The Geographic North Pole

In the north of the Arctic circle you’ll discover Tromsø, a secluded town located in the county of Troms. Norwegians call it the “Paris of the north”. You’ll soon see why when you discover its extensive neoclassical architectural heritage. A stunning example is the Arctic cathedral, a major monument whose stylistic purity echoes the outline of the mountains surrounding the town.

Halfway between Norway and Spitsbergen lies Bear Island or Bjørnøya, the southernmost island of Svalbard. Observe this isolated piece of land discovered in 1596 by Dutch navigator, Willem Barents. Following a tough fight between a polar bear and the members of the expedition, he dubbed the place Bear Island.

Regularly covered by a thick layer of fog, Bjørnøya shelters a meteorological station built in 1923. The island was declared a nature reserve in 2002 and is home to an enormous colony of sea birds - skuas, guillemots, puffins, gulls, petrels and little auks all coexist here.

Your captain will sail right up to the limit of the ice, to the edge of the ice floe. Weather conditions and state of the ice allowing, you will be able to go out in a zodiac dinghy for a unique experience in the middle of these floating slabs of ice. In addition to this grandiose journey through the middle of these floes with their cut and blue-tinged edges, sometimes over 2 metres thick, it is also often an opportunity to see a particular kind of fauna, totally dependent on the ice floe: birds, seals and polar bears.

Defined by a 90 degree North latitude, the Geographic North Pole lies on the Earth’s rotational axis, at the intersection of all meridians.

Plunged into darkness for six months of the year and then lit by the sun for the following six months, this mythical site has fascinated generations of explorers.

Permanently covered in ice and remote from any land, only a very few people have ever reached it, an exciting exploit which is now accessible to you aboard the Commandant-Charcot.

Your captain will sail right up to the limit of the ice, to the edge of the ice floe. Weather conditions and state of the ice allowing, you will be able to go out in a zodiac dinghy for a unique experience in the middle of these floating slabs of ice. In addition to this grandiose journey through the middle of these floes with their cut and blue-tinged edges, sometimes over 2 metres thick, it is also often an opportunity to see a particular kind of fauna, totally dependent on the ice floe: birds, seals and polar bears.

The largest island in the Svalbard archipelago, its name meaning 'pointed mountains' in German, Spitsbergen is the last piece of land before the Arctic ice floe. Aboard your ship, you will sail along the extremely spectacular coastline of this icy land. Between millennial glaciers and rugged mountains, you will discover a jagged coastline, hollowed-out by fjords. A unique setting, the refuge of a particularly rich avifauna, offering you the possibility of taking fabulous photographs from the deck of your ship.

Longyearbyen is the capital of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, located on Svalbard’s main island, and is the northernmost territorial capital on the planet. With winter temperatures dropping to below 40°C, the landscapes of this mining town are simply breathtaking. The glaciers, the mountains stretching as far as the eye can see and the untouched nature, make you feel like you’re in completely unexplored territory.