Great names, captivating adventures: north-east Greenland and Svalbard. Which region is the most spectacular, which the most beautiful? You can get a first feel for the far north in Patreksfjordur on Iceland. The extraordinary continues on Greenland’s seldom-visited east coast – in the world’s longest fjord system. Scoresbysund redefines solitude. A superlative follows: the Northeast Greenland National Park. It is the largest of its kind in the world and home to musk oxen, Arctic foxes and Arctic hares. Its alpine landscape is impressive, as shown by the peaks of King Oscar Fjord and the almost 1,200 m (3,937 ft) high mountainside of Ella Island. Steep rock faces alternate with glacier snouts in the labyrinth of Kaiser Franz Josef Fjord. On Clavering Island and Sabine Island, you can search for traces of historical expeditions on hikes with your team of experts. Another terrain for passionate explorers is the circumnavigation of Svalbard. In Ny-Alesund, researchers investigate climate change. The glacier ice, whose origins you will visit – at the 14th July Glacier, in the Smeerenburgfjord and at the mighty Monacobreen in the Liefdefjord – allows you to draw conclusions and make predictions. You might spot walruses in their natural habitat on the island of Nordaustlandet, which is largely covered in ice caps, or reindeer on Barents Island. With some luck, you might spot polar bears, which are best observed from the deck of the ship or from a Zodiac at a respectful distance. When the circumnavigation comes full circle in Hornsund, your explorer’s CV will be richer by many experiences.

---- The ice conditions determine the course here (see map).

The itinerary depends on official approval, weather and ice conditions. The natural experiences and wildlife sightings described are possibilities on this expedition and are not guaranteed.