This morning, the group will transfer to the airport and board a private charter flight to Longyearbyen, the largest township on Spitsbergen. As the ship sets sail, take in your first view of the island’s rugged, glacier-topped mountains rising majestically from the icy waters.

Expect a new adventure every day as the journey begins by heading north around the island of Spitsbergen, exploring smaller, outlying islands. The plan is to circumnavigate Spitsbergen, and if conditions are favourable, a larger circumnavigation of the archipelago, including many of the outer islands in the Svalbard archipelago, will be attempted. Every expedition will be different, depending on the weather and ice, but some of the places that may be visited include the 14th of July Glacier, Ny-London, Phippsøya, Alkefjellet, and the seldom-visited Kvitøya. These names may seem unfamiliar, but each site has its own unique appeal. There is no shortage of natural beauty in Spitsbergen, where colorful tundra meadows are complemented by immense glaciers. For birders, 14th of July Bay is home to puffins, purple sandpipers, black-legged kittiwakes, pink-footed geese, and barnacle geese, while Alkefjellet’s cliffs are teeming with nesting Brünnich’s guillemots (thick-billed murres). Always on the lookout for wildlife, be sure to have your camera ready to capture reindeer when visiting sites like Ny-London, Sundneset, and Alkhornet. Searching for the iconic polar bear is a constant activity for the Expedition Team. Phippsøya and Isbukta are often home to sea ice, the bears’ preferred habitat for hunting, offering great potential to view and capture them in action. A big part of appreciating Spitsbergen comes from understanding its history—not just how people live today, but also how this land was first explored. Whaling was a key industry, and you will see remains of outposts from the 16th century, along with other evidence of whaling at landing sites such as Smeerenburg.

The time has come to say farewell to your newfound friends and Expedition Team. After disembarking, spend the day exploring the frontier-style settlement of Longyearbyen before catching the charter flight to Helsinki.