1. There's a wealth of human history
Abundant wildlife, vast stretches of continuous daylight or darkness, and an edge-of-the-world latitude that makes them a hotbed for scientific research mean travelling to the poles is an exhilarating experience. But what separates the Arctic from its antipolar equivalent is a deep-lying human history – as I discovered in Longyearbyen, the northernmost town in the world.
Today, it has a population of 2,000 researchers, scientists and adventurists, as well as a supermarket, university and whisky bar. A visit to the fantastic Svalbard Museum reveals a more perilous history, however, in which whalers and miners travelling on wooden boats risked life and limb to cultivate industry on the island.
Aboard MS Spitsbergen, I sought out HX’s expedition team leader, Josh van der Groen, to find out more. Having joined the company in 2018, he knows the region intimately.
“Svalbard has a rich history that most people don’t know about,” he explains. “Dutch and British whalers were living in such harsh conditions that they were lucky to survive the winters here. Many of their cabins are still standing around the island today.”
2. Polar bear sightings are possible, not guaranteed
“Although many people come here in the hope of seeing a polar bear, even one encounter is a truly special and rare moment,” said HX’s VP of Expedition Development, Karin Strand.
We got a sense of how elusive a sighting can be when our ship was sailing the Holesund fjord. When we were interrupted by an unscheduled broadcast informing us that a polar bear had just been spotted, I rushed to the top deck to find the expedition team training their binoculars on a long line of paw prints on the shore, each one the size of a dinner plate. “He’s hiding in the glacier,” one of them said.
At this point, the Zodiacs would once have been lowered into the water to ferry guests to a better vantage point.
However, new restrictions enforced by the Norwegian government have increased the minimum distance from which cruise ships can view polar bears to 500 metres from March to June, so MS Spitsbergen’s top deck is as close as we were going to get.
Svalbard is undergoing the fastest climate change on the planet, with Arctic sea ice having retreated to its lowest level on record last winter, and the new rulings are designed to ensure that bears can hunt, rest and care for their cubs in peace.
It was only later, when MS Spitsbergen dropped anchor and the last few guests finally decided to call it a day, that a polar bear suddenly appeared. Half a kilometre away on the thick sheet ice, one of these apex predators was spotted on the hunt, following the scent of a seal on the distant shoreline. For 30 mesmerising minutes, we watched through our binoculars as it chased down its dinner.
3. There's more here than the headline species
Several days in, any fears that the cruise had peaked with the polar bear spotting were long gone. Over breakfast, I overheard another table playing a game of Svalbard ‘top trumps’ as they debated whether a seal beats a whitebeaked dolphin.
As Karin said: “Svalbard is home to an abundance of incredible wildlife and dramatic scenery, making each expedition different from the last."
The perfect example of this arrived as we reached the crown of Svalbard, roughly 1,100km north of mainland Norway. There, on a knuckle of land punching outward from the ocean, a herd of walrus huddled for warmth in the freezing Arctic wind.
In a tight scrum of our own on the top deck, Zoe Walker, HX’s science and education coordinator, gave an impromptu lecture on these famously ill-tempered beanbag-shaped mammals.
“Walruses are spectacularly aggressive,” she explained. “They all want to be in the middle of the pile, and they will hurt you to get there.”
Right on cue, a walrus dragged itself onto the beach and shuffled heavily towards the giant pile of animated blubber before fighting its way to the centre for a more desirable spot.
“They may be violent, but it’s only because they want the best spot to cuddle,” explained Zoe.
What you can generally count on is meeting huskies, which tend to be friendlier to humans, at the husky café in Longyearbyen. Kristina, who started the venture three years ago with a couple of friends, said, “In the summertime we get a lot of visitors from the cruise ships. If you’re unable to join one of the dog sledding trips, then it’s nice to be able to see them here.”
4. A polar plunge is not for the faint of heart
Even in late spring, in the Arctic it’s not unusual for the temperature to drop below zero.
A polar plunge is a daredevil act I dreaded as soon as I arrived in Svalbard. As I stripped down to my swim shorts, the icy wind lashing my shivering body, I wondered if it wasn’t too late to back out of my first (and almost certainly last) polar plunge.
But with the sound of cheers from my fellow passengers echoing around the bay, I trudged into the freezing fjord with Terminator-like focus before nosediving beneath the surface. I was submerged just long enough to feel the tingling of tiny ice shards pinpricking my body before I raced back to shore to heave my layers on again.
5. 24-hour daylight takes some adjustment
Travelling during 24-hour daylight can be incredibly disorientating at first. After the polar plunge, I found myself wondering, “Is it too early for a hot toddy?”. But staring up at the blue sky, I realised I had no way of knowing, for time stands still when the sun doesn’t set.
Thankfully, there are several things you can do to ensure you get a restful night’s sleep. For example, draw your blinds before you go for dinner, otherwise the last thing you see before you go to sleep will be a blast of sunshine. Try to establish a nocturnal routine by setting a bedtime, turning off all electronics an hour before you go to sleep and investing in a decent eye mask.
Get on board
HX’s eight-night Svalbard in Spring: The Return of the Sun has 11 departures between May 2026 and June 2027 at the time of writing.
What else to read before booking an Arctic cruise:
Enjoyed this story?
Choose World of Cruising as a Preferred Source on Google News to keep up to date with our latest articles
Set as preferred source
