This cruise through Norway’s Arctic Svalbard region unveils an otherworldly land of snow and ice
- Svalbard has been a magnet for tourists ticking polar bears off bucket lists. But with new regulations coming into force, the focus is about to shift to the Norwegian archipelago’s other attractions
We sit quietly in the inflatable dinghy listening to a chorus of soft clicks. Floating on the rippled mirror of the sea are pieces of ice, some gleaming transparent blue with smooth, scythe-like curves, others white and chunky, bobbing past the Zodiac. The snapping sounds are from these thousands of tiny icebergs, air bubbles popping as they melt.
The ice has come from one of the four spectacular glaciers – Monacobreen, Seligerbreen, Emmabreen and Idabreen – that debouche into the 30km-long Liefdefjorden (“Love Fjord”) in Spitsbergen, an island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, high up in the Arctic Circle.
Between the glaciers, with their whipped-up, blue-white ice, are the jagged peaks of black mountains. As the clouds part, sunshine illuminates summits farther back, giving a tantalising glimpse of hidden icy realms, before mist swirls in again, shrouding the view.
Sights like this have been attracting a growing number of visitors to Svalbard in the past two decades, and the tourism industry here hopes the scenery will keep them coming. However, when new Norwegian government regulations come into effect on January 1, 2025, tourists wanting to experience the other, better known, reason most come to Svalbard – getting up (relatively) close to polar bears – will have to adjust their expectations.
The closest anyone will be able to get will be 300 metres from July 1 to February 28, and 500 metres between March 1 and June 30 (mating season), relegating polar bears to dots in the distance.
