Svalbard on a budget - what to do!
Many says it is impossible, however there are lots of things to do there, which are not so expensive, plus speak speak speak to the locals!
On our first day in Longyearbyen, we did not really pay for
any tour or any kind of sightseeing. It was great to go with my best friend. We
are similar in many senses and he is always up for any good too!
When you come to Svalbard you can either stay in the
Radisson or
Svalbard Hotel or for cheaper option in a guest-house or if you are
fearless, then feel free to camp close to the airport taking on some risk of an
encounter with a polar bear and the risk to freeze. Believe it or not, some
brave fellow dared to camp while we were there.
 |
| Longyearbyen Radisson Polar Hotel |
We stayed at Radisson Polar Hotel, so the breakfast was
included. You could have everything fresh even in this no-man’s-land. Fresh
veggies and fruits, fresh milk, juice, eggs, pastries and whatever you fancy.
After our big filling breakfast we felt ready to take on Longyearbyen on a shoestring.
 |
| Filling breakfast in Radisson Polar Hotel |
First, our way led us to the Barentz Pub and Spiseri, where
we had a so called ‘heart warmer’ a shot of Jagermeister suited to this cold
weather. The bartender seemed extremely friendly and since we were the only one
in the bar that early he was happy to chat to us and tell us what to do, where
to go! :)
 |
| Arctic beer in Longyearbyen, Svalbard |
Following his advice we started off in the
museum, which is
just behind the Radisson hotel. Only 50 Kroner so circa 5£ was the entry, and
it was definitely worth it. It’s a teeny tiny museum, nevertheless full of with
information about Svalbard’s discovery, history, the first settlers, about the
lifestyle there, the coal minding, whale-hunting heritage and nature. There are plenty
taxidermy animals of the area, like a big polar bear, different arctic foxes,
the typical Svalbard short legged reindeer and some from the millions of birds
visiting the island for nesting over the summer period.
My friend and me parted in the museum, to allow each other
enough time to read, to suck in all the information about the archipelago. Even
though the separation, we both finished roughly in the same time.
 |
| Svalbard Museum |
At the entrance/exit you will also find a souvenir shop,
where we bought our postcards and a beautiful picture book about this region.
We noticed already that everyone was really friendly in this
island, this tendency was carried on amongst the museum staff as well. We were
provided with more information with a map.
If you are interested in the flora and fauna, just walk
around Longyearbyen and you will find amazing plants and arctic moths. Some
were colourful, some were hairy. Yes hairy, they actually looked like a
cottonbud. These flowers and plants are under strict protection, therefore we
could not pick and bring them home. Besides the flowers, there are plenty of other animals to come across with...like the typical short legged reindeers just wandering around town.
 |
| Flowers of Svalbard Longyearbyen |
 |
| Short legged reindeers in Svalbard Longyearbyen |
You could pay for a trip to see the huskies and their
kennels, obviously it is a nice and
organise night out with warm drinks and depending on the type of tour you
choose even dogsledding.
Well we were told, that we don’t have to pay but we can just
walk along the bay. I would suggest to everyone to do so, because there are
lots of interesting things to see there in both direction.
So let’s discuss first the route on the right hand side if
the museum is behind you. Yes carry on walking. It might seem long but in the
end in 10-15 minutes you will reach what you were after…the husky kennels, and
the famous polar bear sign. While walking you have to go through some
‘dangerous lands’, well yes dangerous if you don’t know the nature here.
