Tips from Visit Svalbard's CEO

Ronny Brunvoll is the CEO of Visit Svalbard, a tourism industry organisation in which over 80 tourism companies operating in Longyearbyen and Svalbard is organised. He’s been a part of Visit Svalbard in two rounds, first from 2012 to 2018, and later from 2020 to the present time. He’s shared some of his best tips for experiencing Svalbard with us here.

The first time I arrived in Svalbard was in the early summer of 2012 to attend my job interview in Visit Svalbard. My expectations were through the roof as I already knew the place quite well through following the coverage of the archipelago’s local community, nature and business life in Norwegian media. I flew there in late May on a cloudless day, and oh what a view it was! Anna Lena from the board met me at the airport, it was about midnight. She welcomed me by giving me short sightseeing trip before dropping me off at my hotel. I couldn’t go to bed at all and showed up tired for my interview the next morning with bags underneath my eyes, but with an almost evangelical feeling for the place. I’d already decided that this is where I want to be, no matter how this job would turn out. But things worked out and I was offered the job in Visit Svalbard and moved here 4 months later. Since then, Longyearbyen and Svalbard have lived up to my expectations. Every day. All year round.

It's specifically the complete year that is important to me, as Svalbard truly has a lot to offer in all 12 months of the year. But of course, with wildly differing experiences in the 3 distinct seasons we have here at 78 degrees north. When sharing my favourites here, I choose to do so based on the seasons.

I’ll begin with the summer, the season when I first arrived here. In addition to the warm sun that hangs around in the sky 24/7, I like to go on long hikes in the mountains surrounding Longyearbyen when the snow is gone. It’s steep going up, but once you’ve gotten to the top you’ll find long flats, also called plateaus, waiting for you. Before the next mountain top you may find a glacier or a moraine with millions-of-years-old fossils waiting for you on the way.
There are plenty of options, such as the round trip via the glacier Larsbreen, over the mountains Trollsteinen, Lars Hiertafjelllet, Sarkofagen and the glacier Longyearbreen, my personal favourite. In later years, more and more locals and visitors have chosen longer day-long hikes as an activity. After September 10th, I myself may happily bring my shotgun when hiking as I may get a lucky hunt and some Svalbard rock ptarmigan to bring back home.

When I’m not in the mountains, you’ll find me out at sea. Many of us who live here have our own boat, with which we can go on overnight trips around Isfjorden, but also longer trips up the west coast towards Ny-Ålesund. The wildlife at sea is exciting, and there’s always something to see! Fishing for Arctic char during summer is popular, but towards late summer and early Autumn, both cod and haddock seeps into Isfjorden in large numbers. Those without a boat of their own tag along with the local activity providers who offer various discounts for locals on day trips around Isfjorden and even towards Ny-Ålesund. Alternatively, locals join a multi-day trip such as the sailings on board the honourable M/S Nordstjernen along the west coast.  

When summer lets go the dark season returns with the polar night, and the pace of life slows down substantially. There are somewhat fewer visitors, the days rapidly become darker, and the possibilities to explore the wilderness become fewer. It’s a tempo all to its own. This is the time for food, drinks, culture, festivals and lots of good times. Because if there’s something we’re good at in Svalbard, it’s enjoying ourselves with the insanely high-level of variety in experiences offered in Longyearbyen with its meek number of around 2500 locals. Amid all the goings-on, the Dark Season Blues festival during the last weekend of October has a place of its own in my heart. The blue light matches the music, and there are stages all throughout our tiny town. Otherwise, there are both culinary-, chamber music-, literature- and jazz festivals to choose among, so you can safely say that the cultural life in town never runs on idle. A big thank you to all the enthusiastic volunteers that makes it all possible!

Otherwise, like many Svalbardians I like going out on the town in Longyearbyen. A dinner at Kroa followed by an evening at Karlsberger Pub is a typical evening for me. Luckily there’s plenty of variety, so I may just as well go fine dining with a wine package at one of the many good restaurants such as Huset or Gruvelageret, among many others. Personally, Barentz Gastropub is a favourite, as that’s where us members of Liverbirds Svalbard gather to watch our great heroes in Liverpool FC crush all that stands in their way!

After the Polarjazz festival is over in the transition between January and February, the light slowly but surely makes its way back after close to 3 months of total darkness. Then we all, including me, start getting a bit desperate to see the light again. Getting to a mountaintop or onto a headland by the sea to see the sun becomes a popular local activity as the light draws closer towards the end of February.

At the same time, I start preparing for the snowmobiling season, which for others may also be the dog sledding season, when the light and snow makes it possible to venture out into the enormous and seductive Arctic wilderness we have. We mostly don’t venture too far from Longyearbyen as there are plenty of cabins that are available to us to borrow for a weekend trip. 

To me, it’s this extreme variation between the seasons and the way that darkness relieves the light which in turn relieves the darkness that is the essence of Svalbard. Each season has its own distinct quality, and each season has its own unique reason for living and thriving here. Almost all the experiences I’ve described here are available for you to experience yourself as a visitor. But always together with an experienced guide on an organised trip. Because Svalbard is not like other destinations. The nature is rough, the cell phone coverage is not what one will find on the mainland, and polar bears may show up anywhere. Listen to the good advice about joining organised guided activities where your safety is ensured, and where the fragile local environment is carefully protected thanks to the guide’s knowledge of where one should and shouldn’t travel, what you can bring along and what should be left where it is.

Welcome to us, and I hope that this description will be relatable to you 😊