North Pole Expedition Museum

Longyearbyen


This fascinating private museum houses a stunning collection of artefacts, original newspapers and other documents relating to the history of polar exploration. There's intriguing archive footage and labels are in English – you could easily spend a couple of hours here reliving some of the Arctic's most stirring tales. It's across the road from the back side of the Svalbard Museum, down near the waterfront.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Longyearbyen attractions

1. Svalbard Museum

0.06 MILES

Museum is the wrong word for this impressive exhibition space. Themes on display include life on the edge formerly led by whalers, trappers, seal and…

2. Wild Photo Gallery

0.23 MILES

This gallery of stunning Svalbard photos by Ole Jørgen Liodden and Roy Mangersnes is small but filled with utterly unforgettable images. A book that…

3. Svalbard Kirke

0.6 MILES

The wooden Svalbard Kirke was first built in the 1920s but later rebuilt after being destroyed in the German invasion of WWII. It's a largely modern…

4. Wooden Steps

0.61 MILES

Some 50m south of Svalbard Kirke stand five weathered wooden steps, all alone, and a sign, 'Sykhustrappa' (Hospital Stairs). This is all that remains of…

5. Svalbard Bryggeri

0.73 MILES

Having opened for business in 2015, Svalbard's very own brewery makes the very quaffable Spitsbergen IPA, Spitsbergen Pilsener and Spitsbergen Pale Ale –…

6. Graveyard

0.96 MILES

Southwest of the town centre lies a haunting little graveyard with simple white, wooden crosses. It dates from the early 20th century and includes the…

7. Mine No 2

1.53 MILES

High on the steep valley wall south of the town centre, the crumbling, evocative ruins of Mine No 2 loom over the town.

8. Kunstnersenteret

1.55 MILES

Attached to the Galleri Svalbard is the Kunstnersenteret, which serves as a workshop for local artists, with many of the works on sale.