tomscott.com - / tomscott - I had an enormous amount of B-roll footage of Svalbard that I couldn't use, and the internet had a lot of questions about how to get there. Time to solve both those problems in one go!
Just returned from there about an hour ago. Big thanks to Tom Scott for inspiring me to go there and subsequently causing me to have probably the best trip of my entire life. I can thorougly recommend this to basically everyone who likes interesting places.
If I want I would want to rent a rugged truck with supplies, lots of gas, a few guns for protection & just have a blast exploring during the summer. Depending on how good solar energy is up there I already have portable power supplies I can use for my phone & GPS. Though maybe I would want some buddies to come up & we take 2 or 3 cars just in case anything happens, with plug sets, & lots of fix a flat kits. A week in the artic wilderness would be a blast!
25 years ago it was a remote outpost, with no shops, no hotels, with only tourist facility being a water faucet on an open spot near the airport. If you didn't work for the mining company you brought your own food for the stay. No rules changed, it was just that someone realised there was a tourist market and any citizen of a country which has signed the treaty may start commercial operations there if they feel like it. My profile photo is from there, 20 years ago, when there had been simple tourist accomodation and a few surprisingly large shops for a few years.
SlykeThePhoxenix we set a course just east of Lyra, northwest of Pegasus. flew into the light of Daneb sailed across the milky way. on my ship the 'Rocinante' wheeling through the galaxy headed for the heart of Cygnus, headlong into mystery
I just saw this video after going though Toms back catalogue. My wife and I had our honeymoon inside Svalbard in 2014. It was one of the most relaxing 2 weeks i ever had. The silence and the sky at night were worth the 25,000 SEK to go there. It took us 5 hours total from Stockholm going through Oslo. If you are going there during spring you need to take a Night Time tour to see the stars and the northern lights. It's perhaps one of the most brilliant places i have ever been and i would like to go back.
Not sure if they're still running them, but there used to be cruises that sailed around the entire thing so people got to see the walruses and things living around Nordaustlandet and Kvitoya. I know all of that is a natural preserve now, but worth checking into if it's still tourist accessible. And affordable I suppose. It's a long way away, so it might not be.
If you want Svalbard Lite, go to Shetland in Scotland. It's like Svalbard but with grass and without the polar bears, and with some awesome stone age and viking ruins.
There are important sattelite uplinks on Svalbard because its one of the most northern spots with a (coal) power station. The combination is the main reason there is such a good fiber connection with the rest of the world. Interesting stuff
We were there in May 2017, as part of two weeks in Europe. "Oh, hey. There's cheap flights to this place waaaaay up north. [checks online for what's up there] Why not? We can always say we've been to the northernmost bar and grill in the world!" One thing to be aware of is that Svalbard is outside the Schengen Zone, so you have to go through customs each way. Direct flights are to/from Oslo, but there are also flights which stop in Tromso, which is worth a day or three layover itself. There's a thriving ecotourism business. If you're not interested in that or a visit to Pyramiden you can see & do most everything available in two to three days depending on how ambitious you are. There's a good Arctic museum, and another museum about the North Pole expeditions a century ago. Many of the points of interest are the northernmost example: northernmost church, northernmost [type] restaurant, etc. Events might draw you, such as the Polar Jazz Festival every February or the Spitsbergen Marathon ("the only race with armed guards to keep the runners safe from polar bears"). We had no idea we were visiting on Norwegian National Day. Many people wore traditional dress from their ancestral homes, and there was a parade plus performances at the community center. My companion is an expert seamstress and spent half an hour talking to a couple about their clothing, which was Sami. Food for the most part is typical Western fare as found in Norway, though there is a sushi place and the Thai restaurant got two thumbs up from us. Yes, by law you must have a high-powered rifle if you leave the town's area because of the polar bears...there are more bears than humans in the archipelago.
Two years ago I went by ship from the Netherlands to Svalbard. When we finaly arrived in Longyearbyen I was shocked by the fast amount of tourists.Even in such a remote place on earth it is busy these days. I wished I had seen it 50 years ago when there were only miners and polar bears.
in ww2 some german troops set up meteorology stations here, when germany itself surrendered... nobody was in the radio station back in mainland norway they were the last german troops to surrender because it took months for norway to realise they were broadcasting SOS
@@unknown-jr3xe Late reply but ... It's climate change that's doing it. Also, there were 38 degrees Celsius days in Switzerland - and not the hottest part of it - in about 1998.
