Barentsburg and Esmark Glacier

We are heading for Barentsburg on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Pick-up from hotels and guesthouses in Longyearbyen starts at 08:30 and we will leave the harbour at around 09:00.

Come along on a trip with us to see Svalbard and its amazing Arctic landscape from the seaside. We take you out from Longyearbyen and head towards Barentsburg, which is the second largest town on Svalbard. The population here consists of almost entirely of Russians and Ukrainians. And there is about 500 people living there. The town used to be self-sufficient but has now become dependent on Russia for food supplement. In the glorious days when it was under Sovjet union, the town was a display for the communism in the artic. But when the system collapsed and the supplement did no longer come, the city ​​decayed, and a dramatic downsizing was a fact. In the latest years there has been huge changes in the city. Hotels and other buildings have been renovated, and the town is yet again developing. 


On our way to Barentsburg we have a short stop in front of the Esmark Glacier. 
Esmak Glacier is located on Oscar II Land and is about 15 kilometres long. It is named after the Danish geologist Jens Esmark (1763-1839)
When we leave the glacier, you will be served a nice warm meal at aft deck.Then we arrive to Barentsburg, where we will be in harbour for about 2 hours.
There are 250 steps you have to walk to get from the boat and up hill to the town. While you are in town we recommend you make a visit to the little chapel on the top, and the chapel was made as a memory for the people that died in the Opera mountain accident (1996).
A visit to the souvenir shop is recommended before heading back to the boat.


After visiting this town, MS Polargirl will sail in front of the Grumant city and the Birdcliff. The Grumant city is an abandoned sovjet-russian settlement that was abandoned around 1962. Earlier, this was a mining town, and because of hard conditions with the harbour and a decrease in the production the mining was closed.