individually.
A Tailor-Made Itinerary
You do not buy a trip to Svalbard from us from a catalogue. We build it around your ideas, your fitness and the season in which you decide to go. The result is an itinerary tailor-made down to the last detail, not a package that fits the "average" client.
Experiences We Build the Programme From
We include a combination of activities in the itinerary according to your wishes and the season:
dog sledding
snowmobiles along the East Coast
polar bear expedition with an expert guide
glacier trekking and a visit to an ice cave
boat trip to the glaciers and to see whales, seals and seabirds
wildlife watching (reindeer, Arctic foxes, walruses)
a walk through Bjørndalen
a visit to the Svalbard Museum, the abandoned mines and the Global Seed Vault
dinners in local restaurants in Longyearbyen
Personal Consultation and 24/7 Assistance at the Destination
Before the trip, we will go through every detail of the itinerary with you in a personal consultation. Once you arrive on Svalbard, we are available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In a destination where the weather decides and safety comes first, this certainty is the difference between a holiday and worries.
In Conclusion
Svalbard is not about a single attraction that you tick off before moving on. It is about a series of moments that together create the feeling that you have been somewhere people do not normally go, and that you saw it with your own eyes, not in photos on the internet.
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