Norway and Svalbard Voyage Planning
The resources listed on this page are to help you learn about Norway and Svalbard and assist you to prepare for your voyage there. For access to over 50 pages of General Cruising Information on everything from charts and publications to polar bear protection, see the Norwegian Cruising Guide, which you can purchase here.
For websites that document voyages to Norway and Svalbard, see our Norway and Svalbard Voyage Accounts page.
High Latitude Sailing Information/Support
www.highlatitudes.com This experienced group of high latitude sailors can provide full expedition support or an advisory service to assist you in preparing for and running your own expedition.
www.jonathanadventuresailing.com Mark van de Weg is a very experienced high latitude sailor who offers expeditions on your own boat or on one of his two boats.
www.attainableadventurecruising.com has a wealth of information on high latitude sailing in general and information on specific equipment and techniques that work well in Norway and Svalbard.
http://sites.google.com/site/waynorthmaritime/delivery/delivery Very experienced Norwegian sailor Harald E. (Rikki) Bjerke offers sailboat delivery services to and from Norway as well as chartering opportunities within Norway.
Sailing Charter Companies Based in Norway
www.arcticyacht.com/English/index.htm Arctic Circle Yachting has six sailboats to choose from and is well positioned in Bodø for access to the Lofotens.
www.boreal-yachting.com Based in Tromsø, Boreal Yachting is located in the perfect place to leave on a cruise of the Lyngen Alps or Svalbard. Ivar and Emely Bertelsen have six sailboats available for charter.
www.explorenorth.no Explore North offers ski and sail expeditions between Bergen and Spitsbergen. The skippers include experienced sailor and journalist Jon Amtrup and the mountaineering couple Sture and Enid Ellingsen.
www.fjordsailing.com FjordSailing is based in Bergen and offers many services to sailors, including boat charter, sale of Beneteau yachts, over-winter storage of sailboats, and more.
www.northcapesail.no Gunnar and Bjørg Pettersen have lived and sailed in North Norway for 30 years. Now they are going to share their experience with others by offering their sailboat for charter. If you want to visit the most northerly point in Norway in a sailboat, visit their site.
www.sailalesund.com Join SailAlesund for ski and sail trips and for summer cruises of the fjords and offshore islands in this spectacularly beautiful part of West Norway.Paid Crewing Opportunities to Norway and Svalbard
www.69nord.com Based in Tromsø, Olivier Pitras provides crewed hiking, sailing and ski expeditions in North Norway and Svalbard aboard S/V Southernstar. Both Olivier and the boat have a lot of high latitude experience to draw on.
http://boreaadventures.com/ Based out of Iceland, Borea Adventures leads expeditions to Svalbard and Jan Mayen.
www.expeditionsail.com Kate Ford and Hamish Laird have many years of experience sailing in the high latitudes, for the last several years in their custom high latitude sailboat, Seal.
www.mahina.com John Neal and Amanda Swan Neal provide sailing instruction, personal voyage consultancy and lead expeditions on their boat Mahina Tiare.
www.noorderkroon.eu André Blankestijn and Ingrid van Tricht provide sailing instruction as well as adventure during voyages on their 13.5 m steel sailboat Nooderkroon.
www.schoonersail.com The three-masted schooner Trinovante sails as far north as the Lofotens each year and also competes in any Tall Ship Races from Norway.
www.twinga.eu Ingrid van den Broek and Willem Willemse offer expeditions to the arctic, Svalbard and North Norway for everyone from experienced sailors to those with no sailing experience at all.
Tourist Information
Norway
www.visitnorway.com is the official tourism site for Norway.
www.norway.org is the official US site with information on Norway.
www.norway.com is a tourism site.
www.lonelyplanet.com is the site of The Lonely Planet Guides. They have a guide to Norway, 4th Edition, published in 2008.
www.odin.dep.no/odin/english/bn.html is a Norwegian government information site.
www.europeforvisitors.com/europe/planner/blp_countries_norway_general.htm is a tourism site.
www.roughguides.com is the site of the Rough Guide. We found the Rough Guide to Scandinavia to be very good. They also have a guide to Norway, 5th Edition, published in 2009.
www.turistforeningen.no/english is the site for the Norwegian Trekking Association. They oversee one of Europe’s larger marked hiking trail network (20,000 km) and arguably the world’s most extensive cross-country skiing track network (7000 km).
www.aftenposten.no/webcam shows webcam shots from numerous locations throughout Norway and Svalbard.
www.jan-mayen.no has great photographs and lots of information about the island. There is also contact and protocol information for those interested in visiting.
Svalbard
www.sysselmannen.no/hoved.aspx?m=44365 is the Governor of Svalbard’s official site. Visit here to get the latest protocol for taking your boat to Svalbard and how to behave once you get there!
www.svalbard.com is a tourism site for Svalbard.
www.svalbard.net is the official tourism site for Svalbard.
www.svalbard-images.com is a commercial site with information about and photographs of Svalbard. They even show webcam images from Longyearbyen and Ny Ålesund.
www.roughguides.com and www.lonelyplanet.com. The Rough Guide to Norway and the Lonely Planet Guide to Norway both contain sections on Svalbard.
www.npweb.npolar.no Follow the link to English for topographical and other maps and photographs available through the Norsk Polarinstitutt (Polarmiljøsenteret). Or write to: Norsk Polarinstitutt, Hjalmar Johansensgate 14, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
A Journey to Svalbard Polar TerritoryBy Christian Kempf, we found this volume to be not only visually beautiful with a wealth of photographs, but it contains a lot of good information.
Sweden
www.visitsweden.com is the official tourism site for Sweden.
www.vastkuststiftelsen.org has information on Swedish West Coast Nature Reserves.
Culture and History
We Die AloneBy David Howarth, this wonderful book chronicles the story of Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian patriot in WWII, who was smuggled in to Northern Norway by the Norwegian Resistance only to be betrayed. The rest of his group was killed but Jan managed to escape and walk to Sweden.
The Shetland BusAlso by David Howarth and another book about the Norwegian Resistance in WWII, this book is an excellent overview of the whole movement, including a short vignette about Jan Baalsrud.
Novels and Adventure
Champagne and Polar Bears: Romance in the ArcticWe met Marie Tièche, the author, and Hauke Trinks, a German professor, at an isolated station on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard, just at the beginning of their 13-month stay there. Marie does a wonderful job of describing their time on Nordaustlandet and the growth of their relationship.
Wolf WinterA sailor turned author, Clare Francis has written a wonderful murder/mystery set in Norway. A great read.
Bear IslandBy Alistair MacLean, this is a murder mystery novel written in the early 1970s that takes place on Bjørnøya. It’s a fun read.
Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s EdgeJill Fredston and her husband are avanlanche experts in Alaska in the winter. In the summer they row their sculls along various challenging coasts, including those of Norway and Svalbard.
Ice Bears & Kotick: Rowing on Top of the WorldThis is the story of two young British men who row a traditional open Norwegian boat (oselvar) around Svalbard.
Photography
For more photographs of Norway and Svalbard, see our Norway and Svalbard Voyages page.