Most asked
What a Svalbard trip costs
Flights, bed, tours and food broken down against the real listing prices, including why the tour line is the one that surprises people least.
Svalbard guides
Straight answers to what people actually ask before booking, checked against the Governor of Svalbard, Visit Svalbard, the Norwegian Polar Institute and the operators' own listings rather than repeated from other blogs.
Planning the trip
AI Overview question
How many days you need
Why two days is a gamble, three is the minimum, and five is where the day tours start repeating themselves.
How to get there
One airport, one route, about three hours from Oslo. Plus the connection error that catches people out.
AI Overview question
Do you need a visa?
Visa-free and outside Schengen, with one catch about transiting mainland Norway that catches people out at the airport.
Where to stay
The accommodation ladder, what each level costs, and why location matters less here than almost anywhere.
What to pack
What operators supply and what they do not, why hiring beats buying, and the two items people always get wrong.
Is it worth visiting?
The honest case for and against, and the five expectations that most often go wrong.
Seasons, light and weather
AI Overview question
The best month to visit
There is no single best month, there are four different holidays. This is which one you are actually booking.
Polar night
Eleven weeks with no sunrise, aurora at midday, and what it actually feels like to be there for it.
Midnight sun
Four months with no sunset, what it does to your sleep, and the tours that only exist under it.
Northern lights
When the aurora runs, why it appears at midday here, and the honest comparison with Tromso.
Weather by month
Typical temperatures through the year, why wind matters more than the thermometer, and what cancels tours.
Choosing what to do
Low competition
Things to do in Longyearbyen
What there is in the town itself, what runs all year, and what to keep in reserve for the day the weather closes in.
The Global Seed Vault
You cannot go in. What you can see instead, which tours go there, and why the vault ended up on an Arctic island.
Not bookable here
Dog sledding
One of Svalbard's best activities, with zero listings on either booking platform. What that means and how to book it anyway.
Not bookable here
Kayaking
A short summer season, sheltered water, and no listing on either platform. How to find it and what it actually involves.
Pyramiden and Barentsburg
A Soviet ghost town and a working Russian mining settlement, both a boat ride from Longyearbyen. Which to choose and how to get there.
Rules, safety and wildlife
Verified rules
The rules you have to follow
What the Governor of Svalbard actually requires, from bear distances to drones, and which of it applies to you as a tourist on a guided tour.
Read this first
Can you see polar bears?
The most searched Svalbard question, and the one most sites answer dishonestly. Where the bears actually are, and what you can realistically see instead.
Do you need a guide?
The rule that makes every Svalbard hike guided, where the boundary actually falls, and what happens if you cross it alone.
Svalbard wildlife
Every species you might see, when it is here, how close the law lets you get, and an honest probability for each.