Day 1: Departure for Oslo
Meeting at Paris Roissy CDG airport, welcome by our team and check-in for your flight to Oslo.
Day 2: Start of your Svalbard adventure
After breakfast, meeting at Oslo airport and check-in for your flight to Longyearbyen. Welcome at Svalbard airport, transfer to the centre for lunch at a restaurant. Enjoy some free time in Longyearbyen to visit the Svalbard Museum, send postcards and pick up a few souvenirs. Boarding the Plancius in the mid-afternoon. This marks the start of your Spitsbergen adventure, as the ship leaves Isfjord, where you may spot the first minke whale of your trip.
Day 3: Krossfjorden
The ship heads north along the west coast of Spitsbergen, reaching Krossfjorden by late morning, offering a magnificent view of the glacier fronts. In the afternoon, you will sail towards Ny Ålesund, a former mining village once served by the world's northernmost railway, now a research centre. Near the settlement lies a breeding area for barnacle geese, pink-footed geese and Arctic terns. In this area, you may spot the mooring mast used by polar explorers Amundsen and Nobile for their airships, Norge (1926) and Italia (1928).
Day 4: Monaco Glacier
We continue our circumnavigation towards Liefdefjorden, which translates as “fjord of love”. Depending on weather, ice conditions and potential wildlife sightings, your expedition leader will progressively outline the day's programme: beaches where walruses come to rest, remnants of the winter pack ice where polar bears watch for prey, bird cliffs, or historic sites revealing the saga of whaling and the life of trappers. We may be able to reach Monaco Glacier, renowned as one of the most beautiful glaciers in Spitsbergen, named in honour of the navigator Prince Albert I of Monaco.
Days 5 and 6: Heading north
Located at just under 80° N at the north-eastern tip of Spitsbergen, Sorgfjord is a small, picturesque fjord with a rich history. Its name, meaning “bay of sorrow”, refers to the first polar naval battle, fought in 1693 between two French ships and some forty Dutch vessels for control of the whale hunt. The two French ships, the Aigle and the Favori, commanded by Basque captains Joannis de Suhigaraychipy, known as “Coursic”, and Louis de Harismendy, won the battle and captured more than twenty-five whaling ships. The graves of the Dutch sailors can still be seen at the Eolusneset site, west of Sorgfjord. A colony of walruses can sometimes be found nearby.
Conditions permitting, we will then sail to the Seven Islands archipelago, the northernmost point of your journey. Here you reach 80° north, just 870 km (540 miles) from the geographic North Pole. Polar bears and walruses inhabit this region. The ship navigates eastward through the pack ice, the broken sea ice, and notably through the area where Italian captain Sora attempted to rescue the Nobile expedition in 1928.
Days 7 and 8: Nordaustlandet and the ice cap
We continue our journey into the heart of Nordaustlandet, reaching Isisøya, a former nunatak—a rocky peak rising above the ice cap, surrounded by glaciers—that has become an island entirely surrounded by the sea. We will then sail past Kapp Mohn, part of Europe's largest ice cap, famous for its meltwater cascades. From there, we head towards the rarely visited waters of Kong Karls Land, a well-known polar bear denning area.
The ship will continue against the current through Heleysundet, between western Spitsbergen and Barentsøya, before revealing a spectacular glacier landscape, such as Negribreen. Later in the day, we may land in Skjolddalen valley or at Diskobukta, on Edgeøya island, to observe a large colony of kittiwakes. Other options are possible at Kvalhovden, located near powerful glacier fronts.
Day 9: Land of the sharp-peaked mountains
The day begins in the lateral fjords of the Hornsund region, in southern Spitsbergen, where you can admire the arrow-shaped peaks of the area. Hornsundtind rises to 1,431 metres. Bautaen perfectly illustrates why the first Dutch explorers named this island Spitsbergen, meaning “pointed mountains”. There are 14 major glaciers in this region, along with opportunities to spot seals, belugas and polar bears. We may consider a Zodiac outing at Samarinvagen to get closer to the glacier, followed by a landing at Burgerbukta for a long walk.
Day 10: Bellsund
For the last day on board, we stop at Bellsund bay. Three fjords open into this large bay: Recherchefjorden, Van Keulenfjorden and Van Mijenfjorden. The fjord was once used by whalers as a stopover. Bellsund is a good spot to see whales at the bay's entrance and belugas close to the shore. We may explore the tundra where reindeer like to graze, and follow the rocky slopes of Vaarsolbukta where little auks breed, before setting off on our final sail towards Longyearbyen.
Day 11: Return flight
Every adventure, however grand, must come to an end.
Disembarkation in the early morning. Enjoy some free time in Longyearbyen to visit the Svalbard Museum, send postcards and pick up a few souvenirs.
Dinner at your own expense.
Overnight at the hotel.
Day 12: End of your expedition
Breakfast at the hotel, before heading to Oslo airport to check in for your return flight to Paris.
Important
This journey offers the chance to explore the Svalbard archipelago aboard an expedition ship accompanied by French-speaking guides. Regarding the itinerary itself, it may run clockwise (west/east) or in the opposite direction, so it is given for guidance only. The final programme will be determined on board by the ship's captain and the expedition leader.
In this region, weather and ice conditions can change very quickly and may rule out a Zodiac outing. The same applies when polar bears are present at planned landing sites. No landing can ever be guaranteed. Your safety remains the top priority at all times.
Experience in polar waters shows that a flexible programme is essential: the predefined itinerary should be seen as a framework that allows for spontaneous encounters, rather than a strict schedule to be followed to the letter. No two voyages are ever alike—there is always a significant element of the unexpected.
