Longyearbyen: My Northernmost Experience

I visited the Arctic town of Longyearbyen back in August.  Though I've been a blog slacker, I really wanted to write about my visit and some things I learned while in Longyearbyen.  So here's a brain dump!

At 78° North, Longyearbyen is well above the Arctic Circle.  Destined for the land of the midnight sun, Longyearbyen was about a 3hr plane ride due north from Oslo, Norway.  We took off in the dark around 10:30pm and landed in daylight around 2:30am.

Northernmost

As the northernmost city (there are more northern permanent settlements), Longyearbyen is home to the world's northernmost:

• ATM

With the northernmost ATM fees.  
Photo by Jimmy.
• Airport with scheduled public flights (Svalbard Airport, Longyear)

Outside the airport at 3am.
• Bar (Barentz Pub, more on that shortly!)
• Bridge (Wikipedia cites the northernmost bridge as Havøysund Bridge, but there is a small bridge over the Longyearbyen River.  It is much further north, and it totally counts!)

Bridge over the Longyearbyen River.
• Church (Svalbard Church)
• Probably some other things; it's REALLY far north.

Food

There's no shortage of interesting food in the Arctic.  We didn't get to try everything, but here are the places we did check out.

→Huset
After a long day of hiking with a newly injured knee, I walked another mile+ from our Hotel to Huset, and back.  In the rain.  Did I mention the injured knee?  Despite my mood by the time I arrived, Huset was a nice dining experience.  Food choices had a Norwegian flair, including their delicious reindeer stew.

Reindeer stew with lingonberries.

Outside of Huset at 9pm; it finally stopped raining.

→Barentz Pub (northernmost bar in the world!)
How could I visit Longyearbyen and not have a beer at the northernmost bar in the world?!  I chose wisely, and ordered a beer from the northernmost brewery in the world (Macks Bryggeri in Tromsø).

Approaching Barentz Pub and the Radisson.

The beer I had from the northernmost brewery in the world.

Another northernmost beer.

So tired I can't even smile. 

For more information:

• Spitsbergen Travel - Barentz Pub
• Knut Goes To The World's Northernmost Bar

→Kroa
For our second dinner in Longyearbyen, we ate at Kroa.  Kroa is in the center of town, which meant I could finally buy postcards ($$$) and souvenirs ($$$$) - yay!  For dinner the table shared appetizers of smoked minke whale*, which tasted more smokey than like anything else.  The day's dinner special was one no one could resist: Arctic char said to be caught yesterday by our waitress' boss.  Everyone in our group ordered it!

Inside Kroa!

Smoked minke whale.

Fresh-caught Arctic char. 

*Not to rain on Longyearbyen's parade, but I had a minke whale steak in Oslo that was AMAZING.  The smoked whale just didn't let the whale's flavor shine through.

Accommodations

We stayed at Mary-Ann's Polariggen.  The former company housing for coal miners has been converted into a basic but pleasant hotel.  Bathrooms and showers are shared with your hallway, the breakfast is delicious, and the staff is very friendly and helpful.  I was a big fan of the artwork in my room:

Polar bears are messy eaters.
Sweet dreams!

Exterior of Mary-Ann's Polariggen.

Photo by Jimmy.

Miscellaneous 

• Despite what every online article about Longyearbyen says, it is not "against the law" to leave the city limits without a shotgun.  It is, however, a stupid idea to leave the city limits without being prepared, which includes bringing a shotgun for protection.
• If you see something you'd like to buy, buy it!  It will not be cheaper on the mainland!  I should have purchased that thermos I liked so much... 
• The average time most people live in Longyearbyen is 2 years, but there are some people who have made it their permanent home.  Our boat's captain has lived there for about 8 years, and his brother has lived there for nearly 20 years.
• Sewer and water pipes are above ground, and have several sources of heat to keep the pipes from freezing.
• Survival suits may keep you from freezing to death for 45 minutes in the Arctic waters, but they may not keep you dry, even if you're just sitting in a boat, rather than floating in the ocean.  
• If the boat's captain asks if anyone has a back injury, and your back injury over a year ago, still TELL HIM.  Your back WILL hurt after that boat ride, even if you sit in the "least ouchy" seat and brace yourself.
• It was quite rainy during the day.  Locals told us that so much precipitation at that point in the year was very unusual, but the entire summer had been that way.  It would rain/flurry all day, then around 10PM the sun would come out.  Of course, this made it much harder to go to sleep, because we all wanted to explore while the weather was nice. :)
• Take your shoes off when you enter someone's home, hotel, and sometimes restaurant.  It's actually pretty pleasant.  You feel at home right away!
• I need to visit again.  There's so much I still want to do!  Plus, the dark season seems like an interesting time to visit.

More On My Adventures

To read more about the group's adventures in Norway, check out our blog: DU Geography - Norway 2013. There are two articles about Longyearbyen:

• Getting Our Feet Wet - Glacier Hike
• When The (Weather) Odds Are Not in Your Favor... - Arctic Boat Ride