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Svalbard, with its largest settlement, Longyearbyen, is home to only 2,500 people and sits halfway between Norwegian civilisation and the North Pole. It’s a place where the winters are shrouded in total darkness and summers are in 24 hours of sunlight, with temperatures regularly reaching -50 degrees Celsius.

In Svalbard, there are more polar bears than people, no taxes, visas, or cats, and it’s illegal to die or be born there. It’s so far-flung that it houses the Global Seed Vault, storing the world’s seeds far enough from society to survive a nuclear disaster or zombie apocalypse.

Despite these extreme conditions, the Norwegian archipelago has recently become one of the top luxury travel destinations in the world.

My first introduction to this seemingly unlivable place was through a Michelle Paver novel called Dark Matter. A ghost story at heart, the book tells the story of a weatherman in 1937 who is sent to Longyearbyen to record winter temperatures for the British weather office. What followed was an eerie account of how someone deals with constant darkness and life-threatening surroundings, with a spattering of ghosts here and there.

The book left a lasting impression on me and sparked a desire to one day visit this place that seemed as alien as the moons of Jupiter (the icy ones).

But I am not the only one who is fascinated by this unforgiving place, and although cruise companies have started sailing here in recent years, intrepid travellers have been skidding across Svalbard Airport’s single-lane runway since 1975.

In a place where frostbite comes with the territory, a growing number of increasingly luxurious lodges and restaurants have made accessing this frigid but undeniably beautiful landscape not only accessible but downright comfortable.

[image:booking.com] 

Today, there are six hotels—from the Svalbard Hotel The Vault (the area’s newest opening) to the Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel (a remote radio tower turned unique accommodation). Believe it or not, there’s even a Radisson.

The region’s evolution from a harsh mining town to a tourism hub is perhaps best represented by Funken Lodge, a boutique 88-room set at the foot of a long-defunct shaft.

The building was originally erected to house the ore operation’s administrative staff during the 1950s. This lasted until 1993, when Hurtigruten Svalbard, a Svalbard tourism operator, purchased the building. It wasn’t until 2017, however, that a renovation created something close to what you’ll see here today – easily the region’s best hotel.

Rates for its junior suites average around $370 (R6,800) per night, including a bathtub and a cosy velvet-clad lounge area. Specialising in Scandi-chic interiors and hygge habitats, the hotel features wood panelling and flooring, leather furniture draped in fur, midcentury lighting, and a gas fireplace.

The hotel also boasts the Arctic’s largest and rarest selections of Champagne.

 

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It’s designed as a ‘warm womb’, a place to thaw after dog sledding, snowmobiling, glacier hiking, or polar bear spotting. Guests here remove their shoes when they enter the hotel and replace them with stylish wool slippers, a tradition dating back to the Longyearbyen’s mining days.

Longyearbyen’s narrow main street is lined with everyday necessities like a grocery store, post office, restaurants, and souvenir shops selling everything from traditional cow-skin Norwegian boots to silver polar bear jewellery, and custom-made seal skin gloves.

The local Freune, is the town’s favourite lunchtime spot, with chai lattes, and homemade cakes the ideal elixir to the bitingly cold polar climate. It’s also the world’s northernmost chocolatier, where truffle flavours like chai, Svalbard cognac, and chilli are crafted in the back. Freune is also quite famous for its white-chocolate polar bears, which you can enjoy while watching real polar bears wandering across the landscape during one of the guided tours.

[image:bookin.com/svalbardhotel]

[image:bookin.com/svalbardhotel]

[image:bookin.com/svalbardhotel]

Svalbard is one of those places where it is impossible to take a boring picture, but this kind of landscape is not for everyone. If the recent Cape Town storm made you go “meh”, then a trip to this epic landscape is for you.

Despite the protagonist of Paver’s novel ending up losing his mind and diving into the frigid arctic waters to escape the haunted whaler’s cabin, Svalbard remains top of my travel bucket list.

 

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[source:robbreport]