Ny-Ålesund Travel Guide

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To get to Ny Alesund you will cross the Arctic Circle and be eligible to be inducted into the Society of the Blue Nose. We sailed across on the Holland America ship, Prinsendam, and were inducted as we crossed the Circle. The ceremony is simple: everyone jumps into the pool. See pictures. Crossing also makes it possible in the summer months to see the Midnight Sun. The sun does not dip below the horizon. This is a really fascinating thing to see. If you go to Ny Alesund, stay up late at night and enjoy the Midnight Sun on the waters of the Arctic Ocean.

Since Ny-Ålesund is a very small "scientists only" community, there is no public restaurant in this town. All the local population gets their food in the cantine, but this is not available for tourists.

Mellageret ("Flour Storage") is a bar which is run by the local population of Ny-Ålesund on Saturdays. It is not available for tourists which come on a tour operated by a professional tour operator (i.e. cruise ship tourists). Opening times usually from 10pm to 2-3am. It is a custom that people do start the drinking earlier on that evening at a so-called "Vorspiel" and go to a "Nachspiel" after the bar has closed.
In Mellageret, there is also a small dance flour, which usually is quite crowded after 1am.

Dress Code: As you like. But no shoes! That's no joke, it's the custom on Svalbard not to wear shoes inside of buildings. This also applies to this. Of cause, you can bring your indoor shoes, but be aware that nearly no one else does!

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The morning before we arrived a polar bear meandered through town. Spitsbergen Island has as many polar bears as people. There are signs at the edge of town warning you to carry a weapon and that you need to know how to use it. Signs should be taken seriously. These are big animals and the areas where the ice reaches land are reduced in the summer. Bears need the ice to get to their preferred food: seals. No ice and no food makes for a hungry, onery bear.

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This is so cool, literally. Air and water temperature were zero Celcius when our Holland America ship, Prinsendam, coupled Ny Alesund with a visit to the polar ice cap. The multi-year ice sheet is about nine or twelve feet thick, and it looks solid from a distance. The edge is frayed, as you can see in the pictures. Closeup it looks like a collection of thirty-foot white pancakes grinding among themselves. If you are considering a cruise above Iceland to Spitsbergen then think also about signing up for one that includes this Spitsbergen side trip. And bring your winter gear. It's cold on deck.