Why Longyearbyen takes its boots off

Facts last verified 2026-10-03

You check in to your hotel, full of plans for glaciers and polar bears, and the first thing you see is a wall of boots. Big ones, small ones, snowmobile boots still dripping. Then you notice the people at the desk are padding about in their socks. Welcome to Longyearbyen, where the dress code starts at the ankles.

Blame the coal

Longyearbyen was built on coal, and for more than a century mining was what the town was for. The first mines were on the slopes right above the houses, and a cableway carried the coal through town down to the harbour. That made for a lot of black dust, and nobody wanted it tramped through the house.

So people did the sensible thing: they took their boots off at the door. Norwegian coal mining has now ended (the last mine, Mine 7, closed in 2025), but the habit never left. Today it’s simply how things are done.

Where the boots come off

Expect to take them off at:

• hotels and guesthouses;
• many restaurants;
• the Tourist Information Centre;
• public buildings such as the museums, the hospital and the library.

The tell-tale sign is a rack or pile of shoes in the hallway. If you see one, join in.

Sugar shoes

If you’d rather keep your shoes on at Svalbard Museum, you can borrow shoe covers instead. The museum calls them sugar shoes, because they’re made from a plastic based on sugar cane, and they can be recycled afterwards.

How to do it like a local

• Pack good socks. Wool, warm, and ideally without holes, because everyone will see them.
• Bring indoor shoes or slippers if you like something on your feet. Some places lend slippers, but not all do.
• Choose boots you can get off quickly. You’ll do this many times a day, and laces at −20 °C are nobody’s friend.
• Don’t take it personally. Nobody thinks your boots are dirty. It’s just Longyearbyen.