Longyearbyen: Pyramiden & Glacier Arctic Boat Tour

About This Experience

Pyramiden was a Soviet coal-mining town of about a thousand people until 1998, when it was abandoned almost overnight. What is left is a full settlement — the cultural palace, the swimming pool, the world's northernmost Lenin bust, the apartment blocks with curtains still in the windows — held in place by a climate that barely lets anything rot. It is a nine-hour day from Longyearbyen and there is no shorter way to do it.

You travel by open RIB, in a drysuit the operator provides, which is the fast option and by some distance the more exciting one. The route crosses Isfjorden with a landing at Skansbukta, where the layered cliffs give the clearest read of Svalbard's geology you will get at sea level. You reach Pyramiden around lunchtime and eat in the settlement's restaurant before the guided walk.

The tour of Pyramiden is unhurried and goes into the corners — this is the part that separates a good operator from a boat that drops you at the pier. On the way back the boat runs to the face of the Nordenskiöld glacier, a wall of ice several kilometres wide calving directly into the fjord, before returning to Longyearbyen.

Wildlife is incidental but frequent along the way: beluga near the shorelines, seals on the ice, seabirds throughout, and walrus at some times of year. Small group, capped at eight.

Highlights

• Walk through Pyramiden, a Soviet mining town abandoned in 1998 and preserved by the cold
• Ride an open RIB across Isfjorden in a provided drysuit
• Stand at the calving face of the Nordenskiöld glacier
• Land at Skansbukta to see Svalbard's layered cliffs up close
• Lunch in the Pyramiden restaurant, small group capped at eight

What's Included

• ✓ All boat travel per the itinerary
• ✓ Drysuit and safety equipment hire
• ✓ Guide services throughout
• ✓ Guided walking tour of the Pyramiden settlement
• ✓ Lunch at the Pyramiden restaurant
• ✓ Transfer to and from your Longyearbyen accommodation
• ✓ Insurance covering search, rescue and emergency evacuation

Not Included

• Souvenirs
• Bar drinks and à la carte orders beyond the tour programme

What to Bring

• Hat
• Warm layers
• Thermal base layers
• Scarf
• Warm shoes

Good to Know & Caveats

• Nine hours, most of it outdoors on an open boat — this is the most demanding day tour on this site
• Svalbard weather turns fast; wind, fog and rough sea can force a change of route or a cancellation
• If the itinerary has to change, the operator offers a new date or a refund
• The drysuit goes over your own clothes, so what you wear underneath still decides how warm you are
• Group capped at eight participants

Meeting Point

Hotel pickup and drop-off in Longyearbyen. You choose your pickup point when you book — the town's hotels and guesthouses are all on the list, and nothing in Longyearbyen is more than a few minutes' drive apart. The tour departs from Longyearbyen harbour after a briefing and drysuit fitting.