Time to step aboard. Tall Ship Noorderlicht will be waiting for you at the so-called ‘floating pier’ in Longyearbyen where you can embark at 16:00. After a welcome speech from the captain and meeting your fellow travelers we will cast off the mooring lines and set sail. In the evening we will anchor at Trygghamna.

Possibly our first zodiac landing will be in Trygghamna, where you can see the remains of a 17th century English whaling station and a 18th century hunting station of the Pomor.

From here we might hike to the 428-meter high Alkhornet , where some 10,000 pairs of different seabirds breed. The cliffs are composed of carbonate rock, which is more than a billion years old. The tundra at the bottom of the cliff receives nutrients from the sea birds and provides meadows for reindeer, nesting sites for geese and shelter for Arctic foxes. 

The ship will attempt to sail out of the fjord in a northerly direction towards the Forlandsundet, a beautiful strait located between the main island of Spitsbergen and the island of Prins Karls Forland. Because this sailing area may still be in the grip of winter, there is opportunity to spot a lot of wildlife including ringed and bearded seals.

Due to its shallow draft, the Noorderlicht is one of the few ships that can navigate these waters although the crew will need full concentration. In the meantime, do not forget to keep an eye out for large groups of walruses that can often be found at Sarstangen and Poolepynten! They form a beautiful scene with panoramic mountains in the background that cameras love.

In the morning you will wake up in the beautiful Kongsfjord and Krossfjords where we will be greeted by the towering face of the “14th July” glacier. Bearded seals often lie to rest on the broken ice floes, and near the glacier we may find breeding colonies of black-billed guillemots, kittiwakes and puffins.

These fjords offer numerous sights. For example, we may be able to organize a landing on the Blomstrandhalvoya peninsula, where the remains of a marble mine can be seen at Ny London. From this location we also have a beautiful view of the Tre Kroner, the three iconic mountain peaks that shine through the ice cap.

Today, early in the morning, we will head South for Grimaldibukta. In Murraypynten, named after a Scottish oceanographer, we hope to make a landing to spot walruses from at close range. Murraypynten is a peninsula north of the Grimaldibukta. From the hills you have a beautiful panoramic view of the rugged mountain and glacial landscape of Spitsbergen and the flat landscape at the foot of the mountain makes it wonderful and easy to walk. On the south side of Murraypynten you can visit a ruin of a hut built by a German expedition in 1963. In the afternoon we will continue the journey south, back to the Isfjord, where we will anchor in the sheltered bay at Ymerbukta in the evening.

The Esmarkbreen glacier flows into the bay of Ymerbukta, where we will organize a landing in the morning. Depending on the availability of a berth in Barentsburg, we will sail towards the Russian mining settlement where we will arrive towards the end of the afternoon. After an adventurous journey in the unspoilt nature of Spitsbergen, you will have the opportunity to move freely without the supervision of a guide with a rifle, as is necessary in most of Spitsbergen.