@@@camelopardalis84 That's ridiculous. It's summer that's doing it. Not even slightly warmer in Germany now than it was before statistically. It always get sweltering there in the summer, particularly in the south. Between 35 and 40C happens every year in Germany and it always has. Doesn't last long though.
Svalbard in summer looks like my home in spring. Funny thing, it's also customary and almost mandatory that you take off your shoes when you enter someone's home. Not so much for public places. I live in the Faroe Islands and i think the only natural difference between us and Svalbard is that our wildlife would have a very hard time killing you, we have no glaciers and we have more grass. i genuinely thought the shot at 3:28 was somewhere in Sundalagi, in the Faroes.
@@Andreas4696 hah. Yes, we have distriktspolitikk, but the services you get in most of the districts can't even compare to the ones in the more populated areas. Internet and transportation for example, is something we have to fight for if we want good quality.
They're building it new, so they're using the newest technology. The U.S. has had telephone lines for over 100 years, so it takes a lot of time and money to upgrade the entire system. India has millions of people without telephone service, but they're going straight to cell phones and skipping all the earlier stages.
I love, love, LOVE obscure tourist destinations. Add this one to my bucket list, next to Greenland, Andorra, and (most of all) Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands.
Andorra?! I think you’ve confused that with somewhere else. Andorra is a cheap ski destination full of package holidays. I saw a 12 year old do a tequila shot on Mexican dinner night in Andorra. Don’t bother with Andorra
OurayTheOwl You might like LindyBeige, he travels sometimes and records his findings. His channel is mostly about history and stuff though. See how you like him because I think he's great.
I recommend going in January. Still lots to do and no tourists. Just because it's dark and cold doesn't make it any less fantastic. January is the best time to go.
Ade Larsen hi please My name is Lade. I am planning to come to Svalbard, can you help me with some informations, please how can I reach you for better communication?
Well in January you have dusk *and* dawn round noon, and it will be a bit chilly with -20°C or lower. But if you love that, you surely will have an experience you'll never forget.
Went there in June filming, and did fossilhunting, visited a ghosttown and enjoyed the nightlife. It truly is a unique and amazing place! One of the best places I have been on.
I visited a few years ago during a Princes Line cruise from the UK. Fascinating place. Purchased a red, wind proof jacket which I still use on cooler dry days. Recoded this as one of the best, non-run-of-the-mill destinations.
I went in 2018 on my own and loved it, climbed glaciers, mountains, went wild flower finding, had a cheap but very informative private tour around longyearbyen, walked into the abandoned mines, went kayaking around cruise ships, went on a ferry and toured pyramiden, saw massive icebergs and beluga whales and loads more that I cant remember off the top of my head. It didn't cost that much either :)
As someone who plans to be a software engineer, I would _love_ to live there. All you need to be a software engineer is internet, and the crazy fast Svalbard internet would work just fine.
The only way to permanently settle in Svalbard is by working there. So you can't just move there and work for a company that's somewhere else; you'd need to land a tech job at one of the establishments there. (Which still isn't out the question!)
Hiked from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg with my dad, just the two of us. It was absolutely amazing, and a little terrifying. We had to carry a rifle and flare gun in case we had a stand off with a polar bear. Took 2,5 days to hike.
Going to Svalbard to get out of school production. My teacher said unless your on the north pole your doing it. So I will go to the closest place you can get easily.
+Aditya Jayaraj I think his correction was pretty justified. A guy claimed he wanted to get away from school, but his comment had a very basic grammar error. So making the joke that he should stay in school is very justified. Also bad spelling and grammar make the world a far worse place than people who point out bad spelling and grammar.
I liked Svalbard...I went in the Polar night but had fun. The hotels range from very nice to utilitarian. I stayed at the Svalbard Hotel which is new and comfy. Internet is probably the best in the world because of the science missions up there. They have a CO-OP grocery store, stores for warm clothing, a cafe, a few restaurants a brewery (bloody great beer I must say!!) and plenty of seasonal activities as mentioned here. I spent a week and had a great time.
I went there this summer and it was amazing!! We stayed in a house right next to the water so we had a fantastic View from the livingroom. It was probably the most extraordinary trip I'll ever make and I'm so happy to have been there!
Svalbard has an enormous satellite communication complex just outside Longyearbyen (one of only 2 in the world able to communicate with LEO polar satellites on every orbit), so it doesn't surprise me that fast internet is available there.
I’m planning a cruise there… I’m wondering how I can be polite in regards to the shoe thing as I use a wheelchair… maybe they’ll offer me wipes to wipe down my wheels 🤔 I’m going to have to look more into this.
