I've been in Longyearbyen for the past couple of days, which is the world's northernmost town. In summer there's 24 hours of sunlight, while in winter there's 24 hours of darkness. I'm still forming my opinion on Longyearbyen as such, though have to share what we did yesterday, which was one of the coolest things…
Continue reading: Visiting Pyramiden, Svalbard — A Russian Ghost Town
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Yes this is what happens when you leave the comforts of an airport's premier lounge -- you really experience the wonders of travel!
Nice to read about a destination on One Mile at a Time. You travel so many places and share so little insight aside from hotels and flights and airports. This is an informative piece.
I would agree with Rick. I think you are missing out on an opportunity with your blog as someone who travels as much as you would bring a unique travel perspective to some different areas of the world.
Thank's Lucky - your reports are always very interesting and inspiring! I am a Norwegian citizen, and visited Longyerbyen and Pyramiden last year with my children - and I totally agree with you: Next time I will spend a night at the hotel, just to feel the total isolation from the rest of the world. Very, very fascinating. Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂
Super interesting location. I've never traveled in the extrem northern locations, including Norway and Russia. It's great your traveling to and reviewing these locations as there is not as many write ups. Is the Hyatt PH in Moscow coming up? That property seems like a great stay. I hope you and Ford enjoy the journeys together.
What an incredible place and experience. Thanks for sharing such an unusual destination!
Just echoing what Ric and worldtraveller73 said...but it's nice to see more than just the trip reports. Don't get me wrong, we all love to read about the product before we try it out, but I sometimes feel you're maybe missing out on some of the fun of the trip. I enjoy getting there just as much as you do, but all this globetrotting without seeing anything seems boring to me. But to each his own, and I'm glad you had fun and something grabbed your attention that wasn't a shiny new F or J hard product.
Try using shift f7 or the mac equivalent for the thesaurus. It's really a fascinating tool
Many who go to Svalbard end up choosing between the ferry to the working russian settlement and the russian ghost town. Chose the settlement. It a great journey also, and to a fascinating, very isolated town.
Know exactly what you mean and completely agree about vibes vs museums and the like. Getting a sense of a place is so much more interesting. Would like to know which 100 books the person you mentioned read. Safe journeys. Thanks so much!
Who takes care of the hotel in the wintertime? I've got writers block and staying there in the cold, dark days when it's closed is just the thing to help me. My wife and little boy seem to like the idea as well. 😉
What a fascinating place. I think it's awesome that it's so isolated - you could really get away from everything there.
Thank you for sharing!
When you visit Moscow, plan to spend a day at an exhibition center built to glorify the Soviet Union. It's fascinating and not found on a tripadvisor top 10 list. We came upon it by accident and it was amazing. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDNKh_(Russia)
Now that was interesting. Tired of hearing about first in Lufthansa or Singapore:)
You should try to visit this place in January, assuming you can even get there. The cold would be other worldly.
Amazing scenery. Thanks for posting.
I visited Spitsbergen some years ago on a 19 day cruise leaving from and returning to Copenhagen. In addition to the North Cape and Norwegian fjords we spent two nights in Longyearbyen. I don't think Spitsbergen is worthy of being a destination on its own, so for those who have the time combining it with a Norwegian fjords cruise (preferably on a smaller ship) is highly recommended.
Excellent post, Lucky.
Since you enjoyed this, maybe you should give some more thought to a possible Ukraine International Airlines trip? Kyiv is certainly a worthwhile city, and if you plan ahead (essential) you could visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Area. That would certainly make for some great pics. And if Top Gear can go there, so can you.
On the other hand, if you really enjoy the post-Soviet industrial town feel with a more active population, perhaps you could consider Aktau, Kazakhstan. There are no street names, so all addresses are composed from a series of numbers. And you could fly there on SCAT. Imagine the fun you'd have with that?
Pyramiden was Swedish before it was sold to the Soviet Union, not Russian, 😉
Svalbard is amazing. I've been there in the winter before, and will visit again in September, including a tour of Pyramiden, which I'm very much looking forward to.
BTW, I hope you realize just how ridiculously lucky you are with the weather! 😉
Having visited Russia many times since 1993, and having lived there since 2002, I can assure you that especially the interior photos look very soviet. They could have been taken in an one of many many cities across the former Soviet Union. The Russia that you will see as a tourist is much different. The tourist areas of Moscow are a different world than what you just saw.
Enjoyed reading this. So different and interesting than first class lounge reports. 🙂
You start the post by saying: "I’ve been in Longyearbyen for the past couple of days..." but in the next paragraph you reference "we." Which was it?
@Unhoeflich has some excellent suggestions. A trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is certainly unforgettable. It's a haunting yet majestic experience.
For a truly trippy experience head down to Uzbekistan sometime. Tashkent is a time warp back to the Soviet era in terms of architecture and attitude. The butt-ugly industrial city of Nukus is home to the Savitsky Collection, an amazing museum devoted to Soviet realism and avant-garde art. And then for something completely different you have the ancient & beautiful Islamic cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. I love Uzbekistan.
And I am loving these destination posts that have been popping up on OMAAT.
@ John: Agreed. I live in a small town in Primorsky Krai, and the photos remind me of so many places here in Artem. The style, the sports areas, etc. The town is in many ways stuck in Soviet times. Even the building I work in is a former "Dvoretz Kultury," and a large statue of Lenin stands out front, and inside the theatre hasn't changed, and there are statues and paintings from the Soviet times throughout the building, the hammer and sickle still seen in the crown molding. It's completely different than Vladivostok, which is about 45 minutes away. But, as a guy who grew up in rural Alabama, the history, sights and culture are extremely fascinating to me.
what? no picture of the bottle of water you were served on the ferry? or a description of the safety video or the seats or what brand of soap is in the lavatory on the ferry? not a complete review by Lucky!
What is the cost per night for the hotel?
I would imagine the workers have a sat phone or something along those lines. Reminds me of the shining though!
You should try Svalbard in winter time too Ben!
https://travel.bart.la/2016/02/28/arctic-adventure-svalbard-spitsbergen-longyearbyen/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kdtHWO7RWc
here is a video of old pictures. Looks like a cult 😀
I can't wait to visit!
Hey all, lay off a bit on Lucky. His job is to blog about the travel experience, hotels, airlines, airports. He is not a travel blogger. His preferences on how to spend his free time is not what he writes about. Yes, this was a nice 'one-off' because it was so unique but it seems to have led to a free for all to tell him how you think he should spend his free time. This isn't meant to antagonize anyone, I was simply reading the comments and it seemed so negative towards Lucky that I wanted to remind us all why we read his blog and maybe if you don't have anything positive or useful to add why post it. Safe travels.
Very cool. I saw the back of a stone head on a statue in the square. Do you remember who it was?