The Icy Archipelagos of the Russian High Arctic

You will come to a profound understanding of the meaning of the word exploration through this exceptional odyssey to the ice-covered archipelagos of the Russian High Arctic. Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, unknown territories and extraordinary treasures of the Barents and Kara Seas: these spaces to explore, where the inaccessible becomes a possibility, represent an infinite reserve of emotions and sensations in the light of our imaginations. Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, a reassuring cocoon, the interior spaces open onto the beauty of the exterior landscapes.

This...read more ship, designed to explore the polar regions, provides you with the rare opportunity to explore biodiversity sanctuaries and discover emblematic sites in polar history at a time of year when traditional cruise ships are unable to access them. From Murmansk, the largest Arctic port, you will reach Novaya Zemlya, located in the shallow waters of the Barents Sea, where many cetaceans live. The arc-shaped archipelago, an extension of the Ural Mountains, is a shelter for Arctic wildlife.

Moments of rare and intense emotions are made possible, at this time of the year, by the silent capacities of your ship. A little further east, you will experience instants of pure wonder in the immense polar desert of Severnaya Zemlya, one of the last archipelagos discovered by man and Russia's largest natural reserve. The huge expanses of stone broken up by the frost and sculpted by the wind, make way for infinite panoramas of ice with spectacular reliefs. The polar bear is king here.

You will perhaps admire, roaming this white desert, a solitary male in search of the ideal hunting or fishing spot, or a mother teaching her cub the secrets of survival. Franz Josef Land is of volcanic origin and will surprise you with its landscapes shaped by glacial erosion. This natural sanctuary covered in ice shelters rich biodiversity and is part of the Russian Arctic National Park.

You will explore this unspoiled territory following in the traces of the early-20th-century American and Russian polar expeditions. A journey of initiation during which you will also understand exploring as becoming aware of the ultimate privilege of arriving at the boundaries of the world as well as of the necessity of preserving them. Find out more about the world of Le Commandant Charcot here! We are privileged guests in these extreme lands where we are at the mercy of weather and ice conditions. Our navigation, mainly in the fjords, will be determined by the type of ice we come across; as the coastal ice must be preserved, we will take this factor into account from day to day in our itineraries.

The sailing programme, outings, activities and observation of fauna cannot be guaranteed and are subject to weather and ice conditions. The experiences are unique and vary from day to day and for each departure. The Captain and the Expedition Leader will make every effort to ensure that your experience is as rich as possible, while respecting safety instructions and regulations imposed by the AECO.