Northeast Passage: A Voyage from Norway to Alaska - Endurance

Take this fantastic new ship to the top of the world with National Geographic-level guides. See parts of the Russian Arctic hardly anyone has ever seen!

The Arctic: Drink It In

Welcome Aboard the

National Geographic Endurance

Discover the vast wildness of a region seen by only a handful of bold explorers on an expedition that is possible only due to the extreme ice capabilities of National Geographic Endurance and our ice-master captains. You’ll explore a region covered in ice and impassable almost the entire year on an epic point-to-point journey between Norway and Alaska. Discover remote Siberian shores and far northern archipelagos known to few—including Franz Josef Land, New Siberian Islands, and Wrangel Island. Little has changed here since the days of Nordenskjold, Amundsen, and the intrepid explorers of the last century. Join us as we navigate the wind, waves, and weather, slaloming the lines of longitude in search of the wildlife and wonders hidden within this little-known passage.

Itinerary 

Days 1-2: U.S./Oslo, Norway

Fly overnight to Oslo. Upon arrival, check into the Hotel Bristol. In the afternoon, explore this charming city. Stroll among the famed Vigeland sculptures—hundreds of life-size human figures set in terraced Frogner Park. Visit the Fram Museum, dedicated to the wooden ship sailed by Norwegian explorers Nansen and Amundsen. The evening is at leisure. (Day 2 includes Lunch.)

Day 3: Oslo/Tromsø/Embark

Fly from Oslo to Tromsø and embark National Geographic Endurance.

Days 4-6: Exploring Norway's Fjords

Spend two days exploring Norway’s spectacular northern coast. Carved by glaciers over millions of years, these shores are laced with steep-walled fjords, mountainous islands, and chiseled peaks. Cruise along vertical rock faces, and through serene fjords. Be on the lookout for seabirds and marine mammals and learn about the region from our expert natural history staff.

DAY 6-25: Exploring the Russian High Arctic, Siberian Coast, and Russian Far East

In keeping with the nature of an expedition, our day-by-day itinerary will be flexible. We’ll utilize the extensive experience of our captain and crew, as well as of our technological resources and ice strengthened ship, to chart a course around impenetrable ice, through one of the most remote regions on Earth, and toward once-in-a-lifetime sightings of the Arctic’s abundant wildlife. During our time at sea, enjoy the ship amenities and hear lectures from our naturalists. Listed below are some of the stops that we plan to make during our expedition.

Franz Josef Land

Located just over 550 miles from the North Pole, Franz Josef Land is the world’s northernmost archipelago; its uninhabited islands remain frozen under vast ice sheets for much of the year. In 2013, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala led an expedition in the surrounding Arctic waters as part of the Pristine Seas project, capturing the first deep-sea footage of the rare Greenland shark. Our ship, Zodiacs, and kayaks bring us close to the archipelago’s dramatic icescapes, seldom seen coastlines, and out-of-this-world scenery at the top of the planet. Observe polar bears from the ship deck, and go ashore for naturalist-led walks to search for walruses, arctic seabird colonies, and narwhals.

Novaya Zemlya

Watch for Arctic wildlife as we navigate past Ice Harbor, where Dutch explorer Willem Barents spent the winter between 1596 and 1597.  Cruise the Barents Sea en route to the heavily glaciated coastlines of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, a chain of mountainous islands draped in ice that have yet to be thoroughly explored. Seals, walruses, and polar bears may be found on coastal ice floes year-round, and rich birdlife inhabits the shorelines during the summer months.

Severnaya Zemlya

As we sail under 24 hours of daylight, our naturalists will be on deck, seeking out beluga whales and other marine mammals that inhabit the shallow coastal waters bordering the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Discovered only in 1930, this chain of isles—separated from the coast of northern Siberia by the Vil’kitskogo Strait—is one of the planet’s most recently charted territories. Pass Cape Chelyuskin, the most northerly point of the Eurasian continent, on our way west.

New Siberian Islands

Often surrounded by heavy pack ice, the volcanic spires, cliffs, and buttresses of these rocky outposts are a magnificent backdrop for abundant wildlife. We keep a lookout for elusive Ross’s gull, named after the British polar explorer. Walruses haul out on the ice in great numbers and seabirds nest on great cliffs on the De Long Islands, discovered by the 1881 Jeannette expedition in search of the North Pole.

East Siberian Sea 

Depending on sailing conditions, explore granite towers, tundra, and ancient ceremonial sites along shores where mammoths once roamed. The surrounding pack ice is an ideal place to find walruses, polar bears, and other wildlife of the circumpolar north.

Wrangel Island

Spend time exploring the World Heritage–listed Wrangel Island Reserve in the Arctic Ocean. With the world’s largest population of Pacific walruses and the highest density of ancestral polar bear dens, Wrangel Island offers incredible opportunities for wildlife viewing. The island

escaped glaciation during the last ice age, and now has the highest level of biodiversity in the high Arctic, with an astonishing variety of plant life. It was also the last refuge of woolly mammoths, whose bones and teeth have been discovered amid the island’s riverbeds, providing intriguing clues to their past existence. As we explore by ship, by Zodiac, and on foot, keep an eye out for gray whales, which can be found in these prime feeding grounds.

Chukchi Sea

Go ashore at Kolyuchin Island and Kolyuchin Inlet on the northern Chukotka coast. An enormous tidal estuary, Kolyuchin Inlet offers  excellent hiking and birding opportunities. Nearby, Kolyuchin Island is a high, cliff-lined isle where puffins and guillemots nest, and Pacific walruses occasionally sunbathe on the rocks below. Explore this remote and untouched coastline in a Zodiac, and conditions permitting, head ashore to go hiking with our naturalists.

Day 26: Disembark/Nome, Alaska/Anchorage/U.S.

Arrive in the remote city of Nome, Alaska, on the coast of the Bering Sea. Disembark to explore the town prior to the charter flight to Anchorage. In Anchorage transfer to flights home. (This day includes Breakfast.)

Please Note: Itinerary is for guidance purposes only and may be adjusted due to unforeseen circumstances including weather, wildlife, ice, medical emergencies and other conditions beyond this operator's control at the sole discretion of this operator.

Special Offer (Subject to change): Travel aboard the National Geographic Endurance on any voyage and this operator will cover your bar tab and all tips for the crew.

Sample Airfares:

Economy: from $1,150

Business: from $3,250

Charter(Oslo/Tromso from $490 and Nome/Anchorage from $350)

Airfares are subject to change.

Children: Take $500 off for each child under the age of 18.

Back-to-Back: Save 10% on any consecutive journeys taken on board one of this operator's expedition ships. This savings is applicable on voyage fares only and are not valid on extensions or airfare. Ask your Travel Curator for dovetailing options.

Group Rates: Save 5% when traveling as a group of 8 or more people. Take advantage of these great savings, while enjoying traveling with your friends and family. This savings is applicable to voyage fares only, and is not valid on extensions or airfare. Deposit, final payments, and cancellation policies for group travel vary from regular policies.

Life On Board

Questions?

Rates

Questions?

Questions?