So exited to see you sitting not far from my favourite hangout in Oslo! Would have been amazing to bump into you when you were here! It makes me wonder, how do you feel about getting waved over by fans on your global travels?
Big fan of Svalbard! Thought about saving a few pennies and taking the tent we were using on the mainland...but glad we opted for Mary-Ann's!! That was 2004, super cheap flights with SAS, and whale steak on the menu
I get that it SOUNDS remote if you say "I'm further north than all of Alaska." - but why exactly are you so surprised that a part of Norway is just like the other parts of Norway? Does the UK not treat it's dependencies with the same respect it does with the home co... oh wait, nevermind... :D
Great video 👍🏻. I would absolutely love it there!! I love cold weather ♥️ I’m miserable when it gets above 60. Definitely a place I would love to visit. I would seriously miss tree though. If I could live in the cold 365 days a year and have a lot of trees I would be the happiest person in the world ❄️🌲♥️❄️🌲♥️
If you did a regular 'travel/tour' show I would actually be interested in watching that. I normally don't have any taste for such things, but I like the way you've presented this locale. I actually want to go see Svalbard now. :3
Have you ever thought about visiting the Faroe Islands? Our one and only airport was initially built by the British in WW2 when they basically took the country by force for strategic purposes. A lot of interesting history, both old and new
''You know those short speed boar trips where you bounce up and down the waves? It's that but for several hours.'' Me: reaches for my motion sickness bag.
Svalbards internet is over insanely fast like i lived in Chicago originally moved to Svalbard and 5x faster wifi. Don’t know if they have 5g there yet.
@@eggrollsoup don't it sucks. I know a few family members that used to live there and the nature is cool and all but it's dark all the time, cold, there's only one major city and it barely has anything and that's it
Nitelynx I don’t like the sun anyways, i’ve had enough of it, and I like cold weather anyways. Plus I don’t need any large social circles or many commodities major cities provide.
"I can use my credit card everywhere and in any store however small" is apparently a very Scandinavian thing... Please catch up The-Rest-Of-The-World xD
Definitely need to go. Just looked up flights from where I live, only 500 Euros roundtrip for two people... Way cheaper than Iceland! I definitely need to go back to Norway, and this would be a fantastic way of doing that.
You mentioned Piramida. My favourite album is named after that town and consists largely of sounds recorded there and that haunting Scandinavian echoey singing.
Me and my girlfriend are going next year. We hate the heat, and it's an unusual place to go to, on top of that, it's really cheap, so we think it's perfect for us. A long weekend, 2 people with activities and food cost less than a thousand pounds. BTW, wifi and 4G is everywhere here in Norway. I pity people who live in countries with limited access to high speed Internet ;-)
Just to let you know, Svalbard is by no means cheap. I studied at the university (UNIS) for 5 months beginning in January this year so I'm very familiar with the prices. Food is super over priced ! For example, a loaf of bread cost roughly £5 and a single pomegranate is close to £4. The tourist companies are also really costly and in my opinion they don't show you the true beauty of the island. I would recommend asking the local students at UNIS if it would be possible to take you out on hikes. They would probably do it for free and are pretty much all trained to carry a rifle in case of a polar bear encounter. However the chance of an encounter is so low as they almost never enter Longyearbyen :) Sorry if you thought I was being nosey, but I think you would struggle with paying for everything you listed. Just trying to give some advice so that you don't get to Svalbard and realise you might not be able to do all the things you wanted. Definitely go though, it's one if the most breathtaking places you could visit !
Had a look at all the costs, including restaurant meal prices, and it's really cheap. But being a tourist for a long weekend and living there is not the same thing. Hotel with breakfast and trasport for 2 people: £550. Restaurant dinners 4 days 2 people: £100. Two days of activities for two people: £300, (more if it's the more expensive activities). We're probably going to budget £1200. Sorry, but it's really not that much
Ben McClean Actually me and my girlfriend is up here, (I'm laying in my hotel room now), for the second time. We are discussing a third trip, or going on a "working vacation" a few months here :-D
Sounds fun. Provided to food is good and plentiful, the rooms comfy and the WiFi rocks I'm happy. But you can't see the Northern Lights in summer, so not much point unless the glaciers, polar bears, fjords and mountains appeal... in the dark.
English translator here: 6:59 "...indoor shoes" so that's what you said! That's been bothering me for the entirety of the day. I translated it last night when I when I was a bit sleepy. Thank you for fixing the mistakes
