ThefirstArctic
touristsarrivedon
cruise shipsasearly
as the 1890s.
JohnMunroLongyear
(the founderof
Longyearbyen) first
visitedSvalbardona
tourist cruise in 1901.
In2008,more than
40,000 tourists
arrived inSvalbard
byplaneandaround
30,000cameby sea.
Over 70percent are
Norwegian.
Therearemore than
600dogsonSvalbard,
halfofwhichare
ownedby tourist
enterprises.
Cruise shipscome
ashoreatover 160
different locations,
andwhen theypull
intoLongyearbyen
canmore than
double the town’s
population.
Svalbardhas 1,383
cultural heritage
sites, andall tracesof
humanactivity from
before 1946
areprotected.
Dogs
Connoisseurs say thebestway to see theSvalbard
landscape inwinter isbydog. Snowmobilesare
loud, butAlaskanhuskiesdon’tmakea soundas
theydragyouacross the frozen landscape (they
bark likehellwhen they stop, though).We tooka
tourwithSvalbardHusky,whichhas 50or sovery
happydogs, eachwith itsownnamedwoodenhut.
Apart from thedreamyqualityofdog-sledding,
the real joyof it isgetting toknow thevery friendly
dogs,who like jumpingand licking–youputon
theirharnessesand feed themafteryour tour. Ifyou
gowithSvalbardHusky, beware theslightlycrazed
Dingo, andhisoffspring Iranand Irak (sic)–we
liked themoresedateones, likeFroyaandSol.
svalbardhusky.no
Motors
Withalmost two-thirdsof its landmass
permanentlycovered in ice, somestrange
thingshappen.Meltingglacierwater from
thesummer freezes to formspectacular
formations incavesaroundSpitsbergen.We
couldn’t goonour tripbecause thecave
nearLongyearbyenhadcollapsed (sorry),but
SpitsbergenTravel runsdog-sleddingandsnow
cat tours to icecaves, includingone that turns
intoameltwater river in thesummer.
spitsbergentravel.com
Snowmobilesmay be fast andnoisy,
but inwinter they’reby far themost
efficientway to get around– and
ridiculously fun. There are few things
in lifemore thrilling than sittingbefore
apowdery glacial valley andputting
finger to throttle, something youcan
doon any day trip from Longyearbyen.
Aswith all things, though, respect for
theenvironment is everything – the
local government has strict rules on
where guides can take you. Andwoe
betide anyonecaught over the alcohol
limit – you’ll be immediately takenoff
the islandby helicopter, which you’ll
have topay for, alongwith ahefty fine.
Don’t drink thenight before, then.
svalbardbooking.com
Icecaves
Tourist
Svalbard
N
made friends
with thisdog
n
—Svalbard
⁄
To do
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