You touch down in Longyearbyen, the administrative center of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Enjoy strolling around this former mining town, whose parish church and Svalbard Museum are fascinating attractions.

Though the countryside appears stark, more than a hundred species of plants have been recorded in it. In the early evening, the ship sails out of Isfjorden, where you might spot the first minke whale of your voyage.

Start the day by quietly cruising the side fjords of the spectacular Hornsund area in southern Spitsbergen, enjoying the scenery of towering mountain peaks. The mountain of Hornsundtind rises to 1,431 meters (4,695 feet), while the peak of Bautaen testifies to why early Dutch explorers gave this island the name Spitsbergen, meaning “pointed mountains.”

There are 14 magnificent glaciers in the area, and you have a fair chance of encountering seals and polar bears.

The nearby cliffs of Sofiakammen are also home to thousands of pairs of nesting kittiwakes and little auks, and in the evening, you might see thousands of harp seals rutting on ice floes at Sørkapp.

After navigating the drift ice of Storfjorden, where you sometimes see harp seals, land in northwest Edgeøya at the northern bank of Rosenberdalriver. You can walk to Rosenbergdalen on the raised beach, teeming with grazing reindeer.

Afterward, you can plan to walk by a cliff with nesting black guillemots on your way to Stretehamna, where you often find a herd of walruses on the beach near an octagonal trapper’s cabin built in 1905.

You can also see the remains of a 19th-century Pomor house and the bones of walruses hunted in previous centuries.

Sailing into the waterway of Freemansundet, you plan to land at the tundra lowland of Sundneset on the island of Barentsøya.

Here, visit the hut of a German scientific expedition (Würzbugerhütte) from sixty years ago, then take a brisk walk across the tundra in search of Spitsbergen reindeer and barnacle geese. Afterward, you plan a Zodiac cruise near Freeman Glacier and visit a kittiwake colony in a nearby canyon.

However, in case of heavy ice in Freemandundet, you can sail to Negribreen, one of Spitsbergen's most extensive glacier fronts on the east side. Here, you can take a Zodiac cruise and land on Walrus Island, which became ice-free at the end of the last century.

Today, sail to the east side of West Spitsbergen (west side of Storfjorden).

Here, you plan to walk to breeding places for ivory gulls in Agardhfjellet, which stands about 300 meters (980 feet) high.

The valley leading to the outcrops that house the nests is littered with fossils of belemnites and ammonites.

Today, you aim to land at the mountain of Stellingfjellet, near the largest colony of Brünnich’s guillemots in Spitsbergen. Later in the day, you can land on the rarely visited coast of south Spitsbergen, at the bay of Isbukta.

Continue your voyage in Bell Sund, one of the largest fjord systems in Svalbard. The ocean currents make this area slightly warmer than other areas in the archipelago, which shows in the relatively lush vegetation.

Here, there are excellent opportunities to enjoy both history and wildlife.

A possibility is Ahlstrandhalvøya, at the mouth of Van Keulenfjorden, where piles of beluga skeletons can be found. These remains of 19th-century whale slaughter are a haunting reminder of the consequences of rampant exploitation. Fortunately, belugas were not hunted to extinction, and you have a good chance of coming across a pod.

Alternatively, while cruising the side fjords of Bellsund, you can explore tundra where reindeer like to feed and rock slopes where little auks are breeding.

Every adventure, no matter how grand, must eventually come to an end. You disembark in Longyearbyen, taking home memories that will accompany you wherever your next adventure lies.