Situated halfway between the Scandinavian Peninsula and the North Pole, the unspoilt archipelago of Svalbard is the northernmost extent of the Kingdom of Norway. Two-thirds the size of the UK, Svalbard lies between the latitudes of 74° and 81° north; all of its islands, islets and skerries are at least 500 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

This remote location means Svalbard retains the pristine natural wonders that the polar north is famed for. Dark and ice-gripped for eight months of the year, Svalbard’s landscape consists of jagged peaks supported by immense buttresses of rock that plunge into the ocean. 

How you get to Svalbard will depend on your location but you will always go via Longyearbyen, the capital and largest settlement on Spitzbergen Island. Flights to Svalbard land at Longyearbyen’s airport, which has direct connections from the Norwegian cities of Tromsø and Oslo. In the summer months, SAS offers direct daily flights from Tromsø to Longyearbyen (flight time: 1 hours 35 minutes), and from Oslo via Tromsø. Alternatively, Norwegian operates regular direct flights from Oslo to Svalbard during the summer (flight time: 2 hours 55 minutes).

Longyearben, with its majestic mountain backdrop scoured by two huge glaciers, is the departure point for all of Natural World Safari’s Svalbard itineraries.