Polar Bears & Pack Ice: North Spitsbergen Wildlife Voyage

After a guided tour of Longyearbyen and time to explore, you embark your small expedition ship this afternoon and cast off into the vast Isfjorden, turning north toward the pack ice. You meet your seasoned team of naturalists and guides over a welcome briefing and dinner as the town slips astern and the glaciers gleam at the fjord heads. Already seals rest on the floes and seabirds stream past, and the guides brief you on Zodiac procedures, polar-bear safety and the wildlife search ahead. As the ship sails north under the endless golden midnight sun, everyone gathers on deck, binoculars raised, the search for wildlife beginning at once. Settle into your comfortable cabin as the anticipation builds. Rest well aboard, for tomorrow you explore the spectacular fjords and glaciers of the northwest coast on the way toward the frozen sea and the realm of the bear.

Today you cruise into beautiful Kongsfjorden, ringed by pointed peaks and hung with great calving glaciers, a superb place for wildlife. You cruise beneath the towering fronts of the Kongsbreen and Kongsvegen glaciers, watching for bearded and ringed seals on the floes, beluga whales, which often gather near the glacier fronts, and the huge colonies of kittiwakes that wheel above the ice. You go ashore at Ny-Alesund, the world's most northerly settlement, to walk among its colourful buildings and stand beneath the airship mast of the pioneering polar flights, while Arctic terns dive overhead and reindeer graze the tundra. As the ship sails on northward under the midnight sun, everyone keeps watch for the first bears. As the day ends, savour the beauty and abundant life of Kongsfjorden. Rest well aboard as the ship pushes toward the pack ice.

Today you explore the dramatic northwest corner of Spitsbergen in search of its wildlife. You cruise into stunning Magdalenefjorden or a neighbouring fjord, its blue waters enclosed by sharp peaks and glacier fronts, and land or cruise by Zodiac in search of a walrus haul-out, approaching carefully to watch a great heap of these huge, tusked giants dozing, jostling and snorting on a remote beach, an unforgettable sight. You walk the tundra with your armed guides amid Arctic flowers and grazing reindeer, watching for Arctic fox, and cruise beneath the glaciers and seabird cliffs. Whaling-era graves and abundant wildlife combine unforgettably. As the ship continues north toward the pack ice under the endless light, the anticipation of the bear grows. As the day ends, savour the wild beauty of the northwest. Rest well aboard as the frozen sea draws near.

Today the ship reaches the great objective of the voyage, the edge of the drifting polar pack ice north of Spitsbergen, the realm of the polar bear, and the search reaches its height. Under the endless light, the ship noses carefully along the ragged white margin of the sea ice, and everyone gathers on deck and the bridge, binoculars raised, scanning the floes hour after mesmerising hour. This is the finest place on Earth to see wild polar bears, and the excitement is electric with every sighting, a bear hunting seals across the ice, walrus resting on the floes, ringed and bearded seals hauled out, and ivory gulls wheeling overhead. The scale, silence and shimmering beauty of the frozen sea are overwhelming. The naturalists interpret every encounter. As the day ends, savour the magic of the ice. Rest well aboard amid the polar sea.

Today you cruise into the wildlife-rich Hinlopen Strait, one of the great wildlife theatres of Svalbard, spending more time at the ice edge along the way in continued search of bears. You cruise by Zodiac beneath the towering cliffs of Alkefjellet, where hundreds of thousands of Brunnich's guillemots nest in a deafening, wheeling colony, one of the great bird spectacles of the Arctic, while Arctic fox patrol the scree below. In the surrounding waters you keep watch for beluga whales, walrus and polar bears on the ice, and land where conditions allow to walk the tundra amid Arctic flowers with your armed guides. The abundance of life is astonishing. As the ship works the ice and coast under the midnight sun, the naturalists lecture on High Arctic ecology. As the day ends, savour the day's encounters. Rest well aboard as the ship begins its return south.

On your final full day at sea the ship cruises back southward toward Longyearbyen, making the most of every last opportunity for wildlife along the spectacular coast. You may spend more hours at the ice edge in continued search of bears, cruise into a beautiful fjord beneath a towering glacier front, land for a final tundra walk amid reindeer and Arctic flowers, and keep constant watch for whales, seals and walrus. The naturalists help you reflect on the voyage over a recap and celebratory dinner, sharing photographs and the tally of bears, walrus, whales and birds encountered on the search. As the ship sails back toward Isfjorden under the endless golden light, the wild beauty of Svalbard lingers all around. As the day ends, savour a final evening among the ice with the friends you have made. Rest well aboard, ready to disembark tomorrow.

This morning your expedition ship returns to Longyearbyen, and after breakfast and fond farewells to the naturalists and fellow travellers, you disembark and are transferred to the airport for your flight south to Oslo or Tromso and your onward journey. You leave having undertaken the ultimate Arctic wildlife pilgrimage, the dedicated search for polar bears along the pack ice, the walrus haul-outs, the deafening guillemot cliffs of Alkefjellet, the beluga and other whales of the fjords, and the towering glaciers and pristine northern fjords, all under the endless golden midnight sun. The images stay vivid long after you land, a great white bear against the ice, the snoring heap of walrus, the wheeling wall of guillemots, and the glowing floes of the frozen sea. Svalbard offers the richest wildlife in the Arctic, and you depart already dreaming of a return to the realm of the polar bear at the top of the world.