ny ålesund + the most northern town

were there on a Hurtigruten Cruise and we made a 3 hours stop in Alesund. We took a tour t osee the famous Jugendstil houses in the old part of town and the old pharmacy. Germans are very welcome, since emperor Wilhelm hepled the town aftera big fire in 1912 by sending 2 ships with goods arriving 2 days after the fire to help the inhabitants.

This was something very different. Our cruise ship called into Ny Alesund, a research station established in the 1960s. Not your usual port of call - a community of scientists with rifles, sled dogs, skidoos, sophisticated communications with the odd concrete bunker set amongst colourful wooden homes. The boundaries of the village were posted with "do not cross" polar bear warnings which made one realize we really were in the great white north!

We stopped over this place during our cruise trip to the North. The dock was near to town centre and a visit to the higher level of Mt. Aklacould could enable us to reach a fantastic viewpoint in takint good photos over this seaport..

We arrived for the day on a cruise it was a Sunday but they still opened the shop & Post office for us. Walking round you have to be careful & stick to the paths as the tundra is protected & do not venture past the polar bear warning signs. It is hard to take in that you are only 600 miles from the North Pole & yet you can buy souvenir's & send postcards. Be aware of the terns as they will dive bomb you to protect their nests if you have a walking stick you can wave this over your head & this will keep them away. By the husky compound they have signs telling you to keep your distance & "Let sleeping dogs lie" which we all did. Oh & don't forget that the locals & Scientist's carry rifles in case the polar bears come to visit but we did not see any. If you are a cruise ship it is also worth looking in the bay we had a humpback whale feeding all day it did a circuit of the bay passing down the side of the ship. It was a great experience but the number of visits is being reduced as restrictions come in to force on the type of fuel that can be used by ships visiting this area.

My first taste of Norway, we arrived at the port with no organised trip booked. we boarded the mini train for a trip from the port up to Eagle Bend with spectacular views of the town and islands. This was a great way to see the views and took us to see all the best that Alesund had to offer. had a fantastic ice cream at the summit. Stunning.

We arrived on the Silverseas Explorer. Short tender to the dock and walk 500 yards to the center of town. A few buildings, post office and nice gift shop, but the most interesting was chatting up some of the few International residents doing research. There was a team of dogsled dogs barking and the largest, newest earth mover ( I am sure for snow) that I have ever seen. Well worth getting off the ship and having a walk around.

Famous for the launching of airships to the North Pole - set in wonderful scenery and across the bay from NY London. Take your passport to the old post office as you can stamp it yourself. Well stocked gift shop and some pretty buildings but you have to be careful of polar bears f you go the airship tower.

This was our fourth port of call on our Norwegian cruise and personally I thought it was the best by far. We had been told by the authorities that as this is a scientific research station you had to kkep to strict pathways, you were not to enter buildings unless they were open to the public and lastly do not go outside the perimeter of the camp due to the possibility of an encounter with a polar bear. A lot of people who went ashore thought that this last "don't do" was a little bit over the top, however I spoke to a couple of guys who were in the camp about the bears and they confirmed that three polar bears had been seen two days before our arrival. This is taken very seriously by everyone in the camp and there are notices everywhere saying not to outside of the camp without a weapon of some sort. On your head be it!!Basically, there is nothing here except a small museum (which is interesting) a post office and shop where you can buy fridge magnets, clothes (very expensive jumpers) and of course post cards and stamps. This seemed the most popular thing to do so that everyone could say that they had posted their postcards in the most northerly post office in the world.There were beautiful glaciers all around this lovely area and many photos were taken, especially of the arctic terns that breed here. They are vicious little birds and if you get to close to their nest they will dive bomb you and try to peck your head, BE WARNED.Unfortunately, we did not see any polar bears, but somehow you always thought that they may be watching you.When we arrived back on our ship the captain came over the tannoy and said "ladies and gentlemen I hope you have enjoyed this spectacle of truly a special place. I think that most of the 700 passengers on the cruise agreed with him. We would love to go back, sadly this may not be possible again as the Norwegian authorities are concerned about the damage to the environment that cruise ships and visitors in general may cause, albeit inadvertently.

