Venture, Spectacular Svalbard & Greenland ex Longyearbyen to Reykjavik

Details

14 Night Cruise sailing from Longyearbyen to Reykjavik aboard Seabourn Venture.

14 Night Cruise sailing from Longyearbyen to Reykjavik aboard Seabourn Venture.

An extensive Arctic expedition encompassing the islands of the Svalbard Archipelago in depth, plus the majestic, iceberg-filled fjords of Southeast Greenland and Iceland.

Highlights of this cruise:

Longyearbyen
Sprawled in a glacial valley on the severely beautiful island of Spitzbergen in Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago, Longyearbyen was originally a coal mining company town. Today it is the administrative center for the region. Its population of about 2,000-plus souls is highly transient. About a quarter leave every year, and the average stay is just under six years. During our summer visits, the population of terns arriving to nest dwarfs that of the people.

Bear Island
The Northeast Greenland National Park is the most northerly and largest national park in the world. It is Greenland’s only national park and is larger than all but 30 of the world’s countries.

Within the park there are many fjords, including the many-branched Scoresby Sound, the largest fjord in the world. At the entry to the Øfjord in Scoresby Sund are the Bear islands (Bjørne Øer), a scattering of low, glaciated rock islands surrounded by broad waterways dotted with icebergs and ringed by distant snow-capped ranges. These islands benefit from warm currents that keep the fjord open even in winter, and attract wildlife including walruses, seals and beluga and bowhead whales. They afford us many inviting landing places, with easy climbs to spectacular views. The islands and their surroundings reveal an epic geological history, particularly where glacial action has planed the surfaces smooth to reveal twisted and rippled layers of differently colored rocks.

Hekla Haven, Denmark Island
On Denmark Island in the extensive Scoresby Sound in East Greenland is a sheltered cove called Hekla Havn, so named for the converted sealer ‘Hekla’ used by Carl Ryder for his 1891-92 sailing expedition to East Greenland. The Ryder party wintered here, and erected stone cairns that still stand on the heights. Some remnants of their buildings are left, along with a much more recent and sizeable hut. The landscape around the cove is dramatic, with tall, stratified basalt ridges and peaks encircling the fjord and rounded, glaciated gneiss domes making up the island itself. Photographers are frequently entranced by the striking patterns of minerals in the rocks here. There are also some older Inuit tent circles and standing stones of interest. On the horizon, immense curving glaciers are evident.

Reykjavik
Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, is the northern-most national capital in the world. Its name translates as ‘smoky bay’, referencing the geothermal nature of the surrounding area. The city benefits from astonishing landscapes shaped by glaciers, earthquakes, and volcanic activity throughout the centuries. An amphitheater of mountains encircles the greater Reykjavik area, a coastline indented with coves, peninsulas and islands. Most of city’s growth came during the early 20th century, and the majority of its architecture is typical of that era. Colorful rooftops and the elegant spire of Hallgrímskirkja Church dominate Reykjaviks’s skyline. Known for its arts, Reykjavik hosts a number of internationally recognized festivals, most notably the Iceland Air music festival, Reykjavik Arts Festival and the Reykjavik International Film Festival.