Practical

What to sort out before you go: flights and entry rules, staying safe, and how to travel among polar bears.

Passengers with suitcases walking across a snowy apron to the black terminal building marked Avinor, Svalbard Lufthavn Longyear

Getting there

How to get to Svalbard: flights via Oslo or Tromsø, passport and visa rules outside Schengen, the environmental fee, arrival, customs going home and cruises.

Photo: Ssu, CC BY-SA 4.0

Green northern lights curling across a deep blue night sky above a row of snow-covered mountains

Seasons: when to go

When to visit Svalbard: the polar night and northern lights, the sunny winter, the midnight sun and golden autumn, with what you can do and the rules in each.

Photo: Frode Ramone, CC BY 2.0

A red triangular polar bear warning sign reading "Gjelder hele Svalbard" beside a gravel road leading towards snow-covered mountains

Safety in Svalbard

Staying safe in Svalbard: emergency numbers, limited healthcare, weather and cold, avalanches, glaciers, sea ice and water, and when to join a guided trip.

Photo: R. Henrik Nilsson, CC BY 4.0

A polar bear in mid-leap between two ice floes over calm blue water

Polar bear safety

Polar bear safety in Svalbard: the town limits, what the law requires beyond them, distance rules, firearm rental, camps, and what to do in an encounter.

Photo: Andreas Weith, CC BY-SA 4.0

A glacier flowing between steep, snow-covered peaks into the blue water of Magdalenefjorden under a clear sky

Drone rules in Svalbard

Can you fly a drone in Svalbard? Mostly not: not in Longyearbyen, not in protected areas and not near bird cliffs. The rules, the exceptions and the paperwork.

Photo: Ian Watson, CC BY 3.0

Longyearbyen's houses strung along the far shore of a dark blue fjord, beneath snow-covered mountains in low spring light

Maps of Longyearbyen and the area around it

Maps of Longyearbyen, Adventfjorden and Adventdalen from the Norwegian Polar Institute, plus the best online maps, a town map and free map data for Svalbard.

Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Longyearbyen's snowy pedestrian street lined with shops, with the bronze miner statue in the foreground and the blue Lompen shopping centre on the right

Packing list for Svalbard

What to pack for Svalbard in every season: proper boots, indoor shoes, wool layers and windproof outerwear, plus where to buy what you forgot in town.

Photo: marsupium photography, CC BY-SA 2.0

A red-bordered triangular road sign showing a polar bear, with the words Gjelder hele Svalbard, beside a gravel road along the fjord

Rules and regulations for visitors

The rules every visitor to Svalbard should know: polar bears and firearms, trips outside town, wildlife, heritage, camping, motor traffic and drones.

Photo: Kawon Kez Sel, CC0