After weeks of sailing into the wild of the arctic and circumnavigate Spitzbergen, you can imagine how it was to land on a scientific and research base ! June was total midnight sun and saturday eve the only night where the Mellageret Bar is opening for residents. Berthing our Schooner in the port, clearing immigration, asking for permit to enter the bar to Port Authority officier (no joke)... granted ! We then walked to one of the best and genuine party we had for years... All and everybody was northernmost, great R&R band (scientists were well rocking the place)... went back upon closing at 2:30am... met stunning and very surprising people... Excellent fun. Superb memory. Lucky we had access ! Thank you NyAlesund people.

It was amazing to think that we were at the top of the world.No villages between us and the North Pole!Very welcoming.Had to stick to strict pathways to avoid damage to the environment.Unfortunately - it rained!

We visited Ny Alesund when our cruise ship stopped for a few hours on the way back from the polar pack ice. Winter snow remained in early July although it was melting rapidly and the birds were busy rearing young. This is an active research station with scientists coming and going from the dock constantly. The various buildings that are all raised off the ground due to permafrost house scientists from different countries. The building for the Chinese scientists even has lion statues out front. The settlement was initially established to mine coal. While there is a population boom in the summer with about 130 residents on site, we were told that the numbers dwindle to 30 people in the cold and sunless winter. There is little to do given that visitors must stay on the road as they walk about the small settlement. For some the highlight of the stop was mailing postcards from the most northerly settlement in the world. For us, it was taking in the stark beauty and feel of the place. We felt privileged to visit such a remote and beautiful location.

We visited Ny Alesund on a cruise and feel honoured to have had the experience, there is not much on the Island but it certainly makes up for it with its stark beauty, the day we visited it was only 4 degrees C and sleeting but it didn't take away the beauty of the place, we posted our postcards at the most northerly post box, the souvenir shop is well stocked and coped well with the hundreds from the cruise ship. We didn't see polar bears but plenty of other wildlife, apparently there had been a polar bear in the village the week previous. Real respect for the scientists that live there.

Situated at latitude 79.5 degrees on Spitzbergen this small research facility is the most Northerly permanantly populated place on Earth, a little over 700 miles from the North Pole. The town comprises a series of old and new huts, with a power plant, fuel storage, a small air port, 1 Hotel (The Polar Hotel), and a shop/post office with a small museum. The largest aircraft flying in is a twin Dornier Turboprop from Svarlbard, most people visit on Cruise liners.The town houses about 200 scientists and support staff dwindling to about 35 glacioligists, metrologists, atsronomers and oceanographers are in the depth of winter There is not so much to see but take in the breathtaking beauty of the glaciers and sea ice. You must (Yes MUST) stick only to the tracks because of the danger of Polar Bears, the bird life including Artic Terns is prolific and you can get really close. Frankly the floating sea ice "Growlers" impressed me the most. Of course in summer there is the "Midnight Sun" so dont expect to see the Aurora unles you can get there in winter, but go if you can because I suspect soon this kind of area will be closed to tourists. I must just add that a group of fellow travellers dressed in Penguin "Onesies" they bought and larked around making I think the whole town laugh out loud.

This quaint little research village is situated at the base of spectacular snow covered mountains. Just watch out for polar bears!

Though there may not seem like much to do here. it is a fascinating place I felt honoured to have reached this far north and visited. The sense of isolation and Arctic explorers spirit is amazingA decent sized souvenir shop, selling lots of 79degree souvenirs and postcards you can post home from the post office.A bust of Roald Amundsen , the obligatory photo of the "danger polar bears " sign and great scenery shots.(looking through town to the glaciers, wow) but thats about it.It is a working research station, so please respect this.KEEP TO THE PATHS and touch nothing. Take nothing, but photographs, and leave nothing, but footprints.The Arctic tundra is so so delicate and you dont want to inadvertently ruin someone's years of research by picking that flower or dropping that wrapper.Ohh and the barnacle geese goslings were adorable