Is it reasonable to go to Longyearbyen by myself without a car?

7/10/2017 6:45:49 AM

As others have said, a car is not needed and not that useful. But there are in fact a few roads and a taxi service beside the airport shuttle. Nybyen, where the only hostel is located, is a bit outside the rest of Longyearbyen, maybe a couple of kilometres up Longyear Valley. That’s perfectly doable by foot (that’s what I did most of the time last winter and most people do the same) but getting a taxi is also an option (and at the end of the day probably cheaper than hiring a car, even if you make two-three return trips a day).

The thing is that getting out of the town without a guide – even on the road along Adventdalen – is not recommended, due to the presence of polar bears. People have died hiking on the mountains immediately next to Longyearbyen without proper equipment (gun, etc.) and a bear and her two cubs walked right in the middle of town last winter.

So even if you go somewhere reachable by land (visit to mine 3, snowmobile trips – even in summer, hikes, drive up Adventdalen, etc.), you should hire a guide and they will arrange transfer (pick you up from your accomodation and drive as far as the road goes). Car or no car, that’s what you’ll need to do if you want to do anything else than walk around the town and see the museum.

7/10/2017 9:02:07 AM

Longyearbyen is a very small town with a population of not much more than 2,000. Within the town centre, you can reach everything easily by foot and even the outskirts of the town are only 2-3km from the centre. The area is quite steep though. The Nybyen district in the souther part of the town is about 300m higher than the city centre.

The only public transport in Longyearbyen is the airport shuttle. If you intend to visit the other settlements or abandoned towns on Svalbard, you will have to go by air or boat. There is no road network connecting the towns.

Also remember that Svalbard is not part of the Schengen area. Domestic flights from the Norwegian main land to Svalbard are subject to passport control. If you should need a Schengen visa, you will need a multiple entry visa if you intend to enter and stay in the Schengen area on your way in and out of Svalbard. As Crazydre comments, you can if travelling with a direct flight from Oslo to Longyearbyen transit between extra-schengen and the Svalbard flight in Oslo without going through immigration.

7/9/2017 9:15:27 PM

Apart from the airport bus, Longyearbyen has no public Transport, but is small enough for you to walk from end to end.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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