Ny Alesund

About Ny Alesund

Just 600 miles south of the North Pole, the rugged but spectacularly scenic island of Spitsbergen is civilisations most northerly outpost and Ny Alesund is the most northerly settlement on it. Although about two-thirds of Spitsbergen and the handful of smaller, neighbouring islands that make up Norways Svalbard territory, are covered in glaciers, the Atlantic Gulf Stream which passes to the west has ensured a rich variety of plants, flowers and birds.

Large areas are now designated bird sanctuaries, nature reserves and national parks.  A ban on hunting also means there are plenty of polar bears and arctic foxes to be spotted by keen-eyed visitors. Once the base for Polar expeditions, Ny Alesund is also the place where one of the most famous explorers of modern times, Roald Amundsen, set off in 1928 to rescue an Italian explorer on a dirigible flight from which he never returned.