At the start of April, I was lucky enough to travel to Svalbard with Hurtigruten Svalbard. It’s one of those places you think you understand from photos, but nothing really prepares you for how remote and wild it feels once you’re there. You have to see it to believe it! The cold hits you the second you step off the plane, and it doesn’t let up. That is what makes this trip stand out, Svalbard demands your full attention. It is also the location of choice in Hollywood, with the latest Mission Impossible and Superman films both making their way to this remote and unexplored part of Norway. 

Oslo en Route

I flew from Oslo to Longyearbyen, which is the main town on the island of Spitsbergen. You can also fly from Tromsø. Oslo makes for a perfect stopover en route to Svalbard. If there is one thing that’s for certain, I will always make a beeline for a Jazz club when in a new city. I spent an evening at Gustav Jazz club, a cosy and intimate club with great music. The rest of my time in Oslo was spent exploring the city to find sunny spots to relax with a coffee or an ice cream. The ferry system was so easy to use with easy access to The Folke, Kon Tiki and Fram Museums. I left Oslo behind and started my journey to the sunny yet freezing Svalbard archipelago. The flight takes about three hours, and watching the landscape turn from city and sea to solid snow and ice is a good reminder that you’re heading somewhere far from ordinary. 

First Impressions

The Arctic doesn’t make small talk. The weather changes quickly, one minute you can see the mountains clearly, and the next you’re in a full whiteout blizzard. Temperatures dropped well below -25°C during my stay, with blistering gusts of wind on top of that. You need proper winter gear, plenty of layers, and a good sense of humour when your eyelashes freeze over! But being there, surrounded by so much space and silence, is something I’ll never forget. Svalbard quickly became the most incredible place I have ever visited, and I’m desperate to go back. 

Wilderness Safari on Electric Snowmobiles

Starting our safari in the middle of a snow storm felt cinematic. Although tricky to see, I still had a great time. We started with a detailed safety briefing and got fitted with warm suits and helmets. The guide explained how to drive the snowmobiles—these ones are electric, which means they’re quieter and easier to control than the traditional type. I could imagine Tom Cruise jumping onto one of these at high speed. 

Driving through a snowstorm wasn’t what I expected, but it added to the experience; it felt like we were on an expedition. The visibility was low, so we missed out on the big views, but the silence and stillness felt even stronger. We spotted a few reindeer and took a break to photograph them. Our guide carried a rifle just in case we crossed paths with a polar bear, which sounds dramatic, but it’s standard practice in Svalbard.

Ice Cave Tour by Snowcat

Riding across the glacier in a Snowcat is one of the most incredible things I have experienced in my life. We were lucky with the weather that day, and the views were stunning. On the way back, we stopped to look over Longyearbyen, which looked tiny against the endless white. With an approximate population of 2400 people living in Longyearbyen, this shows you how small the town really is. 

Getting into the ice cave was a bit of a scramble. You climb down a metal ladder backwards and squeeze through tight spaces. It’s not a trip for anyone with mobility issues or claustrophobia, but once you’re inside, it’s well worth it. The guide talked about how these caves form and shared stories about life on the glacier. It was surprisingly warm inside compared to the -25°C temperatures outside. The cave was full of beautiful ice formations that didn’t look real. 

Mine 3 Visit

This caught me off guard in the best way. I didn’t expect to enjoy a mine tour as much as I did. Before heading underground, we learned about the history of coal mining in Svalbard. Then we geared up with helmets and headlamps and set off down into the mine.

Inside, we followed old tracks and saw some of the original equipment. There’s an option to crawl through one of the tunnels—they give you overalls for that—and I decided to try it. It’s tight and dark, but it added something to the whole experience. Laying in a tunnel and imagining what it would have been like to be one of the workers is a feeling you can’t put into words. At one point, the guide asked us to switch off our lights. The darkness was total. I held my hand right in front of my face and couldn’t see it, I might as well have had my eyes shut.

While walking on the tracks you also get a glimpse of the door to the Arctic World Archive –  this is a precautionary apocalyptic global data vault storing data deep inside the mountain. The information is stored here as a preventative measure, providing protection from terrorism, war and cyber attacks. On the drive to and from Mine 3 you will also pass the world’s largest Global Seed Vault; here they store over 1.3 million seed variations from all around the world. Although you can’t go inside, seeing it from the outside is cool enough! These two experiences really caught me off guard, that here in the remotest of destinations, so much technology and plant life can survive, underground! 

Why should you consider a Svalbard Mission?

If you’re after warmth and comfort, this probably isn’t your place. But if you’re curious about what it feels like to be somewhere truly remote, where nature still calls the shots, Svalbard will give you that in spades. The cold, the silence, the sense of scale—it’s not something I’ll forget any time soon. Hurtigruten Svalbard made sure everything ran smoothly, but this still felt like a real adventure. The kind that leaves you tired, cold, and completely alive. If you fancy your own Mission Impossible, it is perfectly possible with our Svalbard Winter Sun Adventure tour.