Longyearbyen and Basecamp Hotel

Svalbard, Norway

The main Svalbard settlement, home to the year-round, 16-room trapper-style Basecamp Hotel.

Places in Longyearbyen and Basecamp Hotel

Basecamp Hotel dining room Dining within the trapper-style hotel serving as the base for multi-day Arctic trips.
Basecamp Hotel trapper-style lounge A lounge with trapper-style design serving coffee between expedition days.

Best time to visit: February to October, spanning the operating seasons of Basecamp Explorer's three lodges, with March to September offering access to all three properties.
Getting around: Guests typically fly into Longyearbyen, Svalbard's main settlement, via Oslo or Tromsø; from there, boat or snowmobile transfers connect to Nordenskiöld Lodge and Isfjord Radio, depending on the season, while Basecamp Hotel serves as the year-round base in Longyearbyen itself.
Currency: Norwegian Krone (kr)
Language: Norwegian; English is spoken almost everywhere.
Timezone: CET (UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer)
Current trends: Svalbard continues to attract travelers seeking genuine High Arctic wilderness access through Basecamp Explorer's three-lodge model, ranging from the year-round, amenity-equipped Basecamp Hotel in Longyearbyen to the deliberately off-grid Nordenskiöld Lodge with no running water or electricity; Isfjord Radio's transformation from a former radio station into a 22-room boutique hotel with a celebrated kitchen reflects a broader trend of repurposing Arctic infrastructure into genuinely remote luxury lodging.

Nordenskiöld Lodge wilderness — The world's northernmost commercial lodge, accessible only by boat or snowmobile with no running water or electricity.
Isfjord Radio coastal outpost — A former radio station converted into a 22-room boutique hotel on the Arctic Ocean's edge.