New Years adventure
5 days in Longyearbyen, a week full of winter activities and arctic adventures – what better place to spend your holiday?
Longyearbyen is a quiet small town close to the North Pole, surrounded by arctic silence and stunning scenery. Join us on an arctic adventure and celebrate the New Year under the northern lights.
Day 1
Welcome to Longyearbyen! New Years in the polar night – what better place to spend your holiday. During your New Year days with Basecamp you will experience interesting arctic adventures for both children and adults.
After your arrival in Longyearbyen you can catch the airport shuttle or a taxi into the town and the Basecamp Hotel. Here, the reception will provide a map of the town and arrange for lunch reservation. In the evening you are picked up in the reception for an evening at Basecamp Trapper’s Station in Bolterdalen, 10 km outside Longyearbyen. Driving into the darkness, leaving the artificial light behind you sense the big mountains surrounding us. If we are lucky the northern lights will accompany us to the Trappers Station, there dinner is served along with the rich history of the trappers in the arctic.
Day 2
It’s New Years Eve!
After a tasty breakfast you are met by your guide in the reception of the Basecamp Hotel. We invite you to join in on a snowmobile excursion into the polar night. Driving into the night with only the head lamps and stars guiding your way is quite an adventure! We make interesting stops along the way and turn off the snow mobile to hear the arctic silence that the locals love so much. If we’re lucky we might spot some of Spitsbergen’s wildlife in the dark.
We return to town in time to get ready for a New Year celebration with bubbles, an arctic menu and fireworks at midnight. Happy New Year!
Day 3
Basecamp Hotel serves a late breakfast this first day of 2019. At noon our guide will meet you for a hike up to Platou mountain. The mountain has a great view of Longyearbyen and its surroundings, but also a tragic story close to town. We enjoy an outdoor lunch.
After a long day outside it’s nice to get back to the Basecamp Hotel where you can warm up with something hot to drink. We invite you for dinner in our next-door restaurant in the evening.
Day 4
In the never ending darkness we will spend the day driving into the darkness with the polar dogs of Basecamp Explorer. After breakfast you are picked up for a dog sledding experience into Bolterdalen. You will be provided with warm clothing before we arrive at the dog yard. 90 Alaska Huskies are eagerly waiting to get out and search for the northern lights. You will harness your own team of dogs and two guests will share a sledge, driving together. In the night the only sound you hear is the sledge and paws against the snow. When we turn off the head lamps out here, nature’s own light reveals itself.
Back at Trapper’s Station we let the dogs back into their houses before we have a bonfire lunch outside under the stars. You will be back in Longyearbyen in the early afternoon. Dinner on your own in the evening.
Day 5
Breakfast served from 8am. This is the last day at Spitsbergen. We recommend a walk in town, maybe a coffee at a local café and buy a souvenir. The shuttle bus will stop right outside Basecamp Hotel in time for your flight departure.
Departure from Longyearbyen airport with a suitcase full of memories.
What's included?
Activities, accommodation in double room, equipment and meals included in the itinerary.
What's not included?
Flights, airport shuttle, drinks with meals, single room Basecamp Hotel (NOK 305 per night)
Note
In Spitsbergen weather conditions can change quickly. We can meet heavy winds, snowstorms, thick fog, crevasses and lack of snow or ice. This means we might need to make changes to the planned route and this might mean we might not arrive at the planned destination. It might also mean that we need to use a different type of transportation style or accommodation than what was described in the program.
Recommended packing list
Driver’s license – You need to have a valid driver’s license with you if you are driving a snowmobile
Passport – You need to present your passport before entering Spitsbergen
Woolen underwear – One base layer of underwear next to your skin
Windproof mask or buff – To cover your face and neck from the cold wind
Thinner gloves and windproof hat – Thin gloves to handle your camera or eat lunch, hat to keep warm
Camera and binoculars – To capture the arctic memories
Indoor shoes – It is customary to take off shoes indoors and wear slippers instead
Small backpack – Waterproof or water resistant bag for personal items, like water, lunch and extra clothes when out on excursion
Trapper’s Station
Trapper’s Station – the home to the Arctic trappers and their 90 Alaskan huskies. Raring to take you for a ride through the wild arctic scenery. The loud barking of the huskies is the first thing you will notice when you approach Trapper’s Station. Despite the noise they make the dogs are friendly and eager to take you for a sled ride. Decades ago trappers came north with dreams of freedom and the big catches to be found in the vast wilderness. Soon they had to cope with the dangers and isolation of the arctic in the quest for their dreams. Besides the experience of dog sledding you will also get to experience how it was to be a trapper here at Trapper’s Station. Listen to great stories about making a living from winter hunting. We will serve a meal that will take you back to the trappers’ daily lives and to times of celebration when they would prepare a real feast. No running water. Indoor dry toilet.