I already mentioned the millions of birds coming to Svalbard
over the summer period to lay eggs and protect their babies from the enemy,
like an arctic fox or us. We read about the angry birds, but nobody wrote about
what you need to do, so this is how it happened, that on our way to the
kennels…we wanted to take some shots with the Longyearbyen town sign, when my
friend heard some strange noise….when we both looked up in the air couple of
birds (terns) were already circling above our heads…and I was lucky because I
had my big furry hat on my head saving me from 3 strong bird bites…oh yeah that
moment was really funny. Both of us running, I was bending down, but still
running, and the birds still chasing us…we were a bit afraid they never leave
us alone, but we were laughing out loud too, wondering what the Svalbardians
think about us if they had seen us…
In the end we gave up, but met a girl, who told us how these
things work…so whenever you go to Longyearbyen and decide to go and see the
birds nests on both sides of the road to the husky kennels, then make sure that
you watch out for the long red sticks besides the road. Those are lifesavers :D
 |
| Longyearbyen Town Border Sign |
Once we had them red sticks, we were safe and self assured that we can
walk down to the kennels between the birds nests. The idea is that these red
cylindrical hollow stickpipes are 2-3 meter long and whenever a bird is
approaching you just lift it in the air. Don’t beat poor birds! They will just
go and chip the end of the stick, basically the highest point! :) (This theory
is not always correct though, because my friend is much taller than me and the
birds still only attacked me, haha)
On the way both sides the fresh greenery, the water and the
snow covered mountains prepares an overwhelming scenery topping it with lots of nesting bird patches on the ground!
 |
| Nesting birds on the coastline of Svalbard |
On the side of this main road you can also see the
colourful, typical Nordic, wooden board houses of Svalbard. If you are careful
or already know, this is tundra, so no trees can be found here, so wood and
tree is one of the most expensive thing you can get here in Svalbard, yet most
of the houses are made of wood. I was also wondering whether they’d be cold or
how about the foundation? But truly…as the ground is frozen most of the year,
it would be rather difficult to dig out the holes for the base and just like in
any Nordic countries the insulation is superb, unlike the good old British
windows.
And what about those colours? Well I don’t know, my
explanation is to make them visible when everything is covered in white snow,
but whether the different colours have any meaning or not, I don’t know. If you
know more about this share your views in the comments.
 |
| Colourful log houses in Longyearbyen |
At the end of the road there is an abandoned Arctic Bar
and the kennels. Well I thought it was a bit more friendly and thought someone
would be there, maybe to talk to about the dogs and their nature, habits, the
dogsledding etc. But there was no one there. The dogs seemed friendly but I
preferred to stay a bit away from them. We were also told to check out their
homes and how high they are…so don’t forget to check that too! The reason for
that is the snow in the winter. It can be a good 60-70cm or even higher, hence
they need an entrance which is above the snow level.
 |
| Dog Kennels Svalbard Longyearbyen |
 |
| Dog kennels in Longyearbyen |
If you go a little bit further you will also find one of the
famous
Polar Bear signs; “Gjelder hele Svalbard’ where everybody takes a photo.
Take a look at the background too, because it is breathtaking too, but if you
are not in a car and you don’t have a gun with you, do not go any further this
point, as you might just be facing a polar bear.
 |
| Gjelder hele Svalbard - Polar bear sign |
Walking in this small town and enjoying the sunshine while
looking at the colourful houses was so surreal…just as surreal when we were
told, that yes still up here in the middle of nowhere this community with 2100
people has a disco and cinema, a supermarket, Thai restaurant and a café.
But tonight we decided to eat our dinner in Nansen, Radisson’s own restaurant and go for the trademark arctic dishes in 4 courses with the magnificent view we had from the restaurant.
Pre-starter was Scallops in Jerusalem artichokes cream
Starter crab soup with roots
Main dish: it was called I think, Taste of Svalbard…and yes
it had different meat types in one dish. So we could try whale-, short legged
reindeer- and seal steaks with celery sauce and mash. The whale meat tasted
exactly like pigliver. It was nice. The seal…well it had a very strong taste.
20x stronger pigliver taste with dry and chewy meat, but the reindeer was pink,
soft and lovely!
Lastly we went to Huset, which is a fine dining restaurant
in the day time and evening, then it transforms into a Saturday night disco
every weekend! Our dear friends and the newly found new friends took us there,
where we had a fun time! At the end around 4am we still went on to our friend’s
place to still carry on with talking and drinking! But at around 6am we needed
to head home, because I had booked a speedboat tour for Sunday morning. But I
will write about this the next time!
 |
| Menu of Huset in Longyearbyen |
See you soon with some more things to do in Svalbard on a shoestring and then I'll be back with some optional tours!
