Midnight Sun Tour in Svalbard

This expedition is perfect for photographing in hours long sunsets in usually stable winter conditions. We usually turn the day around on this one so we can be out when the light is best in the late evenings. Most other tourists are back in town when we are heading out so we can enjoy the wilderness to ourselves.

We have numerous options for where to put our focus, this can also depend on the conditions of the year. In terms of landscapes, there are usually fjord-terminating glaciers we can reach, glacial icebergs frozen into the sea ice, grand scenics of mountains and valleys, numerous ground ice formations, and this early in the season we can also try for northern lights. In terms of wildlife we will be looking for great locations and light in which to photograph the arctic fox, the Svalbard reindeer, and the Svalbard rock ptarmigan. We may also be lucky to find seals and walruses, we use our local connections here to stay informed. Polar bears are very difficult to photograph now due to the 2025 regulations. We need to maintain 500 m distance from bears which makes good photography very very difficult. We may be able to get distance shots of bears walking across fjords but the days of close up bear photos are gone. 

On the first day of the tour the sun will set at 23:00 and rise again at 03:00 and by the end of the tour the sun will not set at all. This gives us crazy long sunset sequences where the sun just seems to be rolling along the horizon. Forget the golden hour, this is golden for 5 hours. Plenty of time to capture animals in amazing light. The moon will appear over the horizon during the tour. We plan around guest preferences, light and weather conditions to make the most of the time available - for this tour that usually means setting out in the evening. Please note: we are at the mercy of the arctic weather conditions. In the event of winter storms we may be forced to stay very local to Longyearbyen or not be able to go out at all. We always do our best to go out but safety has to come first. We can be out for a maximum of 12 hours per day.

You need a class B driving license to be able to drive a snowmobile (regular car driving license). You do not need to have driven a snowmobile before. The machines we use are very balanced and easy to drive. It is also possible to join as a passenger on a snowmobile if you do not have a driving license or dont want to drive. Please enquire about this as we need to have enough free seats available on the tour to be able to return to town safely in the event of a snowmobile breakdown. Included in the tour price we provide warm windproof insulated snowmobile suits, snowmobile boots, thick mittens for driving, face mask and helmet.

You will be in safe hands. Stuart teaches classes in snowmobile driving, natural hazard awareness and arctic safety at the university and has many years experience leading snowmobile expeditions in the field.

Our tours offer the smallest group sizes on the market. Our prices are lower than almost all other professional photographers operating here. This is solely because these professionals need to hire an additional guide with the expertise to lead their expeditions. With Stuart you get the photographer in the guide in one. Stuart also lives on the island and has huge knowledge of operating here which sets him apart from many other pro photographers working here. 

Information

• Max 4 guests.
• Local expert guide and professional photographer.
• From $3900 per person.