Svalbard vacation: expedition cruises into the best of the Arctic
A Svalbard vacation takes you into one of the last true frontiers on Earth. At Oceanwide Expeditions, we build our expedition cruises to put you inside the spectacular expanse not watching it pass from a window. Glaciers calve into narrow fjords. Polar bears roam the pack ice edge. Every day here unfolds on its own terms, and we shape our itineraries around the ice, the weather and the wildlife rather than on a fixed route.
Wildlife and landscapes across Svalbard
Svalbard delivers some of the most concentrated Arctic wildlife on the map. Polar bears hunt along the sea ice. Walrus haul out on gravel beaches in haphazard, noisy groups. Arctic foxes prowl across open tundra, and kittiwakes crowd the cliffs by the thousand. Glaciers dominate much of the coastline, and some calve directly into the fjords with a crack like cannon fire. You might spot a bearded seal stretched on an ice floe, or a pod of beluga whales moving through open water close to shore. Nothing is guaranteed. Our expedition staff track ice reports and wildlife movements every day, and they adjust the route the moment an opportunity appears.
Picture by Matt Cheok
Days built for activity, not observation
Our Svalbard cruises hand you options, not a fixed schedule. Zodiac cruising takes you along ice cliffs and into channels too narrow for larger ships. Shore landings put you on tundra walks past reindeer tracks and nesting Arctic terns. Kayaking, snowshoeing and mountaineering round out the program, depending on conditions. Photography workshops run in the evening. Our naturalists lead lectures that put the day into context. On the ice, in the water, off the ship: that is where a Svalbard expedition vacation truly happens.
Choosing your Svalbard expedition vacation
Your Svalbard expedition vacation starts with the route. That route shapes everything you will see. Some expeditions circle the main island closely, tracing bays and glacier fronts near Longyearbyen. Others push further into the pack ice, chasing better odds of a polar bear sighting. Discover our full range of Svalbard expedition cruises to compare routes, or view the other Arctic destinations we sail across the top of the world. Each voyage carries a small group aboard an ice-strengthened vessel, built for close, personal access to the coast. That means more time ashore for you, and fewer people at every landing.
Picture by unknown photographer
Extending your Svalbard vacation
Svalbard sits inside a wider network of Arctic destinations. Combining regions opens up what your voyage can cover. In Greenland, towering icebergs and the remains of centuries-old settlements define a coastline unlike anywhere else. Jan Mayen rises from the North Atlantic as an isolated volcanic outpost. Few ships ever call there. We route some of our expeditions through more than one of these regions in a single trip, so your Svalbard vacation can become part of something larger. That range is part of what makes Arctic travel with us feel different every time.
Standing on deck as a glacier front cracks and slides into the sea is not something you forget. Explore our full range of Svalbard expedition cruises with Oceanwide Expeditions and book your voyage online.
Main image by Matt Cheok