Everything you need to know about Svalbard before your trip, from currency to language, local festivals, time zones & safety of the water. Plus great ideas about what to see, do and eat while in Svalbard!
Old Norse Svalbarði, svalr = cold + barð = edge, ridge, turf or beard. Called Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen (meaning pointed mountains,) when discovered by the Dutch [spitse = pointed + bergen (from Old Norse berg = mountain🔍)] Named Svalbard by the Norwegians when they took administrative & legislative control in 1925, with Spitsbergen now referring to just largest of Svalbard's island.
The new name was a reference to a land mentioned in the 14c Islandske Annaler (Icelandic Annals) which records it’s discovery in 1194 by Norse Vikings, 400 years earlier than the generally accepted history of the Dutch discovery. It’s also mentioned in the Norwegian Landnámabók (Book of Settlements, early 12c) though detractors claim the land called Svalbard in those text actually referred to a part of Greenland’s coast.
There's nothing so peaceful as the silence of frozen Arctic air, broken only by the crunch of crusted snow. Winter activities abound outside the village & the wonder of the world's most northern inhabited land can't be beat.
@ a glance essentials:
*Svalbard, it is the only ‘country’ in the world where no work visa is needed nor is no maximum stay limitation.
Language:
Norwegian
-
+ Russian - Most Locals can speak English.
Norwgn Krona
Water safety
Safe to Drink (may taste mineral-y, as it is sourced from glaciers)
Currency:
NOK
Local Transport
Longyearbyen is walkable & there is a bus to the airport.
................................................... The Norwegian expression, man skal ikke skue hunden på hårene, meaning don't look at (judge) a dog by it's hair is particularly apt in dogging sledding Svalbard.
Best Local Expression -
Svalbard is an archipelago🔍of nine main islands in the Arctic Ocean🔍. Before the 20c it was international common land, used by whalers, trappers, sealers, and a coal rush, but unclaimed by any specific nation-state🔍 until Norway was recognized as sovereign at the end of World War I. (There are, however, still some Russian controlled mining towns in the archipelago.) Whaling and mining have mostly run there course with tourism and science and weather research centers.
a bit of background...
CHECK OUT THE:
....................The extreme frigid winters require that all houses be built on stilts, so that when the island’s layer of topsoil melts in the summer the houses don’t sink and slide away.
FUN FACT:
Longyearbyen on the Spitsbergen island is the administrative centre and was named for John Munro Longyear, whose 🔎Arctic Coal Company began surveying Svalbard in 1906. It's the world's northernmost permanently inhabited settlement, at 78° latitude, halfway between Norway and the North Pole. As such it boasts the northernmost ATM, church, museum, radio station, airport, and university in the world.
One degree 🔎north at 79° is Ny-Ålesund, the world’s northernmost settlement, only inhabited seasonally; sight of the most northern post office & Kartverket, a geodetic station measuring the earth's movements. Because of the finely tuned instruments there the whole area is under radio silence orders for 20km around - meaning if you choose to go skiing in Ny-Ålesund there are absolutely no mobile phones or wifi.
Must Try Local Cuisine:
Wale & Seal Steaks ∞ Kotlety - pan-fried ground meat patties ∞ Ukha - fish soup🔍
Ptarmigan or Rype† - a land bird considered a delicacy; heart & liver are often pan-fried w/ sourdough toast
Reindeer Jerky ∞ Iceberg water - a family owned company, Svalbardi, bottles iceberg pieces
➿➰➿
† The island's only year round land bird, similar in flavor/ texture to gamey red meat. Residents are allowed to hunt up to 10 birds per day
SEE
DO TRY
&
VISIT
What to Where to Why . . .
Surprising Finds:
📍 Svalbard Cemetery🔍 - why is a cemetery be surprising?
Well it's actually illegal to die & be buried in Svalbard... (click arrow for more...)
....because it’s too cold for bodies to decompose - meaning deadly pathogen are preserved; a possible source of outbreak should they ever thaw. So, if you do die on the island you're posthumously fined!
(In 2016 the bodies of 17 & 18c whalers were all removed from the largest gravesite in Svalbard on Likneset’s coastal cliffside, when erosion started revealing the coffins.)
📍 Kesha the cat / "fox" of Barentsburg: an old Russian mining town worth a visit to
tour the mines, is also known for it's legendary "fox" Kesha.
Like dying, cats are illegal on the islands.... (click arrow for more...)
.... to protect endangered bird species. But in the 1990's, (as all good cat parents will understand,) one Russian miner couldn't fathom life without Kesha so he snuck the cat onto the island by officially registering her as a fox. The story is constantly recounted, but I'm guessing by this point Kesha no longer roams free, as she would be one ancient "fox" by now.)
My Favorite Spots:
📍 Dog Sledding 🛷 just outside Longyearbyen, 📸 - an awesome adventure!
📍 Amazing natural sights including frozen glacial Ice Waterfalls like Eskerfossen,
picturesquevalley's like hidden Brattlidalen or the larger Sassendalen
📍 Great restaurants like the Coal Miner's Cabins, with a hot chocolate bar,
The Husky Cafe - were you enjoy the company of several pups with your coffee or affogato
Vinterhagen with a mini-museum of mining artifacts in the Shang-Po-Lar (breakfast room.)
or Tio Moncho’s the world's most northern Taquería / Taco Truck
Most Known For:
♦️ Svalbard Seed Bank - a cold storage 'library' holding seeds from all over the world
in case of global catastrophe
🔸 History Attractions like Svalbard Museum & Mining towns like Pyramiden an
abandoned mining village preserved by the arctic temperatures, accessible only by
sea or snowmobile
♦️ Winter Sports/ Activities; Skiing, Arctic Kayaking, Snowmobiling & Whale Watching
🔸 Svalbard Bryggeri - the worlds most northern brewery make craft beer with glacial water
📽️ NOTABLE FILMS SHOT IN SVALBARD:
⭐ Mission: Impossible - Final Reckoning | 2025 ⭐ Superman | 2025 ⭐ The Golden Compass | 2007
🍿
🌀 Solfestuka (Usually early - mid March) - an eight day celebration honoring the town’s first glimpse of the sun
after over four months of polar night. People wear sun-ray hats, scarfs & medallions and gather in town
to watch the sunrise. The week includes concerts and snow themed competitions.
Site Key:
Five Star Recommend
Make the Time!
Worth the Effort/ $
Going to visit
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