Spitsbergen Circumnavigation

Day 1: Oslo

After arriving in Oslo, a representative from Aurora Expeditions will greet you and arrange your transfer to our group hotel. Once you’ve checked in, stop by the Aurora Expeditions hospitality desk to pick up your luggage cabin tags and connect with our ground operations team. They’ll provide any pre-embarkation updates and can also offer recommendations on dining, cash withdrawals or picking up last-minute essentials. 

Day 2: Longyearbyen 

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel before transferring to the airport for your included charter flight to Longyearbyen. A tour of this tiny coal-mining town on Spitsbergen Island is included on arrival if time allows. 

Afterwards, take your transfer to the pier and embark on your waiting ship in the late afternoon. Settle into your cabin before joining the key safety briefings ahead of setting sail. 

Days 3 to 11: Svalbard

Rounding Spitsbergen's northwest coast, enter the Arctic Ocean and the world of pack ice. Ghostly beluga whales rise up in open leads and polar bears stalk ringed, bearded and harp seals. Offshore, walruses feed on clams or haul out on beaches. You might even visit trapper huts and stay alert for reindeer and Arctic fox. 

Delightful walks reveal delicious berries and some of the tundra's 164 exquisite flowering plants including purple saxifrage, yellow spider plants and Svalbard poppies. 

Attempt to pass through narrow straits flanked by austere, cream-coloured slopes rich in fossils. This polar desert is a landscape eroded by severe frost. Even in summer, pack ice could bar the way but there’s much to strive for. Zodiac cruise beneath sheer basalt cliffs literally buzzing with some 200,000 nests of Brunnich's guillemots. During shore excursions, you’ll seek eider ducks, Arctic foxes and the elusive Svalbard ptarmigan.  

If you have booked an optional activity, perhaps kayaking, you’ll have the chance to paddle among this otherworldly environment. For those who want to tick the polar plunge off their bucket list, the onboard expedition team will be looking for opportunities for you to take an exhilarating dip in the ice-cold Arctic waters. 

Day 12: Longyearbyen

Early in the morning, your ship will slip into Longyearbyen and you’ll disembark after breakfast. Bid goodbye to your expedition team and enjoy free time before taking your included transfer to the airport and charter flight back to Oslo. 

NOTE: This itinerary is for guidance only as each voyage will vary depending on ice and weather conditions, and opportunities to see wildlife. Flexibility is key and all part of the adventure of an expeditionary cruise.