Longyearbyen

Facts last verified 2026-10-02

Unless you arrive by ship, your trip to Svalbard starts and ends in Longyearbyen. Flights from the mainland land at Svalbard Airport, Longyear, and the town is where you’ll find the hotels and tour operators. It is also small: 2,512 people were registered as living in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund combined at the start of 2026.

The town was founded in the early 1900s by the American Arctic Coal Company and named after its founder, John Munro Longyear. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani bought the property in 1916, and coal shaped the town for more than a century, until mining in Mine 7 ended in 2025. Today more and more residents work in tourism and research, including at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).

Getting there

You fly to Svalbard via Oslo or Tromsø on mainland Norway. There is no other scheduled way in.

Bring your passport. Svalbard is outside the Schengen area, so there is passport and immigration control when you travel between mainland Norway and Svalbard, in both directions. Norway does not require a visa for Svalbard itself. But if you need a Schengen visa to enter Norway, it must allow double entry, because you leave and re-enter Schengen on the way.

Every visitor pays an environmental fee of NOK 150 to the Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund. Airlines and cruise companies add it to the ticket price automatically, so there is nothing to arrange.

From the airport, the shuttle bus is timed to meet every flight and stops at every hotel and guesthouse. A one-way adult ticket costs NOK 110. Pay in Norwegian kroner or by card; foreign currency is not accepted. Taxis also run from the airport, and the town’s car rental company is based there.

See Getting there for flights, entry rules and customs in more detail.

Getting around

The town centre is easy to explore on foot. Two taxi companies cover the town, the valley, Nybyen and the airport, and in the polar summer you can borrow a bicycle at the Tourist Information Centre.

There are only about 50 km of roads in and around Longyearbyen, and no roads to the other settlements: Barentsburg, Pyramiden and Ny-Ålesund can’t be reached by car.

Polar bears and the town limits

This is the rule that shapes everything you do here:

• Inside the town limits you can walk on your own without polar bear protection, as long as you don’t pass the polar bear warning signs.
• Outside the settlements, everyone must carry suitable means of scaring off polar bears, and a firearm is strongly recommended. Never head out without the knowledge, deterrents and firearms to handle an encounter. For visitors, the simple answer is to go with a local guide.
• Keep your distance. Since 1 January 2025 you must stay at least 300 metres from a polar bear, and at least 500 metres from 1 March to 30 June. If you find a bear close by, you are obliged to retreat.
• No loaded firearms in town. Inside Longyearbyen, guns must be carried visibly unloaded, and they are not allowed in shops or public buildings.

No tours seek out polar bears, and none can guarantee a sighting. The full rules are in Polar bear safety.

Going further on your own

To travel independently beyond the area around Longyearbyen (the travel area, formerly management area 10), you must apply to the Governor of Svalbard at least four weeks before your trip, and carry search and rescue insurance. The amount depends on the zone you’re going to.

New field safety regulations took effect on 1 January 2026. From 1 July 2027, tour operators working outside inhabited areas must use approved Svalbard guides. That’s worth asking about when you book.

When to go

Longyearbyen changes completely with the light:

• Midnight sun: roughly 20 April to 23 August, the sun never sets.
• Polar night: from 14 November to 29 January, the sun stays more than six degrees below the horizon and there is no daylight.
• Northern lights: best from 26 October to 16 February.

From October to May, temperatures can drop to around −30 °C. See Seasons: when to go for what each time of year is like.

Things to do

For the museums, the old mining sites and the Seed Vault in more detail, see What to see in Longyearbyen. For guided trips, the sauna, the brewery and more, see What to do in Longyearbyen, and for restaurants and cafés, Dining in Longyearbyen.

• Svalbard Museum covers the archipelago’s cultural and natural history, with a permanent exhibition called A Changing World. When we checked, it was open every day from 10:00 to 17:00, and an adult ticket was NOK 160. Confirm both on the museum’s site before you go.
• The Global Seed Vault is not open to visitors, but guided tours stop outside so you can see its entrance.
• Guided trips from town depend on the season: hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, dog sledding, boat trips and northern lights tours.
• The town itself: cafés, pubs, galleries, Svalbard Church, and a busy social life through the dark months.

Where to stay

Longyearbyen has hotels, apartments, guesthouses and a campsite, plus wilderness cabins further out. The number of places to stay is limited, so book your accommodation, and the one or two tours that matter most to you, before you commit to flights.

Good to know

• Shoes off. At many hotels, restaurants, museums and public buildings, people take their shoes off in the hallway. Follow the locals.
• Pay by card. The currency is Norwegian kroner, but there are no banks, ATMs or currency exchange in Longyearbyen.
• Alcohol is sold at Nordpolet. Tourists need valid ID and a boarding pass to buy it.
• No drones in town. Flying closer than five kilometres to the airport is prohibited, and that zone covers all of Longyearbyen. Drones are also banned in all protected areas. See Drone rules.
• Leave things where they are. All traces of human activity from before 1946 are protected by law. Don’t pick flowers or disturb wildlife.
• Insurance. Get travel insurance that covers medical treatment, transport to the mainland and medical evacuation.