Seasons

“What is the best season to visit Svalbard?”
This is one of the most frequently asked questions we get, but it’s virtually impossible to give a clear recommendation. Each season has its unique charms and characteristics! It really comes down to what interests you have and what you want to experience in Svalbard. If you are unsure, hopefully this explanation of the seasons in the High Arctic will help you plan your trip. A key part of understanding the annual cycle in Svalbard are the terms “light” and “dark”. This also sums up a lot of the mystique and magic of visiting this archipelago so close to the North Pole.We will try to give you a brief introduction to the different seasons in Svalbard. To make this as simple as possible, we will divide the year into three main seasons: Polar summer, Northern Lights winter and Sunny winter. Spring and autumn are not mentioned because these can’t be clearly defined so far north where the transition between the main seasons is so pronounced and occurs so quickly.

Clear characteristics distinguish these three main seasons from each other. However, it’s also worth noting that each main season may be divided into two “sub-seasons”. In other words, Svalbard has six sub-seasons. This may sound confusing, but hopefully the information in the tabs below will shed some light on this!