Silver Endeavour - Svalbard High Arctic Expedition

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Longyearbyen

   NorwayDepart

   The main settlement on Svalbard at 78°N, a former coal-mining company town of about 2,400 people with more snowmobiles than residents. Colourful boxy houses on stilts, wooden mine head-frames on the hillsides, and a rule that you do not leave the settlement without a rifle because of polar bears. Sunlight is continuous from late April to late August.

   • Svalbard Museum on mining, trapping and Arctic wildlife
   • The exterior of the Global Seed Vault, cut into the mountain by the airport
   • Dog sledding on wheeled carts in summer
   • A boat trip to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg or the Nordenskiöld glacier

   Getting ashore

   Smaller expedition ships berth at Bykaia; larger vessels anchor in Adventfjorden and tender, and the port is roughly 2 km from the town centre, so most lines run a shuttle.

   Best months

   Jun-Aug (midnight sun late Apr-late Aug)

2. Day 2

   Northern Svalbard

   NorwayPort

   Not a port at all - an itinerary line covering the fjords and ice edge north of Spitsbergen, where expedition ships spend days working around the pack ice depending on conditions. Landings are by Zodiac on beaches with no infrastructure, and the schedule is written in pencil: bears, fast ice and fog all rewrite it.

   • Monaco Glacier in Liefdefjorden, a favourite for ice-edge birdlife
   • The Alkefjellet cliffs in Hinlopen Strait, with tens of thousands of Brünnich's guillemots
   • Walrus haul-outs around Moffen and the Sjuøyane islands
   • Cruising north toward the pack ice looking for polar bears

   Best months

   Jun-Aug (ice usually retreats far enough by late Jun)

3. Day 3

   Northern Svalbard

   NorwayPort

   Not a port at all - an itinerary line covering the fjords and ice edge north of Spitsbergen, where expedition ships spend days working around the pack ice depending on conditions. Landings are by Zodiac on beaches with no infrastructure, and the schedule is written in pencil: bears, fast ice and fog all rewrite it.

   • Monaco Glacier in Liefdefjorden, a favourite for ice-edge birdlife
   • The Alkefjellet cliffs in Hinlopen Strait, with tens of thousands of Brünnich's guillemots
   • Walrus haul-outs around Moffen and the Sjuøyane islands
   • Cruising north toward the pack ice looking for polar bears

   Best months

   Jun-Aug (ice usually retreats far enough by late Jun)

4. Day 4

   Northern Svalbard

   NorwayPort

   Not a port at all - an itinerary line covering the fjords and ice edge north of Spitsbergen, where expedition ships spend days working around the pack ice depending on conditions. Landings are by Zodiac on beaches with no infrastructure, and the schedule is written in pencil: bears, fast ice and fog all rewrite it.

   • Monaco Glacier in Liefdefjorden, a favourite for ice-edge birdlife
   • The Alkefjellet cliffs in Hinlopen Strait, with tens of thousands of Brünnich's guillemots
   • Walrus haul-outs around Moffen and the Sjuøyane islands
   • Cruising north toward the pack ice looking for polar bears

   Best months

   Jun-Aug (ice usually retreats far enough by late Jun)

5. Day 5

   Southern Svalbard

   NorwayPort

   Another expedition-cruise region rather than a place with a pier, covering the big fjord systems on the southwest side of Spitsbergen. Hornsund is the dramatic one, ringed by pointed peaks and calving glacier fronts; Bellsund and Van Mijenfjorden are gentler, with tundra walks and the remains of old whaling and mining ventures.

   • Zodiac cruising the glacier fronts of Hornsund
   • Tundra landings at Bellsund with reindeer and Arctic fox
   • Abandoned mining and whaling relics around Recherchefjorden
   • Bird cliffs and seabird colonies along the outer coast

   Best months

   Jun-Aug

6. Day 6

   Southern Svalbard

   NorwayPort

   Another expedition-cruise region rather than a place with a pier, covering the big fjord systems on the southwest side of Spitsbergen. Hornsund is the dramatic one, ringed by pointed peaks and calving glacier fronts; Bellsund and Van Mijenfjorden are gentler, with tundra walks and the remains of old whaling and mining ventures.

   • Zodiac cruising the glacier fronts of Hornsund
   • Tundra landings at Bellsund with reindeer and Arctic fox
   • Abandoned mining and whaling relics around Recherchefjorden
   • Bird cliffs and seabird colonies along the outer coast

   Best months

   Jun-Aug

7. Day 7

   Southern Svalbard

   NorwayPort

   Another expedition-cruise region rather than a place with a pier, covering the big fjord systems on the southwest side of Spitsbergen. Hornsund is the dramatic one, ringed by pointed peaks and calving glacier fronts; Bellsund and Van Mijenfjorden are gentler, with tundra walks and the remains of old whaling and mining ventures.

   • Zodiac cruising the glacier fronts of Hornsund
   • Tundra landings at Bellsund with reindeer and Arctic fox
   • Abandoned mining and whaling relics around Recherchefjorden
   • Bird cliffs and seabird colonies along the outer coast

   Best months

   Jun-Aug

8. Day 8

   Longyearbyen

   NorwayArrive

   The main settlement on Svalbard at 78°N, a former coal-mining company town of about 2,400 people with more snowmobiles than residents. Colourful boxy houses on stilts, wooden mine head-frames on the hillsides, and a rule that you do not leave the settlement without a rifle because of polar bears. Sunlight is continuous from late April to late August.

   • Svalbard Museum on mining, trapping and Arctic wildlife
   • The exterior of the Global Seed Vault, cut into the mountain by the airport
   • Dog sledding on wheeled carts in summer
   • A boat trip to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg or the Nordenskiöld glacier

   Getting ashore

   Smaller expedition ships berth at Bykaia; larger vessels anchor in Adventfjorden and tender, and the port is roughly 2 km from the town centre, so most lines run a shuttle.

   Best months

   Jun-Aug (midnight sun late Apr-late Aug)