Follow travel- and nature photographer Michel Hammann on his trails around the globe
"The sensation of a glimpse of the Arctic wilderness..."
Arctic Impressions
Svalbard / Spitsbergen
The lonely archipelago Spitsbergen ("Svalbard" in Norwegian) is located halfway between the North Cape and the North Pole.
Cold, remote and most of the year covered with ice and snow. This is how this vast region is best described.
Follow us on our journey from the North Cape to the area where deep fjords and majestic glaciers dominate the landscape.
During the polar summer, the 24 hours of daylight offers us great photo- and film opportunities!
Svalbard is still in the Ice Age. Over 2,000 glaciers cover 60% of the land.
Costa Neo Romantica is leaving Port of IJmuiden (Holland) for a 7,500 km (4,050 NM) journey to the North Cape en Spitsbergen.
The Svalbard Islands lie between 74° and 81° latitude north, 565 kilometres above the North Cape. Its surface area is about the same as The Netherlands and Belgium put together. Spitsbergen is the biggest island of the archipelago and was ‘discovered’ in 1596 by Willem Barents who was looking for a northern route to South East Asia. More than 60% of this impressive natural landscape is covered with ice. Because of the vulnerability of this area, a large part of this group of islands is protected and has a National Park status.
The itinerary of our seajourney Amsterdam-North Cape-Spitsbergen.
Officers on the outside bridge, face to face with a huge glacier.
In the gallery a random selection of my most favorite Spitsbergen shots