Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive in Reykjavik
Having made your way to Reykjavik, you will betransferred to the group hotel. Upon arrival, kindly remind hotel check-in staff to provide you with cabin tags for your luggage. Please clearly label the tags with your name and ship cabin number.

This evening, enjoy a light refreshment as you meet your fellow expeditioners at a Welcome Reception and Pre-Embarkation Briefing. Afterwards, dine at your leisure (dinner not included).

Accommodation: Fosshotel Reykjavik (or similar)

Day 2 Embarkation
This morning, your luggage will be collected from the hotel and transferred directly to the port for sanitisation, clearance and delivered to your cabin ahead of your arrival on board. Please ensure that your luggage is fitted with cabin tags clearly labelled with your name and cabin number. Any valuables or personal items should be kept on you throughout the day.

Final, mandatory pre-embarkation health screening and COVID (rapid antigen) testing will be completed before commencing a sightseeing tour of Reykjavik to experience the city’s unique architecture and culture, followed by a transfer to the pier for embarkation in the late afternoon. Settle into your cabin before attending important safety briefings and enjoy the thrill of departure as ‘lines are thrown’ and set sail.

This evening, get to know your fellow expeditioners and your friendly Expedition Team and crew at the Captain’s Welcome Dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure.

Day 3 Denmark Strait
In the Denmark Strait, you cruise towards Greenland. You will be on the lookout for whale blows and the many seabirds that trail the ship, riding in the constant winds. In the lecture theatre, enjoy informative and entertaining presentations from the experts on topics such as seabirds, wildlife and ice, or catch up on some rest after busy days of travel.

Days 4–10 East Greenland
In the coming days, a host of choices are available to you and, depending on ice and weather conditions, the east coast of Greenland is yours to explore. The members of your experienced Expedition Team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to tailor your voyage to suit the day-to-day conditions. This allows you to make best use of the prevailing weather, ice conditions and the opportunities for wildlife encounters. Generally up to two landings or Zodiac excursions per day are attempted, including cruising along spectacular ice cliffs, following whales feeding near the surface.

Be prepared to experience ice – and lots of it! East Greenland contains some of the Arctic’s most impressive scenery. Deep fjords and narrow channels, flanked by sharp ice-clad peaks soaring up to 2,000 metres (6,562 feet), and glaciers birthing gigantic icebergs that drift throughout the fjord system, combine to create breathtaking scenes. The tundra landscape is home to musk oxen, arctic hare and reindeer. Throughout the area are ancient Thule archaeological sites, historical trappers’ huts and the cabins of present-day Inuit hunters. A highlight is a visit to the Inuit village of Ittoqqortoormiit, the most isolated and northernmost permanent settlement in the region and home to approximately 450 inhabitants. The community has an excellent museum, gift shop, an abundance of Greenlandic sled dogs and provides the opportunity to meet the friendly locals.

Explore Scoresbysund, the world’s biggest fjord system and a favourite hunting ground of the local Inuit. Massive glaciers flow into this fjord, the birthplace of hundreds of majestic Greenland icebergs. It is a spectacular place that simply needs to be seen to be believed. North of Scoresbysund lie Kong Oskar and Kaiser Franz Josef fjords, two of the most significant fjord systems in Greenland, each one encompassing several smaller fjords and sounds. Thanks to the fertile volcanic soil and the surrounding mountains offering protection from strong winds, the area is rich in wildlife. You may spot anything from musk ox and arctic foxes to mountain hares, and even reindeer, near the fjord. Look skyward and you could catch a glimpse of birds, including the glaucous gull, black-legged kittiwake, northern fulmar, common raven and common eider.

You will attempt to enter Kaiser Franz Josef Fjord, a remote and rarely visited fjord system with countless opportunities for exploration, located within the Northeast Greenland National Park. Cruising through Kong Oskar Fjord, you marvel at the geological beauty of the mountains. You will then head south along the coast of Liverpool Land, with the passage dependent on ice conditions.

You stretch your legs on hikes across tundra in search of ancient graveyards, and summer villages occupied 3,000 years ago by Inuit. You may see musk ox, arctic hare and reindeer grazing. The maze of calm, interconnecting waterways in this area provides excellent opportunities for sea kayaking. You will see ring seals, perhaps catch a glimpse of the elusive narwhal, and maybe even a polar bear hunting on pack ice.

Days 11–12 Greenland Sea
Over the next two days at sea, enjoy informative and entertaining lectures from your expert Expedition Team, including naturalists and historians, before reaching Svalbard’s southeast coast.

Days 13–23 Svalbard
Svalbard offers arctic wilderness at its best. For the next 10 days, your experienced Expedition Team will design the itinerary on a day-to-day basis, choosing the best options given the prevailing weather, sea-ice conditions and the possibility of wildlife encounters.

Phenomenal fjords, magnificent mountains ranges, and a polar desert rich in fossils, set the stage for heroic tales of early exploration. See walrus hauled out on sea ice or on beaches. On land, you stretch your legs on walks across tundra carpeted in brightly coloured wildflowers. You visit towering cliffs noisy with nesting guillemots and puffins, and scree slopes that hold Svalbard’s largest little auk colonies. Most memorable are encounters with the majestic polar bear on pack ice. Your Expedition Team is just as keen as you are to find them and will be on constant watch to spot these inspiring creatures.

If you have chosen an optional activity such as kayaking, you will have an opportunity to enjoy that activity when conditions allow. For those who are enthusiastic to participate in a polar plunge, as soon as conditions are suitable, you will hear the announcement to prepare for an exhilarating dip – a memory you will savour for years to come.

Day 24 Disembark in Longyearbyen
During the early morning you cruise back into Longyearbyen. Farewell your Expedition Team upon disembarkation and enjoy some free time before transferring to the airport to continue your journey.

@ Aurora Expeditions

@ B. Koth

@ M. Horspool