The Circumnavigation, 2023

Day 1: Arrival to Oslo
Flight from Germany, Switzerland or Austria to Oslo. Overnight stay at Hotel Radisson SAS Airport Oslo.

Day 2: Flight to Spitsbergen and embarkation
Continuing flight to Longyearbyen, the starting port of our nature cruise and the administrative centre of Spitsbergen, where you have time to explore the small settlement and, for example, the Svalbard Museum before embarking. In the early evening, it is time to cast off and the „Cape Race“ sets sail for the Isfjords.

Day 3-15: „Around Spitsbergen“
A selection of possible destinations for this trip:
Laagøya / Sorgfjord: On the island of Laagøya there is a lagoon where walruses regularly gather. At the Sorgfjord there is also a good chance of watching the huge seals.

Krossfjord / Ny-Ålesund: We plan a Zodiac excursion to the spectacular 14^th of July Glacier. At Ny-Ålesund you can send postcard greetings from the post-office in the northernmost permanently inhabited place on earth.

Liefdefjorden / Monaco Glacier: At the mouth of the Liefdefjord we will go for a hike on the tundra island Andøya. We hope to see not only pink-footed geese and eider ducks but also the rare king eider duck. Later we enter the fjord and visit the edge of the huge Monaco glacier.

Phippsøya: The northernmost destination of this trip, the island of Phippsøya in the Seven Islands Archipelago, lies at 81° North – only 540 miles from the North Pole. There is usually pack ice around the islands, allowing us a very good chance of encountering polar bears.

Alkefjellet / Nordaustlandet: We reach the Hinlopen Strait and visit the bird cliffs of Alkefjellet, breeding ground for thousands of thick-billed murres. After crossing the Strait, we land on the island of Nordaustlandet and hope to sight the native Svalbard reindeer.

Torrelneset: this excursion destination is the seemingly other-worldly polar desert of Nordaustlandet. Nearby, another notable feature of this extreme landscape is the edge of the third largest ice field on earth rising almost vertically out of the sea – a truly breathtaking sight.

Barentsøya / Edgeøya: On the island Barentsøya we go on the search for reindeer and short-billed murres. During an excursion on Edgeøya we hike to a large bird colony with kittiwakes, black guillemots and Glaucous gulls. Polar foxes and polar bears often roam the area in search of young birds that have fallen out of their nests.

Hornsund: After the passage of the southern cape of Spitsbergen we reach the Hornsund and explore the side fjords of this spectacular bay. Fourteen enormous glaciers push their ice masses into the sea here, and the mountain Hornsundtind rises up from the sea to a height of 1,431 metres.

Van Keulen Fjord: On the shores of Van Keulen Fjord, skeletons of white whales are the remaining relics of local whaling in the 19th century. Today, the chances of encountering these small whales here are good.

Day 15: Longyearbyen / Return journey
The nature cruise concludes with the arrival in Longyearbyen. Transfer to the airport and flight to Oslo. Overnight stay at the Hotel Radisson SAS Airport in Oslo.

Day 16: Flight from Oslo to your home airport
Connecting flight from Oslo to your home airport in Germany, Switzerland or Austria.

Note: The local ice conditions at the time of the trip have a decisive influence on a successful circumnavigation of Spitsbergen. We estimate the chances of a circumnavigation in the first half of August at 90% and in the second half at 95%. If a circumnavigation is not possible due to the ice conditions, the programme will focus on the northwest and/or southwest of Spitsbergen.