Navigate from Scotland to Svalbard aboard Ortelius. Visit the remote islands of Fair Isle and Jan Mayen, before reaching the spectacular ice edge of Spitsbergen, where you spend a week searching for whales and a rich variety of wildlife across land, sea and sky.
Travel aboard Ortelius – a comfortable and ice-strengthened polar expedition ship – for this adventurous 16-night wildlife expedition cruise from the west coast of Scotland all the way to the icy realms of Svalbard. During the voyage you visit prime sites in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean and, along the way, you have time ashore and multiple opportunities to enjoy the wonderful array of wildlife.
Enroute to Svalbard, we hope to visit the mysterious island of Jan Mayen, cruise along the pack ice and look for polar bears in the high Arctic. All of this before exploring parts of Svalbard and disembarking in Longyearbyen.
In previous years we have exclusively chartered Ortelius and sailed a similar route with conservationist Mark Carwardine. Read on to see what Mark had to say about one of our previous North Atlantic charters.
“This is a rare opportunity to see some of the best wildlife of the North Atlantic and the high Arctic – bowhead whales, blue whales and an impressive variety of other whales and dolphins (we saw lots of northern bottlenose whales in 2024), several of the biggest seabird colonies in the world (including a wonderful day with huge numbers of puffins), polar bears, walruses, harp seals, and much more – all in a single trip.” Mark Carwardine
You can also read more about cruising to Svalbard from the UK in Mark's blog.
Typical Itinerary
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Day 1:
Arrive in Aberdeen & board Ortelius
Today, meet at the port and board the Ortelius for your 16-night voyage from Scotland to Svalbard. Once on board, you're shown to your cabin before meeting the expedition team and having an orientation and safety briefing before setting sail in the early evening. After dinner, you depart and navigate north with opportunity to see white-tailed eagles, minke whale, harbour porpoise and both of the UK’s native seal species, common and grey.
Accommodation: Ortelius, 16-nights
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Day 2:
Explore Fair Isle
Today, the plan is to explore Fair Isle, an island in the Shetlands whose 70-odd inhabitants are known for their beautiful knitwear. This is a fantastic location with accessible seabird breeding grounds, and you may even spot grey seals.
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Days 3-4
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Sail north to the island of Jan Mayen
Today you continue sailing north across the North Atlantic Ocean. This is the perfect opportunity to enjoy some lectures and presentations given by the expedition team as we navigate. There's also time to head out on deck and look for cetaceans or seabirds.
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Day 5:
Explore Jan Mayen
Located more than 450 kilometres north-east of Iceland, the volcanic island of Jan Mayen is our next stop on this voyage. As we approach, we keep an eye out for orca, fin, minke and blue whale. We may even be lucky enough to spot the elusive northern bottlenose whale. Today, if the weather and sea conditions allow, we hope to land on the island itself. If this isn't possible, we may be able to offer a Zodiac cruise instead to gain better views of the impressive bird cliffs. The birdlife is excellent on Jan Mayen, and we hope to spot little auks, fulmars and Brunnich’s guillemots.
The island is dominated by the still active glacier-covered Beerenburg Volcano and is only accessible by ice-strengthened ships. It's home to a weather station, which can be visited now with permission from the Norwegian authorities.
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Day 6:
Sail due north to the edge of the Arctic pack ice
We sail due north towards the edge of the Arctic pack ice and continue to scan for wildlife as we make our way.
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Days 7-8
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Explore the Arctic pack ice
Having reached the Arctic pack ice which tends to accumulate off the east coast of Greenland, we spend the next few days exploring this unique habitat in search of some of the Arctic's most iconic species including polar bear, bowhead whale, harp seal and ivory gull.
Depending on the ice conditions, we may have an opportunity to Zodiac cruise here. The position of the ice edge in relation to its distance from Spitsbergen (which varies from year to year) determines our exact itinerary.
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Days 9-16
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Explore Spitsbergen
Arriving in Spitsbergen, some passengers disembark and new guests join the vessel, bringing anticipation for the next phase of exploration. You may visit Poolepynten, a popular site for walrus to haul out. If these enormous blubbery creatures are ‘at home’ you may land to enjoy closer views. With luck, you may also see Arctic fox and Svalbard reindeer here.
Another popular site is Isfjord where you have the chance to view some of the larger baleen whales that frequent these waters. Depending on wildlife sightings, there's also the option to visit Alkhornet or the Ymerbukta Glacier.
Over the coming days you navigate to the north coast of Spitsbergen taking in expansive fjords, thriving seabird colonies, rich vegetation, and the possibility of polar bear. You may sail into Liefdefjorden and cruise within sight of the 5-kilometre-long face of Monaco Glacier. The waters in front of this glacier are a favourite feeding spot for thousands of kittiwakes, and the base of the ice is a popular polar bear hunting ground. The northernmost point of your voyage may be north of Nordaustlandet, in the Seven Islands. Here you reach 80° north, just 870 kilometres from the geographic North Pole.
Retracing your journey, you sail through the pack ice, where encounters with bowhead, fin and minke are all possible.
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Day 17:
Disembark & transfer to airport
This morning we disembark Ortelius and transfer to the airport or continue with onward travel arrangements.
Please note: The itinerary may change during the voyage due to weather, sea and ice conditions as well as recent wildlife sighting reports.
EXPEDITION VESSEL
