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Longyearbyen
Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway
Page 4
Continued from page 3

ABOVE: The 54-cabin
MS Nordstjernen
offers 3- and 4-night adventure cruises from Longyearbyen, with arctic
wilderness landings by boat.
Cruises from Longyearbyen
Overnight cruises
Norwegian
Coastal Voyage offers Spitsbergen adventure cruises on the small ships MS
Nordstjernen (3 or 4 days) and MV Polar Star (7 days) during the
sumer months. During the voyage, you'll see glaciers and arctic wildlife, visit
the settlements of Barentsburg and Ny Ålesund, and
make shore landings in places that big cruise ships can't reach.
See my
MS Nordstjernen cruise
review, which includes a 114-page day-by-day photo diary. Also see my
Nordstjernen vs. Polar Star comparison chart.
Note: Norwegian Coastal
Voyage is the American subsidiary of Hurtigruten, which runs a year-round
transportation service along Norway's West coast and cruises in Antarctica.
If you live in the British Isles, see
Hurtigruten UK; in countries
other than the U.S. and Britain, visit the main
Hurtigruten Web
site.
Day and evening boat trips
The
MS Langøysund operates day cruises to the Russian mining settlement
of Barentsburg and the Esmark glacier, day cruises to Pyramiden and the
Nordenskiöld glacier, and evening cruises to the Tempelfjord and the Tuna- and
Von Post glaciers. These normally run from June to September.
Local
trips by open boat are another possibility. See my article on a PolarCirkel boat
trip (complete with flotation suit) to the
bird cliffs of Fuglefellet.
Other cruising opportunities
In
a typical year, several dozen cruise ships, expedition ships, and icebreakers
call at Longyearbyen during the navigation season. (I took this photo of the
QE2 when it was anchored off Longyearbyen in June, 2006.)
Next page:
Hotels, guesthouses, and camping
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