Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative capital of the Svalbard archipelago.  It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, halfway between Norway and the North Pole and surrounded by remarkable wildlife and untouched wilderness.  The literal translation of the name Svalbard is "cold coasts", with the islands themselves constituting approximately 63,000 square kilometres.

Nearly 65 per cent of the surface of Svalbard consists of protected areas, including 3 nature reserves, 6 national parks, 15 bird sanctuaries and 1 geotopical protected area. Although a relatively small capital and with a total of 2080 inhabitants, Longyearbyen has developed from being a typical village town into a modern community with different kinds of businesses and industries, and with a wide range of cultural activities and opportunities.

Despite Svalbard being located in such close proximity to the North Pole, the archipelago has a relatively mild climate compared to other areas of the same latitude. This is due largely to the Gulf Stream whose influence reaches the western coast of Svalbard. The average temperature in Longyearbyen ranges from -14 °C during the winter to +6 °C during the summer.

The summer season presents opportunities for summer dog sledding on wheels and adventurous hiking trips in conjunction with longer Arctic voyages.  Meanwhile, the Autumn, Winter & Spring seasons provide opportunities for dog sledding and snowmobiles, opportunities to see the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis), and wilderness adventures.

Longyearbyen offers a wide range of bars, restaurants and cafés, many of which serve local specialities, international cuisine and local beers.

Longyearbyen Church is a lovely place to visit and is open to the public every day, with a weekly service nearly every Sunday.  On Tuesday evenings passersby can drop in to the church and purchase hot coffee and Norwegian waffles and meanwhile mix with the locals and soak up the Longyearbyen atmosphere.

Longyearbyen gallery houses a fascinating collection of old maps and books, a slide show from the photographer and composer Thomas Widerberg, and an exhibition of Kåre Tveter's paintings.

A cultural monument of note in Longyearbyen are the cable trestles which were used in time gone by to pull, manually, coal mining  "kibs" (carriers), from coal mines to the cleaning plant. There are several mines on Spitsbergen which it used to be possible to visit. For health and safety reasons it is no longer possible to enter these.

There are two museums in the town and both are worth visiting:

Svalbard Museum
Spitsbergen Airship Museum

Hotels in Longyearbyen

Aqua-Firma uses and can provide preferential rates for are:

Basecamp Trapper's Hotel
Radisson Blu Polar Hotel
Spitsbergen Hotel
Svalbard Hotel
Coal Miner's Cabins

Getting Around Longyearbyen

Due to its manageable size, it is realistic to explore much of Longyearbyen on foot. In terms of getting to the town from the airport, there is a shuttle bus which runs in conjunction with scheduled flights, stopping at main points close to the hotels in town at cost of around 75 NOK (approximately £7.50) each way.  Alternatively, Longyearbyen also has a good taxi service, with an average cost of 100 NOK (£12) between the airport and town centre.