Arctic expedition cruise travel puts you in the only place on earth where polar bears outnumber people. Svalbard — the Norwegian archipelago at 78° North — has roughly 3,000 polar bears against a human population of approximately 2,700. They roam the sea ice and the tundra across an area the size of West Virginia, and the best access is by small expedition ship, which can navigate through sea ice and position near ice edges where bears hunt for ringed seals.
The Arctic is not Antarctica. It is not a pristine continent sealed under a treaty. It is an ocean mostly covered by sea ice — sea ice that is diminishing measurably year by year, which means the experience is both time-sensitive in a literal sense and more complicated than the Antarctic in terms of what visitors are witnessing. The wildlife is extraordinary. The context is specific.
Silversea's World Explorer is the operational vessel for high Arctic expeditions — the ice-strengthened hull, the Zodiacs, and the onboard Arctic science staff make the difference between a cruise that passes through the Arctic and an expedition that engages with it.
Getting Started
Begin planning your customized trip today. Call Breakout Travel Co. or schedule a consultation.
Arctic Expedition Cruise at a Glance
The Arctic travel region encompasses Svalbard (Norwegian), Northwest Greenland, the Canadian High Arctic (Devon and Baffin Islands), and the Russian Arctic (Franz Josef Land). Svalbard is the most accessible — Longyearbyen airport receives direct flights from Oslo and Tromsø. The Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard means LGBTQ+ protections apply. Silversea's Arctic season runs June through September.
Travel Offerings
- Silversea Expedition Cruising
- Custom Private Travel
- Polar Bear & Wildlife Expeditions
- Glacier & Sea Ice Expeditions
- Northern Lights Viewing (August–September)
- Photography Expeditions
Travel Guide
- U.S. citizens need a valid passport; Svalbard is a visa-free zone (no visa required regardless of nationality).
- Currency is NOK (Norwegian Krone).
- Longyearbyen Airport (LYR) is served by Norwegian Air and SAS from Oslo (2.5 hours) and Tromsø (1.5 hours).
- All travel outside Longyearbyen requires a guide — polar bear safety regulations mandate a licensed guide and a firearm for any wilderness travel. Silversea's expedition structure handles all of this on-vessel.
- Pack for cold: June–July temperatures average 32–46°F; August brings slightly warmer conditions.
- Waterproof boots with rubber soles are mandatory for Zodiac operations.
- Polar bear sightings from the expedition ship: bear activity concentrates near sea ice edges where ringed seals surface. Zodiac patrols along ice edges in the early morning — when atmospheric conditions are stable — produce the majority of close sightings.
- Walrus colonies at Prins Karls Forland or Moffen Island: groups of 50–100 walrus hauled out on beaches or ice floes. The whiskers are 12 inches long; the animals are 2,700 lbs.
- Arctic fox sightings near the ship while in fjords. Zodiac glacier tours in Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden — calving events from tidewater glaciers in fjords where the ice meets the sea directly.
- Birding: little auks (the most numerous seabird in the world), Brünnich's guillemots nesting in cliff colonies of thousands, and Arctic terns that migrate 50,000 miles annually to reach Svalbard from their Antarctic wintering grounds.
Svalbard is governed by Norway, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2009 and LGBTQ+ protections are comprehensive. The expedition environment is internationally staffed under Silversea's inclusive guest policy. There is no local community or social context to navigate — Longyearbyen is a small mining town turned research settlement. LGBTQ+ travelers will find Svalbard straightforwardly welcoming by Northern European standards.
June–July: peak Arctic summer. Maximum sea ice retreat, 24-hour daylight (the midnight sun at 78° North means the sun never sets from late April through late August). Best conditions for polar bear hunting behavior on ice edges.
August: slightly warmer, increasing wildlife activity as the season peaks. First northern lights possible in late August as darkness begins to return after two months of midnight sun.
September: the sea ice begins to advance, dramatic skies as autumn arrives, northern lights reliable, fewer expedition vessels.
The season ends in October when ice and darkness limit operations.
Book Silversea's polar vessels 12–18 months in advance for peak summer sailings.
7-Day Itinerary
Svalbard Arctic Expedition — 10 Days
Day 1–2 — Oslo
Fly into Oslo (OSL). Two days in Oslo before the Longyearbyen flight — the Viking Ship Museum (three 9th-century longships in near-perfect preservation), the Fram Museum (the world's strongest wooden vessel, used by both Nansen and Amundsen on polar expeditions — the actual ship, which you can board), and the Holmenkollen ski jump for the city view. Oslo is consistently one of the world's best-run cities and rewards the two-day layover.
Day 3 — Fly to Longyearbyen / Board
Morning flight Oslo to Longyearbyen (2.5 hours). Arrive and board the World Explorer in the afternoon. Mandatory polar bear safety briefing and Zodiac orientation before departure.
Day 4–8 — Svalbard Expedition
Five days of expedition operations, routing determined by ice conditions, wildlife intelligence, and weather. Typical program elements: ice edge Zodiac patrols for polar bears (typically 2–4 sightings per expedition), walrus haul-out landing at Prins Karls Forland or Moffen Island, little auk colony cliff visit (hundreds of thousands of birds in a single location), Zodiac glacier tour in Kongsfjorden, onboard science briefings from glaciologists and ornithologists, kayaking in protected fjords if conditions allow, and zodiac cruising among sea ice floes.
Day 9 — Return Longyearbyen
Final morning operations. Disembark and overnight in Longyearbyen. Visit the Svalbard Museum (the history of whaling, trapping, and coal mining on the archipelago — the economic history before research and tourism arrived).
Day 10 — Depart
Morning flight to Oslo. Connect home.
